The following query raises the question: What is it that students learn from point and click dialogs?"
[long boring ramble - I'm sure you know how to find the delete key when it gets tedious ;) ]
I think it's fair to say that they don't learn the software, or its internal structures/methods/etc at all (Mac users have always told me that this is the point; I'm not getting into that holy war).
I will state one thing - the point and click interface *can* teach about the underlying software mechanisms, but it has to be a well thought-out interface.
Example - I never used a computer that had a heirarchical filesystem until I went to university. I then had to learn two: IBM PC clones were used to teach us AutoCAD (ever seen AutoCAD run on an 8086 with 640K of RAM? It's not pretty ;). I also worked on the student newspaper, which was a Mac-only shop. The Macs came later; I was working in layout initially, back when layout really involved printouts, big cardboard sheets, and wax to stick the articles to the cardboard.
I did not understand directory structure on the PCs at all. It never clicked. I simply "parroted" the commands I was taught to use, and managed to stay out of trouble. "Polly wanna .dwg file." Then I worked on the Macs. The display of folders made it clear to me, in about five seconds. I realised right away what I'd been missing, and flew back into the PC world with a bit more insight.
As a result, I know that nice point-and-drool GUIs can educate about the underlying design and approach, but the design really must be considered very carefully. It's also important to take away the "crutch" from time to time, too (going back to PCs, in the above example).
I've yet to see a GUI for a statistical software system that meets this criteria, and I can't imagine what one would look like (I'm an engineer, not a designer ;). I don't even know if it can be done. I'm sure anybody who understood heirarchical filesystems prior to GUIs would've thought similar things - that if one can't understand something so basic, there's really no simplifying or alternate explanation that'll work. Had that thinking prevailed, I might've been another engineer who doesn't know a thing about how computers actually work (there's no shortage, believe me).
Just my $0.05 NZ (exchange rates, and all)
Cheers
Jason -- Indigo Industrial Controls Ltd. http://www.indigoindustrial.co.nz 64-21-343-545 [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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