Learning

1
Learning

• The success of any computer system depends on the
  extent to which the intended users can learn and
  make use of it.

2
Learning is an active process

• learn by doing
• Dewey, 1938
• very large manuals
• lack of effort put into developing usable
  training materials or help facilities.

What computer systems were hard to learn? What
went wrong with computer systems?
3
How do you learn a new system?

• How do you feel?
• How do you want to learn?
• Are there options in teaching new systems?

4
Principles of Learning

• Activate learner
• Vary tasks situations avoid drill
• Provide feedback
• Do not confirm undesirable actions
• Confirm desirable actions
• Adjust confirmations individually

5
Principles of Learning

• Dont hinder learning by frightening or stressing
  the learner
• Be flexible

6
Learning Difficulties (Mack, 1984)

• Learning is difficult
• Learners lack basic knowledge
• Learners make ad hoc interpretations
• Learners generalize from what they know
• Learners have trouble following directions
• Problems interact
• Interface features may not be obvious
• Help facilities do not always help

7
Learning by Doing

• When learning, people
• Try things
• Do not read directions or explanations
• Do things in their own order
• Jump the gun
• Many learning situations do not allow for these
  actions

8
Learning by Thinking

• Learners try to interpret discrepancies
• Learners develop hypotheses
• which are often wrong
• Learners look for confirming evidence

9
Learning by Knowing

• Learners use metaphors
• previous experience
• Inconsistencies in user interface confuse
• especially novice users

10
Concepts for User Interfaces

• Limited short-term memory
• Closure
• Locus of control

11
Short-Term Memory

• Used as working storage
• Complex tasks reduce its capacity
• Seems to be dynamically allocated
• Anxiety reduces its capacity and reduces
  performance
• Seems to be searched sequentially exhaustively

12
Closure

• Is the completion of a task
• Allows user to free short-term memory
• Lack of closure lets short-term memory decay
• User may try to reestablish closure

13
Closure

• Dialogues that provide closure are more
  satisfying
• Interactions should be defined so that closure
  can be reached and information released
• users may prefer multiple small operations to
  single large one

14
Locus of Control

• User likes to be in control of environment
• User who thinks he/she is in control try harder
  and are more productive
• Interface must be controlled
• by computer or
• by human
• better if by human

15
H. F. Design Principles

• Reduce short-term memory load
• make things visible
• use windows
• use simple displays
• consolidate displays
• do not require memory between displays
• avoid modes

16
H. F. Design Principles

• Reduce long-term memory load
• make system simple
• make system consistent
• provide on-line help
• use menus

17
H. F. Design Principles

• Give feedback
• immediate and obvious
• on all actions
• positive, informative clear

18
H. F. Design Principles

• Reduce anxiety
• permit easy reversal of actions
• verify an irreversible action
• sustain user orientations
• design transactions to provide closure
• Support internal locus of control
• user controls the interaction
• user can customize the environment

19
What errors have you done?

• Mistakes Slips
• Give some examples of each.
• What is the difference between the two?

20
Errors

• Mistakes
• occur through conscious deliberation
• made by incorrect decision
• Slips
• unintentional

21
Slips

• Capture Error
• intended action (automatic)
• Description Error
• correct action wrong object
• Data-Driven Error
• unconscious processing

22
Slips cont...

• Associative-Activation Error
• unconscious thinking
• Loss of Activation Error
• distraction
• Mode Error
• wrong state

23
Categorize your slips.

• Capture Error
• Description Error
• Data-Driven Error
• Associative-Activation Error
• Loss of Activation Error
• Mode Error

24
Minimize Errors

• Good software design
• Menus
• Beginners rely heavily on the menu to give
  commands.
• Clear feedback
• dialog boxes
• Undo

25
Skill acquisition

• Skill acquisition involves changes in the
  knowledge structures stored in memory.
• When you learn a new skill you access prior
  knowledge.
• Declarative knowledge - facts into words
• Procedural knowledge - how we do things

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How does expertise develop?

• Novices
• Intermediary
• Experts
• Occasional-users
• Power-users

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Nobody wants to remain a beginner

• As a percentage of hours spent with a program,
  beginning hours are very few, possible less than
  one percent.
• Most users remain in a perpetual state of
  intermediary (striving for adequacy)
• experts (power-user) few

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Well balanced software interface

• doesnt cater to the beginner or the expert
• devotes the bulk of its efforts to satisfying the
  perpetual intermediate.
• it avoids offending either of its smaller
  constituencies,
• recognizing that they are both vital.

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Mistake

• striving to make beginners happy
• beginner-hood is never an objective
• Good software shortens the passage through
  beginner-hood without bringing attention to it.

