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1. unit 6
Topic:- Individualized Instruction and
Personalized System of Instruction(PSI)
INDIVIDUALIZED INSTRUCTION
INTRODUCTION
Individualized instruction is a method of instruction in which content,
instructional technology (such as materials) and pace of learning are based upon
the abilities and interests of each individual learners. Mass instruction is the
opposite, that is a method in which content materials and pace of learning are
the same for all students in a classroom or course. Individualized instruction
does not require a one-to-one student/ teacher ratio.
Mass instruction began during the French revolution and industrial
Revolution, where some citizens were considered equal and large numbers of
workers were needed to produce goods in a large scale. The idea was to teach
groups of students the same skills at the same time in a classroom, instead of
having teachers that had in consideration the previous skills of the students as
done for centuries. This method reduced costs and time, two important aspects
in the era.
Importance and Principles of Individualized Instruments
Educational Research Associates has concluded that placing greater
reliance upon well designed instructional materials-whether audio, video,
multimedia computer assisted instruction (CAI), or simply a good text book
may be as effective as the traditional lecture method. More importantly, it may
allow some teachers to focus upon the specific needs and problems of individual

2. students. However, this often ignore the needs of youth with learning
disabilities, and those face other challenges.
It this way, individualized instruction is like direct instruction, which also
places greater reliance upon carefully prepared instructional materials and
explicitly prepared instructional sequences. But where direct instruction is very
rigidly structured for use with children in primary school, individualized
instruction is recommended only for students of at least Junior high school age,
and presumes that they have greater self-discipline to be able to study more
independently. Thus, individualized instruction has points of contact with the
constructivism movement in education, started by Swiss biologist, Jean Piaget,
which states that the student should builds his or her learning and knowledge.
Individualized instruction, however, presumes that most students or secondary
school age still lack the basic knowledge and skills to direct most of their own
curriculum, which must be at least partially directed by schools and teachers.
In a traditional classroom setting, time (in the form of classes, quarters,
semesters, school years etc) is a constant and achievement in the form of grades
and student comprehension is a variable.
In a property individualized setting, where students study and progress
more independently, achievements becomes more uniform and time to achieve
that level of achievements is more variable.
Where implemented according to educational Research Associates
recommendations, individualized instruction has been found to improve student
accomplishment substantially even while reducing cost dramatically. However
in recent years, the benefits of social learning in collaborative group settings
through place-based and project based learning have been shown to be equally
effective.

3. The coming of computer and internet based education holds the promise
of an enormous increase in the use of individualized instruction methodology.
Personalized System of Instruction (PSI)
The keller plan, also called the Personalized System of Instruction (PSI),
was developed by Freds.Keller with J.Gilmour Sherman, Carolina Bori, and
Rodolpho Azzi in the middle 1960s as an innovative method of instruction for
the then new university of Brazilia. PSI was conceived of as an application of
Skinner’s theories of learning, grounded in operant conditioning strategies of
behaviorism.
PRINCIPLES
Keller argued that effective instruction should incorporate five principles,
the essential elements of the keller plan.
• Written materials: - The primary presentation of new content should be
through written texts.
• Units of content:- subject matter materials should be broken down into
separable, meaningful units.
• Self paced instruction:- Students should be allowed to advance through
the course materials at their own pace.
• Unit Mastery:- Students must satisfy a mastery requirement in one unit
before proceeding to the next.
• Proctors:- Human proctors are an important part of the Keller plan. The
proctors could be “external” to the course (adults or peers brought to the
course from external sources) or “internal” (advanced students in the
course who are doing well, have completed all units to date, and have
good interpersonal skill). Proctors were the arbiters of unit mastery; they

4. would “certify” mastery, discuss areas of weakness and direct students to
the next units.
APPLICATION
The keller plan has mainly been used in higher education particularly as a
more personalized form of instruction in large classes, but there is nothing
inherent in keller’s formulation to restrict its application to particulars grade
levels, content or types of courses. There has been a good deal of research on
the effectiveness of PSI which indicated that it had robust, significantly positive
on learning when compare to more traditional lecture-based formats.
Conclusion
Individualized instruction is opposite to mass instruction. In
individualized instruction content, instructional technology (such as materials)
and pace of learning are based upon the abilities and interests of each
individual learner. The individualized instruction is more useful in a classroom
with individuals having difference in abilities. The keller plan is more
personalized form of instruction in large classes, but there is nothing inherent
in Keller’s formulation to restrict its application to particular grade levels,
content or types of courses.
TOPIC : PROGRAMMED INSTRUCTION
Programmed Instructions
Programmed instructions involves controlled, carefully specified and
skillfully arranged learning experiences. Programmed learning applies the
principles of psychology and technology in the learning process. The main
objectives of programmed learning is to provide individualized instructions.

