Int J Biomed Comput, 31 (1992) 141-150 Elsevier Scientific Publishers Ireland Ltd.
141
GALE A GRAPHICS ASSISTED LEARNING ENVIRONMENT FOR COMPUTER-BASED INTERACTIVE VIDEODISC EDUCATION
JAMES H. CUTTS III, SUSAN E. HAZELWOOD, JOYCE A. MITCHELL, ALAN J. BRIDGES and JOHN C. REID Medical Informatics Group, School of Medicine, University of Missouri-Columbia, 605 Lewis Hall, Columbia, MO 65211 (USA) (Received March 22nd, 1992) (Accepted April lst, 1992)
GALE, a Graphics Assisted Learning Environment, is a computer-based interactive videodisc authoring tool. GALE was created as the authoring package for AI/LEARN/Rheumatology, an independent study system for teaching rheumatology to medical trainees. GALE has potential widespread application beyond rheumatology. Interactive videodisc technology is a prime feature of GALE. Other highlights are: WordPerfect macros which simplify programming, graphics-based large text characters, tracking of user responses, hypertext-like definition capabilities, color coded screens to distinguish between hypertext branches and the mainstream of the course content and ability to overlay text on the video image. GALE runs on a PC-compatible computer with selected Pioneer LaserDisc players. GALE uses WordPerfect 5.1 for text editing and has been designed for use by non-programmers. Keywords: Computer-assisted
instruction;
Computer
software;
Medical
education;
Teaching
Introduction
To encourage the development of courseware on microcomputers, firms have been marketing authoring tools that ease the task of putting course content on microcomputers [l]. Authoring tools are software programs that enable a teacher instead of a programmer to create computer assisted instruction (CAI) which allows independent study by trainees. Authoring tools are traditionally separated into authoring languages, which have subroutines that facilitate educational programming, and authoring systems, which are characterized by menu driven editors that reduce the amount of programming required [2]. Selection of an authoring tool by a course instructor depends on such factors as the purpose, the equipment available and the people who will use it [3]. Despite the recent strong interest in CAI, few programs of high quality were available [4] until recent years [5]. Even fewer authoring tools of quality are available that can support videodisc technology, because CA1 with videodisc technology has only come into use within the last several years. A 1989 survey by Singarella et al. [6] found that 67% Correspondence to: James H. Cutts III, Medical Informatics Group, School of Medicine, University of Missouri-Columbia, 605 Lewis Hall, Columbia, MS 65211, USA. 0020-7101/92/$05.00 0 1992 Elsevier Scientific Publishers Ireland Ltd. Printed and Published in Ireland
142
J.H. Cutts III et al.
of health science libraries had purchased videodisc technology and over 25% were repurposing a videodisc. The use of videodisc technology for biomedical instruction is expanding. Much of the biomedical videodisc repurposing is being done on Macintosh computers. Since there was a need for PC-compatible based authoring tools, we developed GALE (Graphics Assisted Learning Environment), an authoring package that a non-programmer can use to build PC-compatible based CA1 courses which incorporate videodisc technology. In this paper, we describe the special features and utilities of GALE. Description of GALE Five years ago, we received funding from the Department of Education to test learning theories that involved visual discrimination using CAI. We wanted to use PC-compatible computers to teach diagnostic concepts in medicine by using paired exemplar/non-exemplar images, advance organizers, signallers and summaries, and to illustrate the disease under discussion by means of still and motion picture sequences of actual patients. GALE was created because we could not find a suitable authoring tool. As an authoring tool, GALE is neither an authoring language nor an authoring system, as defined by the literature. We refer to GALE as an authoring package because GALE does not require the skills of a programmer and GALE is not menu driven. Rather, by running a set of utilities to create courseware, GALE offers the non-programmer course author more capabilities and options than are permitted from a limited menu. Instructional Design GALE allows incorporation of principles from the discipline of cognitive psychology into CAI. For instance, Gag&s [7] intellectual skills (including discrimination and concrete concepts) are addressed through the ability to present visually paired exemplars and non-exemplars. A toggling feature that allows the trainee to switch back and forth between exemplar and non-exemplar images is particularly useful when the course author wants to quiz trainees. This exemplar/nonexemplar technology also has application in the training of health care professionals who can compare patients who have a particular disease with normals or with patients who have other diseases which could be easily confused with the disease being studied. Immediate feedback, ability to provide additional ‘help’ and definitions, backup and continue boxes (see Fig. 1) and ability to overlay text characters (letters, numbers and arrows) on the videodisc monitor screen, all serve to reinforce or clarify the material presented. Assessment of the trainee’s comprehension of the course material is approached through yes/no, multiple choice and exemplar/non-exemplar questions. GALE easily accommodates problem-based learning because of the flexibility of the authoring package and the interactive videodisc technology.
