Time-sharing and self-tutoring: an exploratory case history.

Abstract

This study is concerned with the effectiveness of individual user performance for an extended self-tutoring task in a time-shared computing facility. The investigation is an experimental case history of one individual (the author) following the TINT self-tutoring user manual from beginning to end in the SDC Q-32 Time-Sharing System at a Teletype console. (TINT is a user-oriented dialect of JOVIAL, an interpretive language adapted to time-sharing with many self-teaching features.) The methodology featured measurement of natural user behavior in which the user served as his own control in successive console sessions. The sample included 1,861 user input commands collected over 18 hours at the teletypewriter terminal. The quantitative results revealed some evidence for systematic learning and reinforcement effects; there were progressive tendencies toward higher productivity and lower error rates with increasing TINT experience. The qualitative findings revealed that the numerous and diversified exercises facilitated familiarity with the elements and the varied services of the TINT system. The chief drawback was exclusive reliance of the tutoring method on literal reproduction of the text by the user at his console. The paper concludes with recommendations for more genuine interactive involvement between the user, the central system, and self-tutoring aids.