ABSTRACT
This chapter reviews the development and application of mathematical models that help the decision-maker directly with the first question and indirectly with the question of identifying objectives and preferences. The central dynamic behavior that must be modeled when considering problems of resource allocation in the educational setting is the interaction between the instructor-whether it be teacher, computer-assisted instruction or programmed instruction-and the individual learner. The applications of learning models and optimization theory to problems of instruction fall into two categories: (a) individual learner oriented and (b) group of learners (classroom) oriented. The application of mathematical models and optimization theory to learning problems in computer-aided instruction is likely to prove increasingly useful in the future. Restle (1964) made an early contribution to the application of learning models and optimization theory to the classroom or group of learners setting. Developments in the classroom setting are much farther from implementation than those for individual learner setting.
