In 1894 John Dewey established his experimental laboratory school at the
University of Chicago, with a focus on teaching each student according to
their individual differences. This concept indicated a shift away from the
emphasis on communal, classroom teaching, which marked educational
practices in the nineteenth century during the advent of widely available
public education.
With the introduction of computer-based online instruction in schools,
curricula are able to be fully informed by individual difference, subtly
and quickly tracking students' progress. In these courses, teachers play the role
of troubleshooters instead of lecturers. Individual Differences examines a
large number of studies on computer-based and online instruction, with
special attention paid to gifted students in the fields of mathematics,
science, technology, and engineering. Other chapters also focus on a wide
variety of student populations: deaf students, American Indian rural
students, and underachieving, impoverished students.
Patrick Suppes (1922–2014) was Lucie Stern Professor of Philosophy, Emeritus, at Stanford.