Branching (Intrinsic Programming) - 1958
While B. F. Skinner and Sidney Pressey are often viewed with the instructional programming approach, Norman Crowder developed the intrinsic or branching style of programmed learning in 1958 in which the learner's possible responses are multiple choice and the program "branches" according to the response chosen. This allows learners to skip steps they already knew and more importantly to study remedial material on information already presented.
Crowder authored the TutorText series of instructional books, published by Doubleday in 1958, that embodied the branching theory of programmed instruction long before general-purpose desktop computers were feasible. These texts would present a page of instructional material followed by a single multiple-choice question. If the learner selects the correct answer, she is directed to another page where the correctness of her choice is confirmed and the instructional sequence is continued. However, if the learner selects an incorrect alternative, she is directed to a "wrong answer branch" which informs her of the nature of the error, provides remedial instruction, and then refers her back to the page in which the error was made so that the learner may select another of the multiple choice alternative.