I__. - International Military Testing Association

must be accomplished with great care. In a classroom, there is
usually an alert and experienced teacher to compensate for
unclear or inadequate instructional presentations. In a computer
setting, it is essential that the initial instructional be clear:
otherwise, the instruction is likely to fail. Courseware is
computer software that is designed for instructional purposes.
Courseware that is not carefully designed is most likely to be
expensive and ineffective (Jonassen, 1988). As a consequence, to
make optimal use of CBI it will be necessary to develop
techniques for evaluating the success and efficiency of various
ISD methodologies applied in computer-based settings.
Problem
CBI has proven to be an appropriate instructional solution
in many settings (Hannafin and Peck, 1988). CBI has also proven
to be expensive and often ineffective (MacKnight 61 Balagopalan,
1989). What is needed, then, is a means to insure that CBI
course designs are effective and produced in a cost-effective
manner.
There are two aggravating factors to this problem: 1) It is
often true that courseware developers have had no special
training in computer-based methodologies, and 2) It is not
completely clear what cognitive aspects of learning are best
instructed using various computer-based methodologies. In short,
in determining how to optimize CBI developments it will be
necessary to determine how novice and experienced CBI developers
interact with the courseware authoring environment, and it will
also be necessary to evaluate the success of the resulting
courseware.
The methodology proposed below represents an attempt to
build an initial model of CBI authoring that can eventually be
used as a predictor of success when combining particular
courseware authoring environments, CBI developers, subject
matter, and student populations. The Air Force Human Resources
Laboratory (AFHRL) is interested in refining this model in order
to evaluate the usability of transaction shells (Merrill, Li, &
Jones, 1990) in the Advanced Instructional Design Advisor (AIDA),
an automated and integrated set of tools to facilitate and guide
the process of developing effective courseware (Muraida t
Spector, 1990).
The AIDA project focuses on the design and development of
CBI (Spector, 1990). It is assumed that the Air Force will
continue to expand its use of CBI, that the Air Force will
continue to experience a shortage of courseware authors with
backgrounds in instructional technology, and that the subject
matter of immediate interest is maintenance training for
apprentice level maintenance personnel.
To provide CBI design guidance consistent with these
assumptions, AFHRL has decided to pursue the use of intelligent
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