ABSTRACT
The authors consider that in any programme, be it linear or branched, the rules must be presented to the student in a sequence in which consecutive rules overlap one another. One of the great drawbacks of the normal diagrams depicting the classical linear or branched sequences is their suggestion that frames should be regarded as separate entities and, what is more, that the material within a frame is isolated, by its very structure, from material in neighbouring frames. One of the great contributions of the matrix is to emphasise the association, or overlap, between consecutive rules. This may be illustrated symbolically, as in Fig. 11:1
Fig. 11: 1-Overlap of Rules
Rule 1 is associated with rule 2; 2 is associated with 1 and 3; 3 is associated with 2 and 4, and so on. If a matrix is drawn for this situation, the pattern will be that indicated in Fig. 11: 2, in which all of the relationships appear along the definition line and occupy those squares immediately adjacent to it:
Fig. 11: 2-Ideal Matrix Pattern
If the desired end of overlapping rules is to be achieved, then all the squares adjacent to the definition line must indicate a relationship of either association or discrimination. The emergence of this ideal pattern on a completed matrix is a clear indication that the chosen sequence of rules is a good one in that it achieves the overlapping of consecutive rules. In this case, each rule has a relationship only with its immediate neighbours and is not related to other rules. Thus, there is only one possible programme sequence, and any re-arrangement of the rules would upset this pattern and cause a break in the connected development of the programme.
