Algorithms for Learning and Instruction: Generating Instructional Cues

摘要

During the past decade, scholars in Germany, Great Britain, and the Soviet Union have published a substantial amount of material dealing with the application of algorithms and algorithmic procedures to instruction. This paper reviews the most significant European concepts, describes what is being done in the USA, and identifies problems worthy of serious research endeavors. An algorithm is a list of unambiguous elementary instructions specifying a sequence of discriminations and operations which will yield the solution to any problem of a class. Algorithms may vary in the degree to which they are deterministic. Likewise, problems may vary in the degree to which they are amenable to solution by algorithms or algorithmic procedures. A concise taxonomy of algorithms based on these characteristics is presented. The applicability of algorithmic concepts to various types of problems is discussed and illustrated by means of concrete examples. (Author)