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Wednesday, January 28, 1976
University Daily Kansan
Phelix the CATS aids KU profs
By BILL UYEKI
Computers will probably never completely replace human instructors, but they are thought to be valuable learning tools at the University of Kansas and the KU Med Center.
At the Med Center, the department of pharmacology has used the computer assisted teaching system (CATS) since 2004 to administer pharmacology and toxicology, said recently.
CATS started out as an experimental program. Doull said, and the system is now running on a PC.
**CATS HAS two parts.** Computer assisted instruction (CAI) is the presentation of subject matter and computer managed resources to assist students in learning of the students' knowledge of the subject.
CATS' main purpose Doul said, is to provide the students with one more tool for learning.
letterts to each student and his instructor, he said. This forms a close relationship between the students and Phelix, he added, because it communicates with them often.
TWELVE TERMINALS, equipped with
wheelchairs, are available to the
medical student.
The computer teaches the basic pharmacology course. Doul said, because it is a bubble machine.
According to Wallasez, the computer has "infinite patience"-something necessary when terms must be repeated over and over.
The computer's use is not limited to medical students. Doull said that pharmacology can be taught to nursing students, graduate students in biology, medicinal chemistry, and pharmacy, and to health professionals across the state.
WALASZEK SAID the exam was the best learning tool a student has and was even
Students use Phelix at the Med Center
"The student is provided with lectures, discussions, syllabuses, textbooks, and computers, and can use as many of these materials to learn the subject matter," he said.
Some students used only the syllabus and the computer and never came to lectures while others didn't like using the computer at all. Doul said.
"WE'RE SAYING to the student, 'Try all the teaching options we have put together, and utilize heavily the option that is best for you.' " he said.
CATS is actually a different learning system, because more responsibility is placed on the student, Doul said. The student then must decide how fast to learn, and how much emphasis to put on some areas.
Edward Walaszek, chairman of the department of pharmacology, said that CATS enables the bright students to move ahead, and allows the slow learners to catch
Normally, time has been the constant and achievement the variable in learning, he said, because students must take tests at certain dates, and their scores differ.
THE CATS system reverses the emphasis, stressing achievement as the constant and time as a variable. The student must attain a specific score on each test before continuing to the next section, he said.
"It itake you longer to learn, that's what the Walzauer said." If it takes you shorter time, you'll be better.
Because the student is progressing at his own rate, Doul said, the computer needs to be in constant communication with him, to inform the student of his progress.
The computer, named "Phrelx" by the students, communicates by sending weekly
more beneficial to the student with the CMI system.
"The trauma, the pressure and tension of exam situations, makes learning difficult," he said. "With the CMI system, this trauma becomes a real learning experience."
Use of the CATS system has expanded rapidly, Walaszek said.
According to Doull, the CATS Consortium, an organization of these schools, was formed because many medical schools were needed to make the system work.
"The CATS system is now in use in pharmacology departments in 34 different medical schools across the country," he said.
"We feel that if a student can pass the computer's exams, then he is very well prepared to pass national or state certifying exams," he said.
A BANK OF 15,000 exam questions represent all the pharmacology questions asked at the participating medical schools, he said. The computer selects exam questions that are appropriate to the instructor can have one or one hundred exams prepared by pushing a button.
The question bank is always turning over, he said, taking in new and better questions
Although no figures were available, Doull said that most of the schools using the CATS system had noticed an improvement in their scores on the national board exams.
CHEATING ON exams—a big problem, according to Wallasek—has been prevented by the use of the computer. It scrambles the tests, so each student has a different test.
prepare students better for the national medical exams," Doll said.
The question file was gathered last November at the Med Center, Walaszek said, at a Consortium conference hosted by the University.
Because each student must attain a certain test score to continue to the next section, Doulil said his department has no statistical data to compare students learning in the traditional manner with those using the CATS system.
LARRY SHERR, professor of business, said that he used the computer to help teach a statistics course required for all undergraduates in the School of Business.
Shern said that he was interested in teaching statistics, and he used every way possible.
"My purpose is not to replace the methodical teaching, but to go beyond it," he said.
"OUR GOAL is to teach pharmacology better than we did previously, and to
Traditional methods of teaching were lectures and textbooks, Sherr said, compared to the computer and movies, which were newer teaching tools.
TIME FOR LEARNING is not a constant, but a compromise, Sherr said. To teach the course at a pace that is best for the whole class, he said, he probably pushed some students to move faster than their normal rate of learning.
Sherr's application of the computer in his class involves simulating the operation of a grocery store. Student are asked to choose one and many variables to run the store efficiently.
BECAUSE OF the computer, an incredible number of calculations are available to the student in less than a minute. he said.
"There would have been no way to simulate the situation without computer."
The computer program helps motivate the students, he said, and causes them to ask questions.
students who used the computer did better on exams, and enjoyed class more.
SHERR SAID that students did not take exams on the computer, because the cost-benefit ratio was not good enough. The computer doesn't help eliminate the artificial conditions and time limits of exams, and so it's not a good idea to time and costs to design a testing program.
As far as being a professor's best teaching aid, the computer came in second.
The best kind of help, Sherr said, was the use of qualified teaching assistants on a one-to-one basis.
Al Lata, lecturer in chemistry, said that the computer had been used to teach general chemistry courses in the past, but wasn't being used now.
The computer was used in laboratory simulation of chemical analysis, Lata said where the student asks the computer to apply certain tests to an unknown chemical, and computer responds with the test results. The student then must analyze the results and make a conclusion about the chemical.
THE ADVANTAGE of the computer is
the ability to store and retrieve data, and there is no instructor or peer ciliation.
"The computer does not substitute for study time." Lata said, "but it tests to see how you perform."
The computer is not being used as a teaching tool now in chemistry, he said, because of inadequate computer facilities, or from re-examination of his teaching approach.
According to Robert Adams, associate dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, computer assisted instruction is one of the most important computer system must also be considered.
BECAUSE FINANCING a computer system is so expensive, Adams said, a budget of $40,000 is required.
"What do you give up to accomplish computer assisted instruction," he asked. "Do you give up three teaching assistant positions to accomplish this?"
"IN COURSES with standard exercises with much repetition, a faculty member may get bored and lose efficiency," he said. "But the computer never gored."
spending the money on more teaching assistants would benefit the students more.
The computer is helpful in teaching languages and statistics, Adams, an adult language tutor, has been teaching.
Problems arise with the computer, Adams said, if course material and texts are changed over the years. Computers can be programmed to change medium changes as instructors can be said.
"Computer assisted instruction has tremendous advantages, but it is quite complex."
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