Graphics Assisted Learning Environment
143
Fig. 1. Picture of a typical GALE computer screen.
Authoring Package Components Course content storage within GALE The content of a CA1 course, built using GALE, is stored in the sequence specification language (SSL) file (i.e., the .MOD file), the course content tile (i.e. the .WPF file) and the tile of definitions (i.e. the .DEF file). SSL is the language used by the course author to program the courseware. It specifies the combination of pages of text from the .WPF tile that are to be integrated with the slides from the videodisc. The .WPF tile contains the course author’s knowledge; it is the textbook material that is presented to the trainee. The .DEF tile contains definitions for ideas in the course content which the course author feels may need amplification or clarification. GALE supports PC-Paintbrush’s .PCX picture format. Any art work, either drawn or scanned, can be displayed. Software components of GALE The software components of GALE are specified in programs listed must be used by the course author GALE. These programs are the WordPerfect GALE/Screen. The other programs are managed
Table I. Only three of the 11 to create courseware using macros, GALECopy and for the course author by
144
J.H. Cutts III et al.
TABLE I THE SOFTWARE COMPONENTS OF GALE Development WordPerfect macrosa GALECopya WPRead SC WPRead2 Presentation GALEfScreena Analysis TRKRead TRKPrint WPWrite GaleMap Utility GaleInit ‘Programs necessary to author and ruu courseware.
GALECopy, or are needed only for analysis of the trainee’s performance, used to initialize the trainee’s key disk.
or are
Development programs
Using WordPerfect macros, GALE simplifies programming by carrying out multiple programming steps with minimal keystroke entry. WordPerfect macros, provided with GALE, automate the process of course creation by prompting the course author to enter the correct values and by managing the switching between the two files (e.g. .MOD and .WPF) used in the development process. GALECopy manages WordPerfect-Read (WPRead), WordPerfect-Read2 (WPRead2) and the Sequence Compiler (SC) programs so that the course author never has to interact directly with these programs. WPRead converts the file that contains the SSL statements (.MOD) from WordPerfect format to pure ASCII by eliminating all the formatting instructions imbedded in the WordPerfect file. WPRead2 translates the files that contain the course content (.WPF and .DEF) into ASCII. It also reformats the lines of the content to fit on the screen when displayed by GALE/Screen and builds an index of each of the pages in the course content tile to allow GALE/Screen to access any specific page of the course content directly. The SC program compiles the ASCII version of the SSL into the digital version used by GALE.
Graphics
Assisted
Learning
Environment
145
Presentation program GALE/Screen, the presentation program, draws the screens and presents the images from the videodisc that are seen by the trainee. GALE/Screen tracks all mouse input made by the trainee. GALE/Screen records in the tracking files the time to the hundredth of a second of every mouse click, which option box is selected and what page is being displayed. GALE/Screen has menuing capabilities. The menus provide a convenient method of linking related courses together into an easy-to-access and easy to use system. They are most frequently used when the breadth of the instructional material is too great to be comfortably covered in a single CA1 course. Analysis programs TrackPrint (TRKprint), TrackRead (TRKRead), WordPerfect-Write (WPWrite) and GALE-Map are programs which are research tools used to analyze trainee performance and course material usage paths. The use of these programs is optional. TRKPrint enables the course creator to obtain a hard copy of the tracking Iiles recorded by GALE/Screen. TRKRead analyzes the tracking tiles, scores the trainee’s performance on the exemplar/non-exemplar and multiple choice questions and creates a map of all the content viewed by the trainee during a single use of GALE/Screen. WPWrite prints out the ‘table of contents’ (an index) for the course material files once they have been processed by WPRead2. GALE-Map prepares a listing of the hypertext-definitions available in a content file (e.g. .WPF or .DEF). Utility program GALEInit is a program used to initialize key disks. It takes the trainee’s name and creates a floppy disk which uniquely identifies the trainee to GALE. Hardware Requirements of GALE Table II summarizes the hardware requirements of GALE. Since it is an MS-DOS based authoring tool, GALE operates on any PC-compatible computer with 640K TABLE II THE HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS
OF GALE
Computer PC-compatible 640K RAM EGA (or VGA) graphics adaptor and monitor Microsoft compatible mouse Videodisc Pioneer Pioneer Videodisc
player LD-V4200 series, or LD-V6000 series monitor
146
J.H. Cutts III et al.
