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The Triad of Science Foundations, Instructional Technology, and Organizational Structure

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 April 2014

E.A. Vargas
E.A. Vargas*
Affiliation:
B.F. Skinner Foundation
*
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to E.A. Vargas, B.F. Skinner Foundation, 12 Arrow St. # 303, Cambridge, MA, 02138, United States. E-mail: eav222nets@netscape.net
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Abstract

Over the centuries and across all societies educational achievement does not improve. The attempt to improve the instructional process has concentrated on instructional technology. But these attempts have overlooked the importance of two other factors: the science that should underlie the instructional technologies and the organization that must operate those technologies. A considerable step forward in handling the problems of instructional effectiveness has been the derivation of instructional technologies based on Skinnerian science. But the instructional technologies based on Skinner's analysis of behavior are promoted as if they were to operate in an organizational vacuum. The division of labor, and its necessary coordination and control, is taken for granted. But in any large scale enterprise, the organization of the division of labor must fit the technology through which that enterprise achieves its mission. Educational technology must tie directly to a pertinent science and to a proper organizational structure. To teach effectively requires an overhaul along three lines: 1) a relevant science that reflects and encapsulates an accurate understanding of behavior; 2) a contingency-based technology of instruction that directly derives its practices upon proper scientific principles; and 3) a suitable organization based on teaching teams that operate the new instructional technology.

A lo largo de los siglos y en todas las sociedades la educación no ha avanzado. Los intentos de mejorar el proceso de instrucción se han concentrado en la tecnología de la instrucción. Pero estos intentos no han tenido en cuenta la importancia de otros dos factores: la ciencia que debería fundamentar las tecnologías de la instrucción y la organización que utiliza esas tecnologías. Un importante paso adelante en el manejo de los problemas de la eficacia instruccional ha sido la formulación de tecnologías de la instrucción basadas en la ciencia skinneriana. Sin embargo, las tecnologías de la instrucción basadas en el análisis de la conducta skineriano se promueven como si hubieran de operar en un vacío organizacional. La división del trabajo, y su necesaria coordinación y control, se dan por supuestas. Pero en cualquier proyecto a gran escala, la organización de la división del trabajo debe ajustarse a la tecnología mediante la cual ese proyecto cumple su misión. La tecnología educacional debe ligarse directamente a una ciencia pertinente y a una estructura organizativa adecuada. Enseñar eficazmente requiere una reforma en tres direcciones: 1) una ciencia relevante que refleje y encapsule una comprensión adecuada de la conducta; 2) una tecnología de la instrucción basada en la contingencia que derive su práctica de principios científicos correctos; y 3) una organización adecuada basada en equipos docentes que empleen la nueva tecnología de la instrucción.

Keywords

Instructional TechnologyOrganizational StructureSkinnerTecnología de la InstrucciónEstructura organizacionalSkinner
Type
Complutense University Celebration of B.F. Skinner's Centennial (1904-2004)
Information
The Spanish Journal of Psychology , Volume 7 , Issue 2 , November 2004 , pp. 141 - 152
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2004

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