Technical Report 703/

00 Videodisc Interpersonal Skills Training

00 and Assessment (VISTA): 00 Overview and Findings, Volume 1

James E. Schroeder and Frederick N. Dyer

Army Research Institute

Paul Czerny, Edward W. Youngling, and Daniel P. Gillotti

Mellonics Systems Development Division, Litton Systems, Inc.

ARI Field Unit at Fort Benning, GeorgiaZ

Training Research Laboratory

SELE

OTIC

MAY 19 1986'

~JD~A

U. S. Army

Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences

January 1986

Approved for public release; distribution ulmitd.

86 5 19 016

~ zh~:X-wXKX.-j- ~. .~ ~. s'- -* * .%
U. S. ARMY RESEARCH INSTITUTE

FOR THE BEHAVIORAL AND SOCIAL SCIENCES

A Field Operating Agency under the Jurisdiction of the

Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel

WM. DARRYL HENDERSON

EDGAR M. JOHNSON COL, IN

Technical Director Commanding

Research accomplished under contract

for the Department of the Army

Mellonics Systems Development Division, Litton Systems, Incorporated

Technical review b,-

Robert A. Wisher

John J. Kessler

NOTICES

DISTRIBUTION: Primary distribution of this report has been made by ARI. Please address correspondence concerning distribution of reports to: U.S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioral

and Social Sciences, ATTN: PERI-POT, 5001 Eisenhower Ave., Alexandria, Virginia 22333-5600.

FINAL DISPOSITION: This report may be destroyed when it is no longer needed. Please do not

return it to the U.S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences.

NOTE: The findings in this report are not to be construed as an official Department of the Army

position, unless so designated by other authorized documents.

7i
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REPORT DOCUMENTATION PAGE READ INSTRUCTIONS

I BEFORE COMPLETING FORM

I. REPORT NUMBER ACCESSION N 3" J CIPIENT'$ CATALOG NUMBER

ARI Technical Report 703 ,4:t~p4j.(i O3 SCTLGNME

4. TITLE (and Subtitle) S. TYPE OF REPORT & PERIOD COVERED

VIDEODISC INTERPERSONAL SKILLS TRAINING AND Final Report

ASSESSMENT (VISTA): OVERVIEW AND FINDINGS, August 1980 - March 1983

VOLUME 1 S. PERFORMING ORG. REPORT NUMBER

7. AUTHOR(e) S. CONTRACT OR GRANT NUMBER(e)

James E. Schroeder, Frederick N. Dyer (ARI),

Paul Czerny, Edward W. Youngling, and MDA 903-80-C-0545

Daniel P. Gillotti (Litton/Mellonics)

9. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME AND ADDRESS 10. PROGRAM ELEMENT. PROJECT. TASK AREA & WORK UNIT NUMBERS

Mellonics Systems Development Division, Litton J

Systems, Inc., P.O. Box 2498 2Q263743A794-

Fort Benning, Georgia 31905 5714

11. CONTROLLING OFFICE NAME AND ADDRESS 12. REPORT DATE

U.S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioral January 1986

and Social Sciences - Fort Benning Field Unit 13. NUMBER OF PAGES

P.O. Box 2086, Fort Benning, Georgia 31905

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16. DISTRIBUTION STATEMENT (of this Report)

Approved for public release; distribution unlimited

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1S. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES

The Contracting Officer's Representative was Seward Smith. Appendixes to this

report have been published separately as follows: Volume 2, appendixes A - D

in ARI Research Note 86-08; Volume 3, appendixes E - J in ARI Research Note

86-09, and Volume 4, appendixes K - M in ARI Research Note 86-10.

19. KEY WORDS (Continue an reveree side It necoeary end Identify by block nutber)

computer-assisted instruction. interpersonal skills"

leadership-, interactive training

counseling videodisc) J

training development "

k7

M AMerIACT (Cot aEm e, er aide N seoty md Idenilfy by block number)

The Videodisc Interpersonal Skills Training and Assessment (VISTA) project was

initiated as a means to use computer-assisted training/videodisc technology to

reduce the high training costs associated with junior officer leadership skills

training. istorically the major problem was simulating subordinates as they

would probably-r wd in a given leadership situation; assessment center simulations and role playing cou1d tr ers p s'kfl--but AiQt without high

personnel costs due to the numbers of counselors and role playefs-Luired.

