A comparative study of teaching technologies derived from Behavior Analysis

Abstract

To characterize the teaching technologies based on Behavior Analysis, what are their differentials, and to point out why a teaching programmer should adopt one or another, the present work presents and compares six of these technologies: Programmed Instruction; Precision Teaching; Direct Instruction; Personalized System of Instruction; Programming of Conditions for the Development of Behaviors; and Interteaching. Such a comparison is made from the role of the organizers and those responsible for the conduct of teaching and the ap­prentice; available resources; criteria and means by which learning is verified; and the applica­tion contexts. Among the characteristics common to the technologies, and which characterize them as behavioral analytical technologies, are highlighted: the active role assumed by the apprentice; the perspective of the teacher as a programmer of reinforcing contingencies; the direction of teaching for use beyond the classroom; the perspective of each subject as unique, with its own pace of learning; teaching from gradual steps. As for applicability, it is seen that each technology has peculiarities that make them more suitable for some contexts than for others. Such analyses lead to future perspectives, presented at the end of this article.