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Goal

• to rapidly and painlessly get beginners into
  intermediacy,
• to avoid putting obstacles in the way of those
  intermediates who want to become experts
• to keep perpetual intermediates happy as they
  stay firmly in the middle

31
Beginners Needs

• provide extra help, must not be fixed into the
  interface.
• Do not show this message again.
• Guided tour.
• Menus
• Dialog Boxes

32
Perpetual intermediates need

• Access to tools.
• Tool tips
• state function in briefest notations
• Tip of the day
• On-line help
• Customize tool bars

33
Experts Need

• Shortcuts to everything.
• Automatic processing
• Seek to learn more
• experts like new features.
• compensated for effort
• Customizing

34
Psychology of programming

• Mayer, 1988, classified different kinds of
  programming knowledge
• Main differences between novices and experts.

35
Syntactic

• Language units and rules for combining language
  units
• Experts have automated their syntactic knowledge
  to a greater degree than novices.

36
Semantic

• Mental model of the major objects and actions in
  the system
• Experts have a more integrated model of the
  programming knowledge than novices.

37
Schematic

• Categories of routines based on function
• Experts have a much larger repertoire of
  categories for types of routines than novices.

38
Strategic

• Techniques for devising and monitoring plans
• Experts are much better at decomposing their
  programming goals into plans and exploring more
  solution alternatives.

39
Efficient learning techniques to facilitate
programming skills.

• Extending the minimalist approach
• Do you have to know every reserve word before you
  can program.
• The use of software visualization.
• Baecher, 1981 Sorting out sorting
• Jessica
• multimedia and animation

40
Aids to facilitate learning

• The construction of visual programming languages.
• The development of intelligent tutoring systems.
• evaluate the current students state of knowledge
  and base instruction of this assessment

41
Blooms Taxonomy, 1956
Types of learning levels
1. Recall 4. Analysis 2. Comprehension
5. Synthesis 3. Application 6. Evaluation
42
Events of Instruction R. Gagne(1972)
1. Gaining attention 2. Informing the learner
of the objective 3. Stimulating recall of
prerequisite learning 4. Presenting
stimulus materials 5. Providing learning guidance
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Gagne cont...
6. Eliciting performance 7. Providing
feedback 8. Assessing performance 9. Enhancing
retention and transfer
44
Human Interface Design Pointsfor Instructional
Multimedia

• Ensure delivery of material relates to knowledge
  of user
• learn better if many links to prior experience
  are formed
• Determine if words, illustrations or icons are
  most appropriate
• pictures not for presenting detailed information

45
Human Interface Design Pointsfor Instructional
Multimedia

• Determine the attention value vs. learning and
  recall for each screen presentation
• sizzle or steak
• give learner absorption time
• passive presentation of review material or
  supporting visuals
• Verify that packaging of information does not
  overpower the intended message
• limit items per screen

46
Human Interface Design Points for Instructional
Multimedia

• Check that visuals text augments learning
  process
• related or razzle-dazzle?
• Use color to enhance communication
• soft, non-intrusive background
• consistent color scheme
• check icon or illustration if color coding
• select appropriate color for function,
• i.e. red for urgency

47
Human Interface Design Pointsfor Instructional
Multimedia

• Test effect of how people process illustrations
• test with representative users
• Test usability of icons
• Ensure messages not redundant when using text
  visuals
• Check that visuals icons are culturally
  sensitive

48
Instructional Multimedia

• Distinguishing a mediocre multimedia
  presentation from a great one is correct and
  consistent design of its interface.
• - Ronald D. McFarland
• T.H.E. Journal, Feb. 1995

49
Social Aspect

• Designing computer systems to support group work

50
language/action approach

• view language as a means by which people act

51
Model of conversation
A Decline report
A Declare complete
B Promise
A Request
1
3
4
2
B Report completion
B Counter
A Counter
B Cancel
A Cancel
A Accept
B Decline
7
6
A Cancel
A Cancel
B Cancel
A Cancel
9
8
P. 176
52
Group communication

• Face - to - Face
• Multi-party conversations
• circle
• wheel

53
Impact of Technology on Organizations

• Write down the advantages that you think
  computers have provided to people and
  organizations. (e-mail)
• List various social, ethical and political
  problems.

54
Ethnomethodology

• Sociological approach
• used to study how new technologies introduced
• how do they support existing work practices
• what mismatches occur
• Example e-mail

55
CSCW

• Computer Supported Cooperative Work
• http//www.cmi.arizona.edu/

56
Time and place matrix
Same time Different time
Different place Same place