memory running DOS 2.0 and above. A hard disk is recommended to provide reasonable response time. GALE/Screen is graphics based and requires an enhanced graphics adaptor (EGA) with a color monitor. If run on a video graphics array (VGA) system, the program will take advantage of the enhanced graphics. A Microsoft-compatible mouse is required and GALE supports either serial or bus mice. The computer must also have a serial port for the videodisc player. GALE/Screen supports Pioneer LD-V4200 series or Pioneer LD-V6000 series videodisc players. A second color monitor is needed to display the videodisc images. Software Requirements of GALE Table III summarizes the programs which are required to produce CA1 programs using GALE, but are not included in the GALE authoring package. Any of the currently available PC-compatible computer disk operating systems (i.e., MS-DOS, PCDOS, DR-DOS) can be used to run GALE. WordPerfect 5.1 is the word processing program used to create the course content and sequence specification files. The inclusion of graphics in the course content requires a graphics editing program which produces files in the .PCX format. PC-Paintbrush by ZSoft and Microsoft Paintbrush are two graphics editing programs which will work with GALE. Developing CA1 with GALE GALE is an authoring package that has been designed for use by nonprogrammers and has been made ‘bullet proof to avoid crashing when used by inexperienced course authors. The documentation provides the novice author with directions and a tutorial. The learning curve is not steep, so little time is invested in gaining familiarity with the package. The first step in developing CA1 with GALE is to identify a course author to write the instructional material. Once an author is found, an outline of the text to be presented is created. A videodisc that contains appropriate pictures and motion sequences must be located or developed. Ideas for help screens and terms that need to be defined are included in the detailed text outline. The course author begins to develop the CA1 course using WordPerfect 5.1. Once
TABLE III THE SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS
OF GALE
Disk operating system MS-DOS or PC-DOS or DR-DOS WordPerfect 5.1 Graphics Package which produces a .PCX format file PC-Paintbrush or Microsoft Paintbrush
Graphics Assisted Learning Environment
147
all of the files are completed, they are converted to the formats used by GALE by the program GALECopy. At this point the instructional material is ready to be displayed in GALE/Screen. Since revisions are necessary to create an appropriate teaching tool, GALE has been built to accommodate changes in the teaching material. The course author simply edits the various files with WordPerfect and runs GALECopy again. Automated production steps, through the use of WordPerfect macros and GALECopy, result in rapid development of course content files. Predefined screen layouts, selected after field testing with college students, simplify the instructor’s decisions. All of these features ease construction of CA1 material. Using CA1 Developed with GALE
The GALE presentation program was designed to be friendly to the person receiving the instruction (trainee). GALE/Screen incorporates educationally sound features requested by initial testers, medical students and educational psychologists. It was important to make GALE/Screen easy to use to eliminate trainee anxiety and a long learning curve. Screen presentation The graphics-based,
large characters used by GALE are appealing to view and allow for small group tutorials. They also ease screen viewing for the vision impaired. A built-in limitation of 30 characters per line and 12 lines per screen eliminates the problem of too many separate concepts appearing on a single screen, thus easing comprehension of the material by the trainees. Each screen carries an ‘x of n’ page number statement. This displays the number of pages in the CA1 course. It also indicates how far the trainee has progressed through the course content. Hypertext capabilities allow layering of material up to 25 layers deep. This lets the instructor and trainee chose the depth of material that they want to make available and pursue, respectively. Color coding of the screens to signify each level of hypertext helps to decrease the possibility of becoming lost in ‘hyperspace’. Letter and arrow overlays are used to clarify points on the videodisc images. This feature is particularly useful for directing the trainee to pertinent visual information. The video overlays are generated by the videodisc players and are limited to 20 characters per row. The number of rows varies for each videodisc player. The LDV6OOOAplayer supports 9 rows of overlaid characters, while the LD-V4200 player supports 11 rows. The positioning and size of the overlaid characters is fixed by the videodisc player. Trainee input interface
GALE/Screen is equipped with an ‘intelligent’ cursor. The cursor is automatically placed in the option box most often (or logically) selected by the trainee. This simplifies operational details for the trainee. When questions are asked, the cursor is neutrally placed to avoid giving the trainee any clues to the most appropriate option box. Keyboard skills are not needed. Mouse operation lets most disabled trainees use CA1 courses developed with GALE.
148
J.H. Cutts III et al.
