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1.1 root 1: .\" @(#)p3 6.1 (Berkeley) 5/23/86
2: .\"
3: .NH
4: Scripts.
5: .PP
6: As mentioned above, the present scripts try
7: at most
8: to follow a three-track theory. Thus little
9: of the potential complexity of the possible directed graph
10: is employed, since
11: care must be taken in lesson construction to see
12: that every necessary fact is presented in
13: every possible path through the units. In addition,
14: it is desirable that every unit have alternate successors
15: to deal with student errors.
16: .PP
17: In most existing courses, the first few lessons
18: are devoted to checking prerequisites. For example,
19: before the student is allowed to proceed through the editor
20: script the script verifies that the student understands files
21: and is able to type.
22: It is felt that the sooner lack of student preparation
23: is detected, the easier it will be on the student.
24: Anyone proceeding through the scripts
25: should be getting mostly correct answers; otherwise, the
26: system will be unsatisfactory both because the wrong
27: habits are being learned and because the
28: scripts make little effort to deal with wrong answers.
29: Unprepared students should not be encouraged
30: to continue with scripts.
31: .PP
32: There are some preliminary items which the student must
33: know before any scripts can be tried. In particular,
34: the student must know how to connect to
35: a
36: .UX
37: system,
38: set the terminal properly,
39: log in,
40: and execute simple commands (e.g.,
41: .ul
42: learn
43: itself).
44: In addition, the character erase and line kill conventions
45: (# and @) should be known.
46: It is hard to see how this much could be taught by
47: computer-aided instruction, since a student who
48: does not know these basic skills will not be able
49: to run the learning program.
50: A brief description on paper is provided (see Appendix A), although
51: assistance will be needed for the first few
52: minutes. This assistance, however, need not be highly skilled.
53: .PP
54: The first script in the current set deals with files. It assumes
55: the basic knowledge above and teaches the student about
56: the
57: .I ls ,
58: .I cat ,
59: .I mv ,
60: .I rm ,
61: .I cp
62: and
63: .I diff
64: commands.
65: .tr ~
66: It also deals with the abbreviation characters *, ?, and [\ ]
67: in file names.
68: It does not cover pipes or I/O redirection,
69: nor does it present the many options
70: on the
71: .ul
72: ls
73: command.
74: .PP
75: This script contains 31 lessons
76: in the fast track;
77: two are
78: intended as prerequisite checks,
79: seven are review exercises.
80: There are a total of 75 lessons in all three tracks,
81: and the instructional passages typed at the student
82: to begin each lesson total 4,476 words. The average
83: lesson thus begins with a 60-word message.
84: In general, the fast track lessons have somewhat longer
85: introductions, and the slow tracks somewhat shorter ones.
86: The longest message is 144 words and the shortest 14.
87: .PP
88: The second script trains students in the use
89: of the
90: .UX
91: context editor
92: .I ed ,
93: a sophisticated editor
94: using regular expressions for searching.
95: .[
96: ritchie thompson unix seventh edition 1978
97: %O See section \f2ed\f1 (1).
98: .]
99: All editor
100: features except encryption, mark names and `;' in addressing
101: are covered.
102: The fast track contains 2 prerequisite checks,
103: 93 lessons, and a review lesson.
104: It is supplemented by 146 additional lessons in other tracks.
105: .PP
106: A comparison of sizes may be of interest. The
107: .ul
108: ed
109: description
110: in the reference manual is 2,572 words long. The
111: .ul
112: ed
113: tutorial
114: .[
115: kernighan editor tutorial 1974
116: .]
117: is 6,138 words long.
118: The fast track through
119: the
120: .ul
121: ed
122: script is 7,407 words of explanatory messages, and the
123: total
124: .ul
125: ed
126: script, 242 lessons,
127: has 15,615 words.
128: The average
129: .ul
130: ed
131: lesson is thus also about 60 words; the largest
132: is 171 words and the smallest 10.
133: The
134: original
135: .ul
136: ed
137: script represents about three man-weeks of effort.
138: .PP
139: The advanced file handling script deals with
140: .ul
141: ls
142: options,
143: I/O diversion, pipes, and supporting programs like
144: .I pr ,
145: .I wc ,
146: .I tail ,
147: .I spell
148: and
149: .I grep .
150: (The basic file handling script is a prerequisite.)
151: It is not as refined as the first two scripts;
152: this is reflected at least partly in the fact that
153: it provides much less of a full three-track sequence
154: than they do.
155: On the other hand,
156: since it is perceived as ``advanced,''
157: it is hoped that the student will have somewhat
158: more sophistication
159: and be better able to cope with it at a reasonably
160: high level of performance.
161: .PP
162: A fourth script covers the
163: .ul
164: eqn
165: language for typing mathematics.
166: This script must be run on a terminal capable of printing
167: mathematics, for instance the DASI 300 and similar Diablo-based
168: terminals, or the nearly extinct Model 37 teletype.
169: Again, this script is relatively short of tracks:
170: of 76 lessons, only 17 are in the second track and 2
171: in the third track.
172: Most of these provide additional practice for students
173: who are having trouble in the first track.
174: .PP
175: The
176: .I \-ms
177: script for formatting macros
178: is a short one-track only script.
179: The macro package it describes is no longer the standard,
180: so this script will undoubtedly be superseded
181: in the future.
182: Furthermore, the linear style of a single learn script is somewhat
183: inappropriate for the macros, since the macro package is composed of many
184: independent features, and few users need all of them.
185: It would be better to have a selection of short lesson
186: sequences dealing with the features independently.
187: .PP
188: The script on C is in a state of transition.
189: It was originally designed to follow
190: a tutorial on C,
191: but that document has since become obsolete.
192: The current script has been partially converted
193: to follow the order of presentation in
194: .ul
195: The C Programming Language,
196: .[
197: ritchie kernighan programming 1978 prentice hall
198: .]
199: but this job is not complete.
200: The C script was never intended to teach C;
201: rather it is supposed to be a series of exercises
202: for which the computer provides checking and
203: (upon success) a suggested solution.
204: .PP
205: This combination of scripts covers much of the material which any
206: .UX
207: user
208: will need to know
209: to make effective use of the system.
210: With enlargement of the advanced files
211: course to include more on the command interpreter, there
212: will be a relatively complete introduction to
213: .UX
214: available via
215: .ul
216: learn.
217: Although we make no pretense that
218: .ul
219: learn
220: will replace other instructional materials,
221: it should provide a useful supplement to existing tutorials and reference manuals.
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