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1.1     ! root        1: .\"    @(#)p6  6.1 (Berkeley) 5/23/86
        !             2: .\"
        !             3: .NH
        !             4: Conclusions
        !             5: .PP
        !             6: The following observations can be made about
        !             7: secretaries, typists, and
        !             8: other non-programmers who have used
        !             9: .I learn :
        !            10: .IP (a)
        !            11: A novice must have assistance with the mechanics
        !            12: of communicating with the computer to get through to
        !            13: the first lesson or two;
        !            14: once the first few lessons are passed people can proceed
        !            15: on their own.
        !            16: .IP (b)
        !            17: The terminology used in the first few lessons
        !            18: is obscure to those inexperienced with computers.
        !            19: It would help if there were a low level
        !            20: reference card for
        !            21: .UX
        !            22: to supplement the existing
        !            23: programmer oriented bulky manual and bulky reference card.
        !            24: .IP (c)
        !            25: The concept of ``substitutable argument'' is hard
        !            26: to grasp, and requires help.
        !            27: .IP (d)
        !            28: They enjoy the system for the most part.
        !            29: Motivation matters a great deal, however.
        !            30: .LP
        !            31: It takes an hour or two for a novice to get through
        !            32: the script on file handling.
        !            33: The total time for a reasonably intelligent and motivated novice to proceed from ignorance
        !            34: to a reasonable ability to create new files and manipulate old ones
        !            35: seems to be a few days, with perhaps half of each day
        !            36: spent on the machine.
        !            37: .PP
        !            38: The normal way of proceeding has been to have students in the same
        !            39: room with someone who knows
        !            40: .UX
        !            41: and the scripts.
        !            42: Thus the student is not brought to a halt by
        !            43: difficult questions.  The burden on the counselor, however,
        !            44: is much lower than that on a teacher of a course.
        !            45: Ideally, the students should be encouraged to proceed with instruction
        !            46: immediately prior to their actual use of the computer.
        !            47: They should exercise the scripts on the same computer and the same
        !            48: kind of terminal that they will later use
        !            49: for their real work, and
        !            50: their first few jobs for the computer should be
        !            51: relatively easy ones.
        !            52: Also, both training and initial work should take place on days
        !            53: when the
        !            54: .UX
        !            55: hardware and software
        !            56: are working reliably.
        !            57: Rarely is all of this possible, but the closer one comes the better
        !            58: the result.
        !            59: For example, if it is known that the hardware is shaky one day, it is better
        !            60: to attempt to reschedule training for another one.  Students are very
        !            61: frustrated by machine downtime; when nothing is happening, it takes
        !            62: some sophistication and experience to distinguish
        !            63: an infinite loop, a slow but functioning program,
        !            64: a program waiting for the user, and a broken machine.*
        !            65: .FS
        !            66: * We have even known an expert programmer to decide the computer
        !            67: was broken when he had simply left his terminal in local mode.
        !            68: Novices have great difficulties with such problems.
        !            69: .FE
        !            70: .PP
        !            71: One disadvantage
        !            72: of training with
        !            73: .I
        !            74: learn
        !            75: .R
        !            76: is that students come to depend
        !            77: completely on the CAI system, and do not try
        !            78: to read manuals or use other learning aids.
        !            79: This is unfortunate, not only because of the increased
        !            80: demands for completeness and accuracy of the
        !            81: scripts, but because the scripts do not cover all of
        !            82: the
        !            83: .UX
        !            84: system.
        !            85: New users should have manuals (appropriate for their level) and
        !            86: read them; the scripts ought to be altered
        !            87: to recommend suitable documents and urge
        !            88: students to read them.
        !            89: .PP
        !            90: There are several other difficulties which are clearly evident.
        !            91: From the student's viewpoint,
        !            92: the most serious is that
        !            93: lessons still crop up which simply can't be passed.
        !            94: Sometimes this is due to poor explanations,
        !            95: but just as often it is some error in the lesson itself
        !            96: \(em a botched setup, a missing file,
        !            97: an invalid test for correctness,
        !            98: or some system facility that doesn't work on the local
        !            99: system in the same way it did on the development system.
        !           100: It takes knowledge and a certain healthy arrogance on the part of the user to recognize
        !           101: that the fault is not his or hers,
        !           102: but the script writer's.
        !           103: Permitting the student to get on with the next lesson
        !           104: regardless does alleviate this somewhat,
        !           105: and the logging facilities make it easy
        !           106: to watch for lessons that no one
        !           107: can pass,
        !           108: but it is still a problem.
        !           109: .PP
        !           110: The biggest problem with the previous
        !           111: .I learn
        !           112: was speed (or lack thereof) \(em
        !           113: it was often excruciatingly slow
        !           114: and made a significant drain on the system.
        !           115: The current version so far does not seem
        !           116: to have that difficulty,
        !           117: although some scripts,
        !           118: notably
        !           119: .I eqn ,
        !           120: are intrinsically slow.
        !           121: .I eqn ,
        !           122: for example,
        !           123: must do a lot of work even to print its introductions,
        !           124: let alone check the student responses,
        !           125: but delay is perceptible in all scripts
        !           126: from time to time.
        !           127: .PP
        !           128: Another potential problem is that it is possible
        !           129: to break
        !           130: .ul
        !           131: learn
        !           132: inadvertently, by pushing interrupt at the wrong time,
        !           133: or by removing critical files,
        !           134: or any number of similar slips.
        !           135: The defenses against such problems
        !           136: have steadily been improved, to the point
        !           137: where most students should not notice difficulties.
        !           138: Of course, it will always be possible to break
        !           139: .I
        !           140: learn
        !           141: .R
        !           142: maliciously, but this is not likely to be a problem.
        !           143: .PP
        !           144: One area is more fundamental \(em
        !           145: some
        !           146: .UX
        !           147: commands are sufficiently global in their effect
        !           148: that
        !           149: .ul
        !           150: learn
        !           151: currently
        !           152: does not allow them to be executed at all.
        !           153: The most obvious is
        !           154: .I cd ,
        !           155: which changes to another directory.
        !           156: The prospect of a student who is learning about directories
        !           157: inadvertently moving to some random directory
        !           158: and removing files has deterred us
        !           159: from even writing lessons on
        !           160: .I cd ,
        !           161: but ultimately lessons on such topics probably should be added.

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