Videodisc presentation
GALE/Screen is able to show single frame and motion sequence projection of images from the videodisc and can also project a single frame from a motion sequence. A single frame image can be paired with another single frame image and a motion sequence can be paired with another motion sequence. Each of the two audio tracks on the videodisc can be used as desired. Key disks
Each trainee who uses GALE/Screen is provided with a key disk, a floppy disk coded to allow a specifically named trainee access to the course. The key disk provides a ‘bookmark’ feature, enabling the trainee to depart from and return to a specific location within the course material on the computer. Discussion While GALE was built to author course content in rheumatology (e.g. AI/Learn/Rheumatology [8,9]), it is a valuable authoring package suitable for any discipline and audience. GALE’s instructional design, screen format, tracking feature and videodisc interface have been fine tuned through repeated evaluations by students, programmers and physicians. Thus we feel that GALE is a high quality package for development of education software on PC-compatible computers using interactive videodisc technology. GALE was fashioned through consultation with instructional design experts who made recommendations on font size, font style, location of option boxes, screen colors, the number of lines per screen page, bookmarks and ‘x of n’ page numbers. All of these screen presentation features are determined for the course author. Some authors may feel limited by the lack of choices offered them. We think our well considered screen design is attractive and easy-to-use and saves the course author the time required to develop the screen presentation. Trainee access to the course can be regulated by the provision of key disks. By using key disks to restrict access to the material it is possible to track the performance of each student that has been assigned material in the course. Making course content accessible to trainees not enrolled in a course may be a feature which some course authors might want. Therefore, we have made it possible for the course author to circumvent the need for key disks. However, this eliminates the bookmark feature since the bookmark is recorded on the key disk. GALE’s menuing system, which allows reduction of material into independently accessible chapters, assists in organizing the material and in reducing the size of the chapters to reasonable lengths. Nesting of menus inside of menus is possible in GALE. Reduction of material into chapters and the bookmark feature have been particularly useful with medical trainees who must frequently interrupt their CA1 sessions due to patient care responsibilities. A fringe benefit of GALE is its ability to serve as a slide presentation program. The computer screen displays the textual information which can be discussed by the presenter. The videodisc player displays images to enhance the presentation and can play music in association with motion sequences.
Graphics Assisted Learning Environment
149
The hardware requirements for GALE (See Table II) are minimal, especially considering the level of technology that is offered. GALE rnns nicely on an 8 to 10 MHz 286 computer. The price for a computer of this speed is approaching the $1000 range. The additional costs to acquire interactive videodisc technology for CAI, above the cost of the computer, are about $900 for the Pioneer LD-V4200 videodisc player and $900 for the video monitor. The system requires no special overlay cards or specialized monitors; all components used are standard ‘off the shelf’ parts. There are features that we are considering implementing in GALE to improve the program further. We feel it would be useful to have GALE support additional videodisc players. We have also discovered occasions when it is desirable to author material that has no suitable videodisc of images to accompany it. Future moditications to GALE will include these features. Conclusion GALE is an authoring package that has worked well with computer-based interactive videodisc technology in a medical teaching setting. GALE allows for incorporation of theories from cognitive psychology in its educational strategies as demonstrated by AI/Learn/Rheumatology. GALE uses WordPerfect macros to ease programming needs, allows placement of character overlays on the videodisc screen to point out features emphasized in the course content, maintains tracking tiles of the trainee’s approach to the course content and is course author and trainee friendly. GALE provides non-threatening opportunities for inexperienced computer operators to design and write courseware that incorporates videodisc images.
Acknowledgements Alex Lee, M.D. developed some of the initial screen design concepts used by GALE. WordPerfect is a registered trademark of the WordPerfect Corporation. PCPaintbrush is a registered trademark of the ZSoft Corporation. Microsoft, MS-DOS and Paintbrush are trademarks of the Microsoft Corporation. Pioneer and LaserDisc are trademarks of the Pioneer Corporation. PC-DOS is a trademark of the IBM Corporation. DR-DOS is a trademark of the Digital Research Incorporation. Macintosh is a registered trademark of the Apple Computer Corporation. This work was supported by a grant from the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (H133B80075), Department of Education. References 1 2
3 4
Locatis C and Carr V: Selecting authoring systems, J Compur-Based Instruci, 12: 2 (1985) 28-33. Reid JC and Mitchell JA: The improvement of learning in computer assisted instruction, J Educ Tech Syst, 19: 4 (1991) 281-290. Grabinger RS: Evaluation criteria and checklist for CA1 authoring tools, Perf Instruct J, October (1985) 14-15. Abdulla AM, Henke JS and Watkins LO: Computer-aided learning: experiences, perspectives and promises, J Am Coil Cardiol, 9: 3 (1987) 678-683.
150 5 6 7 8
9
J.H. Cutts III et al. Rlar R and Bayer U: Computer-assisted teaching and learning in medicine, Int J Biomed Comput, 26 (1990) 7-27. Singarella T, Bader S and Ramagli HJ: Videodisc technology trends in academic health sciences libraries, Bull Med Libr Assoc, 79: 2 (1991) 159-167. Gag& RM: Conditions of Learning, 3rd Edn, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, New York, 1977. Mitchell JA, Lee AX, TenBrink T, Cutts JH, Clark DP, Hazelwood S, Jackson R, Bickel J, Gaunt W, Ladenson RP and Sharp GS: AI-Learn: An interactive videodisk system for teaching medical concepts and reasoning, J Med Syst, 11: 6 (1987) 421-429. Bridges AJ, Dartsdill JD, Anderson JS, Hazelwood SE, Reid JC, Cutts JH, Sanford M, Gag EP, Sharp GC and Mitchell JA: AI/LEARN/RHEUMATOLOGY: A computer-assisted educational system for teaching about rheumatic diseases, Arthritis Care Res, 51 (1992) 3-7.
