Program updates from the national science foundation division of undergraduate education

drop policy usually associated with PSI courses. Because o f perception about non-completion, various pacing techniques have been tried. D. Glick and George Semb, published an article in the Journal of Personalized Instruction in 1978, which examined the effects o f pacing contingencies in PSI courses [1]. The findings from this study are summarized below: • Course-completion frequency was not systematical ly affected by pacing schedules. • Overall, there appears to be no consistent differences in academic performance across pacing strategies. However, students who extend a course over two semesters do less well academically in general. • Students respond more uniformly over the length o f the course if there are instructor-enforced deadlines. C o n c l u s i o n Take a look at the references and you will see that the latest one is 1982. The methodology looks so promising. What has happened since that time? Why have most o f you probably never heard o f the Keller Plan? In my column in the next issue, I will answer these questions and relate the answers to the current emphasis on distance learning.