5. Programmed learning is a self instructional and self corrective technique in
which all the learning material is presented to the learner stage by stage through
sequentially arranged smaller unit called ‘frames’.
A programme is the subject matter to be learned by the students. It is an
instructional sequence designed to help the students attain certain specific
objectives. Programming is the process of arranging the subject matter with a
view to facilitate effective learning. The matter is arranged into a series of steps
in a logical or psychological sequence based on the principles of reinforcement .
Characteristics of Programmed Learning
• Subject matter is broken into smaller units or frames.
• Subject matter is presented in the sequential order.
• Frequent or continuous responses from the student is ensured.
• Immediate confirmation of right answers and corrections of wrong
answers are made possible.
• Each student progresses at his own pace without any threat of being
exposed to any humiliation.
• Subject matter and sequence are subjected to frequent revision by the
programmes on the basis of the feedback gathered from the students.
Principles of Programmed Instructions
• Goal oriented learning.
• Logical sequence.
• Optimum step size.
• Active participation and responding.

6. • Maximizing attention.
• Self pacing.
• Immediate feedback and reinforcement.
• Student testing.
Advantage of Programmed Learning
• Instruction is individual.
• Each student can work at his own convenience.
• Student is always kept active and alert.
• May emotional problems can be avoided.
• Learning of complex subject matters is made easy.
• It can be utilized as a supplementary process along with the study of
regular text book.
• It helps in the improvement of the quality of teaching and learning.
• Teacher gets relief from continuous teaching.
• Shortage of teachers is compensated.
Types of Programmed Instructions
These are two common varieties of programming. They are:
• Linear
• Branching
• Linear Programming

7. The linear programming was developed by B. F. Skinner. Hence it is
called the skinnarian style of programming. According to him, the best
way to teach students is to break subject matter into meaningful segments
of information and write small steps in such a way that only the correct
responses are likely to occur. This would lead to success. Students learn
better when they are successful.
Linear programmed material consists of carefully thought out questions
and answers associated to each simple item. Questions are asked directly
and the students is required to think and note down the answer. A linear
programme is called a straight line programme as the learner starts from
his initial behaviour to the terminal behavior following a straight
direction. Linear programming can be represented in the following way.
Characteristics of Linear Programming
• Linear Arrangement
The learner starts from his initial behavior to the terminal behaviuor
following the straight – line sequence.
• Responses are Controlled
The learner has no choice. The responses are fixed by the controller.
• Responses is Emphasised
The learner must respond to each and every frame for learning to occur.
• Immediate Feedback

8. As soon as the learner responds to the frame, he can immediately
compare his response with the response of the programmer and gain
knowledge of result.
• Prompting
A prompt given in the beginning in the form of clarification regarding the
frame helps the learner to respond correctly. This will not only promote
learning but also avoid unnecessary wastage of time to find out correct
answers.
• Active Participation
It ensures active participation of the learner. He has to construct
responses for every frame.
• Self – Pacing
Every learner proceeds at his own speed.
• Simplicity
Mechanism of work involved in linear programme is simple.
• Suitability
It is best suited in subject areas where facts an information can be
properly sequenced.
Limitations of Linear Programming
• Lack of Motivation
Learning becomes dull and monotonous because it takes too much time to
teach a few simple points.

9. • Limitation of Serial Order Learning
Frames are presented in a serial order but learning in actual situation is
not always serial.
• No Freedom of Choice
The learner has no choice of his own to respond. His creative imagination
and judgmental ability are inhibited. Instead of discovering answers, the
students are forced to follow a rigid line prescribed by the writer.
• Limited scope of subject matter
It can be used only in limited areas where the subject matter can be
properly sequenced.
• Absence of differentiation
It does not permit differentiation among responses.
Branched Programming
The branched programming was developed by Norman A Crowder.
Hence it is called the crowderian style of programming. It is also known as
intrinsic programming. The underlying principle of branching is that different
students need different instrumental materials and the students can learn from
their own errors. This principle is quite different from that applied in linear
programming in which all the student uniformly follow the same sequence of
frames irrespective of their background in the subject.
Types of Branched Programming
• Forward Branching
• Backward Branching

10. • Forward Branching
In this type whether the learner is making correct response or wrong
response, he will always be going to new frames. If the response is
wrong, he is directed to a remedial frame, where his mistakes are fully
explained and followed by another parallel question given in that frame.
Then he proceeds from that frame to the next frame in the main stream.
Here he is never made to go back to the previous frame. Hence the name
forward branching.
Backward Branching
The learner goes from 1st
frame to 2nd
frame of the main stream only if he
makes correct response. If he makes an error, he is lead to a remedial be
directed to the original frame number one. He tries the response again in
the light of remediation received. In short, the learners might have to go
through the same frame twice – one before the remedial learning and
second after it. Hence the name backward branching.
Characteristics of Branched Programming
• Large Frame
In branching programme, a frame is larger compared to the linear scheme
and more information is presented at each step.
• Multiple Choice Questions
In branching programme, multiple choice questions are asked. If the
learner selects the correct response, his response is confirmed. If he
selects wrong response, then he is routed to a frame that explains as to
why he is wrong.
• Freedom to Choose