141
GALE A GRAPHICS ASSISTED LEARNING ENVIRONMENT FOR COMPUTER-BASED INTERACTIVE VIDEODISC EDUCATION
JAMES H. CUTTS III, SUSAN E. HAZELWOOD, JOYCE A. MITCHELL, ALAN J. BRIDGES and JOHN C. REID Medical Informatics Group, School of Medicine, University of Missouri-Columbia, 605 Lewis Hall, Columbia, MO 65211 (USA) (Received March 22nd, 1992) (Accepted April lst, 1992)
GALE, a Graphics Assisted Learning Environment, is a computer-based interactive videodisc authoring tool. GALE was created as the authoring package for AI/LEARN/Rheumatology, an independent study system for teaching rheumatology to medical trainees. GALE has potential widespread application beyond rheumatology. Interactive videodisc technology is a prime feature of GALE. Other highlights are: WordPerfect macros which simplify programming, graphics-based large text characters, tracking of user responses, hypertext-like definition capabilities, color coded screens to distinguish between hypertext branches and the mainstream of the course content and ability to overlay text on the video image. GALE runs on a PC-compatible computer with selected Pioneer LaserDisc players. GALE uses WordPerfect 5.1 for text editing and has been designed for use by non-programmers. Keywords: Computer-assisted
instruction;
Computer
software;
Medical
education;
Teaching
Introduction
To encourage the development of courseware on microcomputers, firms have been marketing authoring tools that ease the task of putting course content on microcomputers [l]. Authoring tools are software programs that enable a teacher instead of a programmer to create computer assisted instruction (CAI) which allows independent study by trainees. Authoring tools are traditionally separated into authoring languages, which have subroutines that facilitate educational programming, and authoring systems, which are characterized by menu driven editors that reduce the amount of programming required [2]. Selection of an authoring tool by a course instructor depends on such factors as the purpose, the equipment available and the people who will use it [3]. Despite the recent strong interest in CAI, few programs of high quality were available [4] until recent years [5]. Even fewer authoring tools of quality are available that can support videodisc technology, because CA1 with videodisc technology has only come into use within the last several years. A 1989 survey by Singarella et al. [6] found that 67% Correspondence to: James H. Cutts III, Medical Informatics Group, School of Medicine, University of Missouri-Columbia, 605 Lewis Hall, Columbia, MS 65211, USA. 0020-7101/92/$05.00 0 1992 Elsevier Scientific Publishers Ireland Ltd. Printed and Published in Ireland
142
J.H. Cutts III et al.
of health science libraries had purchased videodisc technology and over 25% were repurposing a videodisc. The use of videodisc technology for biomedical instruction is expanding. Much of the biomedical videodisc repurposing is being done on Macintosh computers. Since there was a need for PC-compatible based authoring tools, we developed GALE (Graphics Assisted Learning Environment), an authoring package that a non-programmer can use to build PC-compatible based CA1 courses which incorporate videodisc technology. In this paper, we describe the special features and utilities of GALE. Description of GALE Five years ago, we received funding from the Department of Education to test learning theories that involved visual discrimination using CAI. We wanted to use PC-compatible computers to teach diagnostic concepts in medicine by using paired exemplar/non-exemplar images, advance organizers, signallers and summaries, and to illustrate the disease under discussion by means of still and motion picture sequences of actual patients. GALE was created because we could not find a suitable authoring tool. As an authoring tool, GALE is neither an authoring language nor an authoring system, as defined by the literature. We refer to GALE as an authoring package because GALE does not require the skills of a programmer and GALE is not menu driven. Rather, by running a set of utilities to create courseware, GALE offers the non-programmer course author more capabilities and options than are permitted from a limited menu. Instructional Design GALE allows incorporation of principles from the discipline of cognitive psychology into CAI. For instance, Gag&s [7] intellectual skills (including discrimination and concrete concepts) are addressed through the ability to present visually paired exemplars and non-exemplars. A toggling feature that allows the trainee to switch back and forth between exemplar and non-exemplar images is particularly useful when the course author wants to quiz trainees. This exemplar/nonexemplar technology also has application in the training of health care professionals who can compare patients who have a particular disease with normals or with patients who have other diseases which could be easily confused with the disease being studied. Immediate feedback, ability to provide additional ‘help’ and definitions, backup and continue boxes (see Fig. 1) and ability to overlay text characters (letters, numbers and arrows) on the videodisc monitor screen, all serve to reinforce or clarify the material presented. Assessment of the trainee’s comprehension of the course material is approached through yes/no, multiple choice and exemplar/non-exemplar questions. GALE easily accommodates problem-based learning because of the flexibility of the authoring package and the interactive videodisc technology.
Graphics Assisted Learning Environment
143
Fig. 1. Picture of a typical GALE computer screen.
