ABSTRACT
Instructional theory is relatively youthful, as shown by a review in the late sixties indicating a century of research had produced about two thousand publications. Contributing to instructional theory was a corollary. Programmed instruction and the use of teaching machines expanded in the fifties. Computer assisted instruction was the new hope of the sixties. For example, Programmed Logic for Automatic Teaching Operation (PLATO) at the University of Illinois went through a four-stage development between 1960 and 1972. There is a need for an eclectic selection of instructional theory applicable to aviation. Experience does not always bring expertise, but the aviation industry perceives a greater probability of transfer from a company-designed program to the performance of trainees on the job. Case studies provide valuable source materials for instructor training, and more research can be undertaken by instructors with their own instruction as the subject. Finally, there is an important matter of the appropriate source of underlying theory for aviation instruction.
