HUMAN FACTORS, 1967,9 (3), 251-256 Computer-Aided Instruction as Part of a Management Information System1

This paper discusses the application of computer-aided instruction as part of a management information system. The computer presents displays which instruct the student on-line lo exercise control of the computer system using a Wpewriter or a lightpen located at the console work station. INTRODUCXION The advancing technology of computers brings with it important problems of man-machine com-munication. If computer technology is not to out-strip man’s ability to harness that technology, communication between the man and the machine must improve to permit effective use of the com-puter by novice as well as sophisticated users. For the novice user a computer is often an enig-ma, a formidable array of equipment possessing omnipotence as well as various and changing mystical qualities. Too often he expects the com-puter to be a mindreader. When making com-puters available to novice users, therefore, a basic rule is to keep the man-computer interaction sim-ple, regardless of the complexities of the programs being used. Even a simple interaction must be learned, however, and one approach to the problem is the use of the computer as a teaching aid. If the com-puter presents instructions which the student is generally able to carry out successfully, the first major barrier between man and computer has been hurdled. Learning from the computer how to use the computer positively reinforces the stu-dent. He no longer need fear “the machine.” The incorporation of computer-aided instmc-tion within a man-computer data processing sys-tem is the subject of this paper. The computer. based system chosen is AESOP (An Evolutionary System for On-line Processing), a management in-formation control system developed at Th