Burrhus Frederic Skinner (B.F. Skinner)

One of B.F. Skinner's (1904-90) contributions to education philosophy is his text Walden Two wherein he details the failings of society and education, as one is intricately and intrinsically linked to the other. The pedagogical methods Direct Instruction and Precision Teaching owe much to his ideas. Behaviorist theories play largely in his proposed ideas of social engineering.

Precision Teaching, developed by Skinner's student Ogden Lindsley, uses the basic philosophy that the "learner knows best". Each learner is charted on a unique graph known as a "Standard Celeration Chart". The record of the rate of learning is tracked by this charting and decisions can be made from these data concerning changes in an educational program.