Authoring Package Components Course content storage within GALE The content of a CA1 course, built using GALE, is stored in the sequence specification language (SSL) file (i.e., the .MOD file), the course content tile (i.e. the .WPF file) and the tile of definitions (i.e. the .DEF file). SSL is the language used by the course author to program the courseware. It specifies the combination of pages of text from the .WPF tile that are to be integrated with the slides from the videodisc. The .WPF tile contains the course author’s knowledge; it is the textbook material that is presented to the trainee. The .DEF tile contains definitions for ideas in the course content which the course author feels may need amplification or clarification. GALE supports PC-Paintbrush’s .PCX picture format. Any art work, either drawn or scanned, can be displayed. Software components of GALE The software components of GALE are specified in programs listed must be used by the course author GALE. These programs are the WordPerfect GALE/Screen. The other programs are managed
Table I. Only three of the 11 to create courseware using macros, GALECopy and for the course author by
144
J.H. Cutts III et al.
TABLE I THE SOFTWARE COMPONENTS OF GALE Development WordPerfect macrosa GALECopya WPRead SC WPRead2 Presentation GALEfScreena Analysis TRKRead TRKPrint WPWrite GaleMap Utility GaleInit ‘Programs necessary to author and ruu courseware.
GALECopy, or are needed only for analysis of the trainee’s performance, used to initialize the trainee’s key disk.
or are
Development programs
Using WordPerfect macros, GALE simplifies programming by carrying out multiple programming steps with minimal keystroke entry. WordPerfect macros, provided with GALE, automate the process of course creation by prompting the course author to enter the correct values and by managing the switching between the two files (e.g. .MOD and .WPF) used in the development process. GALECopy manages WordPerfect-Read (WPRead), WordPerfect-Read2 (WPRead2) and the Sequence Compiler (SC) programs so that the course author never has to interact directly with these programs. WPRead converts the file that contains the SSL statements (.MOD) from WordPerfect format to pure ASCII by eliminating all the formatting instructions imbedded in the WordPerfect file. WPRead2 translates the files that contain the course content (.WPF and .DEF) into ASCII. It also reformats the lines of the content to fit on the screen when displayed by GALE/Screen and builds an index of each of the pages in the course content tile to allow GALE/Screen to access any specific page of the course content directly. The SC program compiles the ASCII version of the SSL into the digital version used by GALE.
Graphics
Assisted
Learning
Environment
145
Presentation program GALE/Screen, the presentation program, draws the screens and presents the images from the videodisc that are seen by the trainee. GALE/Screen tracks all mouse input made by the trainee. GALE/Screen records in the tracking files the time to the hundredth of a second of every mouse click, which option box is selected and what page is being displayed. GALE/Screen has menuing capabilities. The menus provide a convenient method of linking related courses together into an easy-to-access and easy to use system. They are most frequently used when the breadth of the instructional material is too great to be comfortably covered in a single CA1 course. Analysis programs TrackPrint (TRKprint), TrackRead (TRKRead), WordPerfect-Write (WPWrite) and GALE-Map are programs which are research tools used to analyze trainee performance and course material usage paths. The use of these programs is optional. TRKPrint enables the course creator to obtain a hard copy of the tracking Iiles recorded by GALE/Screen. TRKRead analyzes the tracking tiles, scores the trainee’s performance on the exemplar/non-exemplar and multiple choice questions and creates a map of all the content viewed by the trainee during a single use of GALE/Screen. WPWrite prints out the ‘table of contents’ (an index) for the course material files once they have been processed by WPRead2. GALE-Map prepares a listing of the hypertext-definitions available in a content file (e.g. .WPF or .DEF). Utility program GALEInit is a program used to initialize key disks. It takes the trainee’s name and creates a floppy disk which uniquely identifies the trainee to GALE. Hardware Requirements of GALE Table II summarizes the hardware requirements of GALE. Since it is an MS-DOS based authoring tool, GALE operates on any PC-compatible computer with 640K TABLE II THE HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS
OF GALE
Computer PC-compatible 640K RAM EGA (or VGA) graphics adaptor and monitor Microsoft compatible mouse Videodisc Pioneer Pioneer Videodisc
player LD-V4200 series, or LD-V6000 series monitor
146
J.H. Cutts III et al.
