A model for a multifunctional teaching system

A Model for a Mul" "-A teaching system model that was incorporated into an operating system of a large computer is described. The model transferred control to the operating system to execute functions other than teaching, and then recovered control in order to resume teaching. The teaching system (ABAC-II) was written to run under the operating system (IBSYS) for the IBM 7044 Graphic System. Because the teaching system automatically terminated and reschecluled itself, a student studying a course presented at a cathode-ray display terminal could switch readily between student mode and programmer mode. During the latteb the full resources of the operating system (language processors, compilers, library and user's programs) were at his disposal. He could, for example, write, assemble, debug, and execute at the terminal a program written in any language processed by the operating system. A course could therefore include text material interleaved with programming problems which the student could solve without leaving the terminal. Exercises in simulation and gaming could also be provided. The implications of a teaching system with this degree of flexibility for industrial and executive training as well as academic education are discussed. In addition, the advantages of this type of system for computer programming and operation are also considered. In troduetlon It is axiomatic that a computer is a general purpose system that can be programmed to perform a number of functions. ()m~ of the functions of the computer that has gained considerable interest in recent years is that of teactting 14]. A number of teaching systems or course writers have been written that enaMe art author to write (ours{s for presentt~tion to students at terminals [3], and pr~liminary research indicates that computer-assisted instruction can present a course in less time than other methods of instruction [1 ]. The typical teaching system is a stand-alone system designed for a small computer. Since the system retains control of the computer during execution, only functions which have been speeificaJly programmed into the teaching system can be carried out by the student. For example, if language processing is desired, a language processor nmst be written for the teaching system. Adding a number of functions to make the teaching system more flexible, i.e., capable ot more than just presenting course text, would require extensive programming. Moreover, the number of functions that could be added would be limited by the capacity of the computer. On the other hand, …