Robert F. Mager
| Robert F. Mager | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
June 10, 1923 Cleveland, Ohio |
| Residence | Arizona |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater |
Ohio University: B.A. and M.A. Psychology State University of Iowa: Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology |
| Known for | Learning objectives Criterion Referenced Instruction (CRI) Self-paced multimedia courses |
| Notable work | Preparing instructional objectives |
Robert (Bob) Frank Mager [meɪgɜ:] (born June 10, 1923) is an American psychologist and author. Concerned with understanding and improving human performance, he is known for developing a framework for preparing learning objectives, and criterion referenced instruction (CRI), as well as addressing areas of goal orientation, student evaluation, student motivation, classroom environment, educational change, performance technology, and instructional design.
Robert Frank Mager was born in the summer of 1923 shortly before The Great Depression. As any other little boy, Mager had aspirations of becoming a fireman, policeman, detective, cowboy and even a rocketship pilot. Mager was picked-on in school. This was as a result of him being skipped from fourth grade to sixth grade. This made him one of the smallest in his class. To add insult to injury, in his time, being left-handed was considered a heinous act and often resulted in a sharp rap on the knuckles. Subsequently, Mager switched to writing with his right-hand.
Music also formed part of Mager’s explorations as he jumped from one instrument to the other. At one time he played the violin, then the clarinet and even the saxophone. Eventually he found ‘his love’ the banjo, and has even been part of a banjo band. Interestingly Mager's ‘true love’ his wife, is a professional classical musician.
In his book, Life in the Pinball Machine: Careening from There to Here, Mager makes an analogy of his life to a pinball. He likened his life as the ball and the different experiences in his lives as the pins of machine that would bump and jostle him eventually to his current research in the Instructional Design field. One such experience occurred in 1943 when Mager was drafted into the military. One of his initial responsibilities was that of a company clerk which involved him interacting with new recruits. Mager was able to observe discrepancies with performances due to lack of information.
Today Mager is credited with revolutionizing the performance improvement industry with his groundbreaking work, the Criterion Referenced Instruction (CRI) framework.
Over the years, Mager has also been an accomplished unicyclist, banjo player, ventriloquist, crime novelist, tap dancer.
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