memory running DOS 2.0 and above. A hard disk is recommended to provide reasonable response time. GALE/Screen is graphics based and requires an enhanced graphics adaptor (EGA) with a color monitor. If run on a video graphics array (VGA) system, the program will take advantage of the enhanced graphics. A Microsoft-compatible mouse is required and GALE supports either serial or bus mice. The computer must also have a serial port for the videodisc player. GALE/Screen supports Pioneer LD-V4200 series or Pioneer LD-V6000 series videodisc players. A second color monitor is needed to display the videodisc images. Software Requirements of GALE Table III summarizes the programs which are required to produce CA1 programs using GALE, but are not included in the GALE authoring package. Any of the currently available PC-compatible computer disk operating systems (i.e., MS-DOS, PCDOS, DR-DOS) can be used to run GALE. WordPerfect 5.1 is the word processing program used to create the course content and sequence specification files. The inclusion of graphics in the course content requires a graphics editing program which produces files in the .PCX format. PC-Paintbrush by ZSoft and Microsoft Paintbrush are two graphics editing programs which will work with GALE. Developing CA1 with GALE GALE is an authoring package that has been designed for use by nonprogrammers and has been made ‘bullet proof to avoid crashing when used by inexperienced course authors. The documentation provides the novice author with directions and a tutorial. The learning curve is not steep, so little time is invested in gaining familiarity with the package. The first step in developing CA1 with GALE is to identify a course author to write the instructional material. Once an author is found, an outline of the text to be presented is created. A videodisc that contains appropriate pictures and motion sequences must be located or developed. Ideas for help screens and terms that need to be defined are included in the detailed text outline. The course author begins to develop the CA1 course using WordPerfect 5.1. Once
TABLE III THE SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS
OF GALE
Disk operating system MS-DOS or PC-DOS or DR-DOS WordPerfect 5.1 Graphics Package which produces a .PCX format file PC-Paintbrush or Microsoft Paintbrush
Graphics Assisted Learning Environment
147
all of the files are completed, they are converted to the formats used by GALE by the program GALECopy. At this point the instructional material is ready to be displayed in GALE/Screen. Since revisions are necessary to create an appropriate teaching tool, GALE has been built to accommodate changes in the teaching material. The course author simply edits the various files with WordPerfect and runs GALECopy again. Automated production steps, through the use of WordPerfect macros and GALECopy, result in rapid development of course content files. Predefined screen layouts, selected after field testing with college students, simplify the instructor’s decisions. All of these features ease construction of CA1 material. Using CA1 Developed with GALE
The GALE presentation program was designed to be friendly to the person receiving the instruction (trainee). GALE/Screen incorporates educationally sound features requested by initial testers, medical students and educational psychologists. It was important to make GALE/Screen easy to use to eliminate trainee anxiety and a long learning curve. Screen presentation The graphics-based,
large characters used by GALE are appealing to view and allow for small group tutorials. They also ease screen viewing for the vision impaired. A built-in limitation of 30 characters per line and 12 lines per screen eliminates the problem of too many separate concepts appearing on a single screen, thus easing comprehension of the material by the trainees. Each screen carries an ‘x of n’ page number statement. This displays the number of pages in the CA1 course. It also indicates how far the trainee has progressed through the course content. Hypertext capabilities allow layering of material up to 25 layers deep. This lets the instructor and trainee chose the depth of material that they want to make available and pursue, respectively. Color coding of the screens to signify each level of hypertext helps to decrease the possibility of becoming lost in ‘hyperspace’. Letter and arrow overlays are used to clarify points on the videodisc images. This feature is particularly useful for directing the trainee to pertinent visual information. The video overlays are generated by the videodisc players and are limited to 20 characters per row. The number of rows varies for each videodisc player. The LDV6OOOAplayer supports 9 rows of overlaid characters, while the LD-V4200 player supports 11 rows. The positioning and size of the overlaid characters is fixed by the videodisc player. Trainee input interface
GALE/Screen is equipped with an ‘intelligent’ cursor. The cursor is automatically placed in the option box most often (or logically) selected by the trainee. This simplifies operational details for the trainee. When questions are asked, the cursor is neutrally placed to avoid giving the trainee any clues to the most appropriate option box. Keyboard skills are not needed. Mouse operation lets most disabled trainees use CA1 courses developed with GALE.
148
J.H. Cutts III et al.