11. The learner has freedom to choose his own path according to his
background of the subject matter.
• Detection and Correction
Detection and correction of errors are emphasized.
• Contextual Control
The material presented to each learners is controlled by his performance
judged interms of the answer.
• Scrambled Text Book
When the material is presented in a book – form the book is said to be
scrambled because the pages do not follow the normal sequence.
Limitations of Branched Programming
• Possibility of Guessing
There is every possibility that the learners may guess the correct response
without understanding the subject matter of the frame.
• Difficulty in providing branches
Infinite number of branching cannot be provided. It cannot cater to the
needs of all individuals because it is very difficult to find out in advance
the total number of branches for all the individual learners.
• Diagnostic questions may not suited the need of individual learners.
Programmes are the product of a programmer’s imagination and it is he
who decides diagnostic questions and level of content. It may not suit the
needs of individual learners.
• Branched Programme cannot be used by small children

12. It can e used only at a comparatively higher stage, say after standard VI,
because small children do not follow its mechanism.
• Problem of Coverage
It is very difficult to ask questions on the whole matter of a frame because
frames are too large. Sometimes important subject matter is left out.
• Difficulty to Evaluate Learning
The fact that a student has reached the last frame of the programme does
not necessarily mean that he has learned everything the programme is
intended for.
• Inability to Control the student
The programme has no provision to control the student. It does not shape
the behavior of the student as it lacks the personal human proximity.
• More Expensive
It is more expensive because the cost of preparation is high.
INSTRUCTIONAL MODULES
The present age of space, together with wide travel facilities and
technological facilities has given us a new outlook regarding the basic building
blocks of instruction. The term ‘instructional module’ has become the generic
name for “a unique unit of study that has been well specified, structured ,
planned and designed in its totality for the purpose of instructional learning”.
Modules carry a wide variety of labels including ‘unipack’, ‘individualized
learning package’ and ‘learning activity package’. The philosophy behind
instructional module is based on the generally accepted fact that each learner is
unique in his background, experience, inherent qualities, habits and learning

13. styles, and hence should be allowed to grow and develop in tune with one’s
fullest potential
MEANING AND DEFINITION An instructional module is a
self-contained, self-sufficient unit of instruction for the learner to work on, for
achieving a set of pre-determined objectives. A module contains three co
ordinated basic elements of instructions.These are objectives, learning activities
and evaluation. Modular approach is considered as an effective and economical
way of developing specific items of knowledge and skills with minimum
authorities direction and supervision by teacher . Modules can be in written
from or in the form of slides, tapes, pictures etc
A module can be defined as, “a set of learning activities intended
to facilitate the students achievements on an objective or a set of objectives”.
Thus , a module stands for a part or subsystem of the curriculum or instructional
programme. An instructional programme in which module are being used may
be said to adopt the modular approach to instruction.
CHARACTERISTICS
The following are the characteristics of the modular approach:
• Each module is developed for a specific target population of learners.
• Modules are based on learning objectives stated in behavioural terms.
• Modules possess a sequence of key activities developed on the basic of
the selected objectives, contents ,learner characteristics and the nature of
the discipline.
• Each module is prepared based on a particular methodology that will be
quite appropriate to the requirements of the learners.

14. • An in-built evaluation programme will be attached to each module ,with a
view to continuously assess the progress of each learner
ADVANTAGES
The following are the advantages of the modular approach:
• Learners can learn the subject matter according to one’s own pace of
learning
• Simple and interesting activities can be incorporated in the module and it
will enable the students to actively participate in the learning process
• Module help the students to do independent thinking , which in turn will
lead to the development of creativity among the children
• Monotony of routine instruction can be avoided
• Remedial programme can be effectively implemented fir the benefit of
individual learners.
• DISADVANTAGES The following are the disadvantages of the
modular approach:
• Lack of proper guidance in using the module may spoil the true spirit
of the approach
• The modular approach is likely to minimize the services given by
teachers, which may lead to different emotional problems among the
children.
• Preparation of effective modules for all topics is a difficult task.
CONCLUSION

15. The modular approach to instruction is an attempt to make
instructions individualized. So that the student can learns. At his own
pace according to his interest, capabilities and capacities by involving in
the task and learning activities suggested by the module.