Videodisc presentation
GALE/Screen is able to show single frame and motion sequence projection of images from the videodisc and can also project a single frame from a motion sequence. A single frame image can be paired with another single frame image and a motion sequence can be paired with another motion sequence. Each of the two audio tracks on the videodisc can be used as desired. Key disks
Each trainee who uses GALE/Screen is provided with a key disk, a floppy disk coded to allow a specifically named trainee access to the course. The key disk provides a ‘bookmark’ feature, enabling the trainee to depart from and return to a specific location within the course material on the computer. Discussion While GALE was built to author course content in rheumatology (e.g. AI/Learn/Rheumatology [8,9]), it is a valuable authoring package suitable for any discipline and audience. GALE’s instructional design, screen format, tracking feature and videodisc interface have been fine tuned through repeated evaluations by students, programmers and physicians. Thus we feel that GALE is a high quality package for development of education software on PC-compatible computers using interactive videodisc technology. GALE was fashioned through consultation with instructional design experts who made recommendations on font size, font style, location of option boxes, screen colors, the number of lines per screen page, bookmarks and ‘x of n’ page numbers. All of these screen presentation features are determined for the course author. Some authors may feel limited by the lack of choices offered them. We think our well considered screen design is attractive and easy-to-use and saves the course author the time required to develop the screen presentation. Trainee access to the course can be regulated by the provision of key disks. By using key disks to restrict access to the material it is possible to track the performance of each student that has been assigned material in the course. Making course content accessible to trainees not enrolled in a course may be a feature which some course authors might want. Therefore, we have made it possible for the course author to circumvent the need for key disks. However, this eliminates the bookmark feature since the bookmark is recorded on the key disk. GALE’s menuing system, which allows reduction of material into independently accessible chapters, assists in organizing the material and in reducing the size of the chapters to reasonable lengths. Nesting of menus inside of menus is possible in GALE. Reduction of material into chapters and the bookmark feature have been particularly useful with medical trainees who must frequently interrupt their CA1 sessions due to patient care responsibilities. A fringe benefit of GALE is its ability to serve as a slide presentation program. The computer screen displays the textual information which can be discussed by the presenter. The videodisc player displays images to enhance the presentation and can play music in association with motion sequences.
Graphics Assisted Learning Environment
149
The hardware requirements for GALE (See Table II) are minimal, especially considering the level of technology that is offered. GALE rnns nicely on an 8 to 10 MHz 286 computer. The price for a computer of this speed is approaching the $1000 range. The additional costs to acquire interactive videodisc technology for CAI, above the cost of the computer, are about $900 for the Pioneer LD-V4200 videodisc player and $900 for the video monitor. The system requires no special overlay cards or specialized monitors; all components used are standard ‘off the shelf’ parts. There are features that we are considering implementing in GALE to improve the program further. We feel it would be useful to have GALE support additional videodisc players. We have also discovered occasions when it is desirable to author material that has no suitable videodisc of images to accompany it. Future moditications to GALE will include these features. Conclusion GALE is an authoring package that has worked well with computer-based interactive videodisc technology in a medical teaching setting. GALE allows for incorporation of theories from cognitive psychology in its educational strategies as demonstrated by AI/Learn/Rheumatology. GALE uses WordPerfect macros to ease programming needs, allows placement of character overlays on the videodisc screen to point out features emphasized in the course content, maintains tracking tiles of the trainee’s approach to the course content and is course author and trainee friendly. GALE provides non-threatening opportunities for inexperienced computer operators to design and write courseware that incorporates videodisc images.
Acknowledgements Alex Lee, M.D. developed some of the initial screen design concepts used by GALE. WordPerfect is a registered trademark of the WordPerfect Corporation. PCPaintbrush is a registered trademark of the ZSoft Corporation. Microsoft, MS-DOS and Paintbrush are trademarks of the Microsoft Corporation. Pioneer and LaserDisc are trademarks of the Pioneer Corporation. PC-DOS is a trademark of the IBM Corporation. DR-DOS is a trademark of the Digital Research Incorporation. Macintosh is a registered trademark of the Apple Computer Corporation. This work was supported by a grant from the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research (H133B80075), Department of Education. References 1 2
3 4
Locatis C and Carr V: Selecting authoring systems, J Compur-Based Instruci, 12: 2 (1985) 28-33. Reid JC and Mitchell JA: The improvement of learning in computer assisted instruction, J Educ Tech Syst, 19: 4 (1991) 281-290. Grabinger RS: Evaluation criteria and checklist for CA1 authoring tools, Perf Instruct J, October (1985) 14-15. Abdulla AM, Henke JS and Watkins LO: Computer-aided learning: experiences, perspectives and promises, J Am Coil Cardiol, 9: 3 (1987) 678-683.
150 5 6 7 8
9
J.H. Cutts III et al. Rlar R and Bayer U: Computer-assisted teaching and learning in medicine, Int J Biomed Comput, 26 (1990) 7-27. Singarella T, Bader S and Ramagli HJ: Videodisc technology trends in academic health sciences libraries, Bull Med Libr Assoc, 79: 2 (1991) 159-167. Gag& RM: Conditions of Learning, 3rd Edn, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, New York, 1977. Mitchell JA, Lee AX, TenBrink T, Cutts JH, Clark DP, Hazelwood S, Jackson R, Bickel J, Gaunt W, Ladenson RP and Sharp GS: AI-Learn: An interactive videodisk system for teaching medical concepts and reasoning, J Med Syst, 11: 6 (1987) 421-429. Bridges AJ, Dartsdill JD, Anderson JS, Hazelwood SE, Reid JC, Cutts JH, Sanford M, Gag EP, Sharp GC and Mitchell JA: AI/LEARN/RHEUMATOLOGY: A computer-assisted educational system for teaching about rheumatic diseases, Arthritis Care Res, 51 (1992) 3-7.