D O AN 7 Eto-,0 D OF1 Ia 1100 Go IS, OBSOLETE 1% ."

DO, 1473 ET O OEUNCLASSIFIED

SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF THIS PAGE (WlMmt Data Entered)

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UNCLASSIFIED

SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF THIS PAGE(Whau Date Entered)

item 20. Abstract (continuation)

Previous research indicated that a videodisc system could successfully

train soldier skills even when only a fraction of the capabilities of

the medium were used. Such a system could be used to supplement the

current role playing and, hence, reduce the number of support personnel

required.

__-The research effort included topic analysis,* hardware selection, software

development, scenario writing, studio production, editing, and videodisc

mastering. Final evaluation of the videodiscs produced included the

administration of two tests, a test designed to measure the acquisition

of leadership skills and a subjective preference test designed to measure

user acceptance.

Nine highly interactive videodisc training scenarios covering 20 leadership problems were produced. Overall evaluation results indicated a

VISTA superiority followed by role playing and programmed text, with the

majority of students indicating that a combination of videodisc and

role playing would be optimal for leadership training. Results also

indicate that although VISTA products were designed for the Infantry

Officer's Basic Course, the problems addressed are probably common to

other Army branches and should therefore be investigated for possible

application in other training centers.

QUALIT1Y

INSPECTED

' "3

ii UNCLASSIFIED

SECURITY CLASSIFICATION OF THIS PAGE(".n Data Ent.red)

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". ,', '., ,' "." " " ". . o " !r "- "" - ". ' . ', .. ' ' ' ' " " .. ,.- .,: .,-,? _" "." ." ,. ,
LIN r-L'7-nTW'.%-"VT-~rTCR -TWE-P-ROWN MO LwLT CIR3v'WW7Wv

Technical Report 703

Videodisc Interpersonal Skills Training

and Assessment (VISTA):

Overview and Findings, Volume 1

James E. Schroeder and Frederick N. Dyer

Army Research Institute

Paul Czerny, Edward W. Youngllng, and Daniel P. Gillotti

Mellonics Systems Development Division, Litton Systems, Inc.

ARt Field Unit at Fort Benning, Georgia

Joel D. Schendel, Acting Chief

Training Research Laboratory

Seward Smith, Acting Director

U.S. ARMY RESEARCH INSTITUTE FOR THE BEHAVIORAL AND SOCIAL SCIENCES

5001 Eisenhower Avenue. Alexandria, Virginia 22333-5600

Office, Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel

Department of the Army

January 1986

Army Project Number Education and Training

2Q263743A794

Approved for public release: distribution unlimited.

3.i
A RI Research Reworts aid T echneical Reports are inltended1 for sponsors of

R&D tasks anid for other research ")d military agencies. Any findings ready

for implementation at the time of publication are presented In the last part

of the Brief. Upon completion of a major phase of the task, formal recoinmendlations for official action normally are conveyed to appropriate military

agencies by briefing or Disposition Form.

tv

I V.
FOREWORD __

The quality training of leadership and interpersonal skills is of major

importance to any organization. The U.S. Army has always emphasized the importance of training and maintaining strong leadership skills at all levels, especially among junior officers. Over the years, various approaches have been

utilized, most commonly textbooks and simulations (e.g., role playing and assessment center simulations). These methods have typically been shown to be

effective means for the assessment and training of interpersonal leadership

skills. However, both procedures require a large instructor core, including

* role players, evaluators, and administrators.

The Videodisc Interpersonal Skills Training and Assessment (VISTA) project

was conceived as a means to use computer-assisted leadership training to reduce the high personnel costs associated with assessment center training and simulations. Computer-assisted videodisc technology would allow the rapid and accurate random access to a large number of motion sequences depicting various outcomes to given leadership situations encountered by both junior officers and

subordinates.

The project was originated by the Army Research Institute's Fort Benning

*" Field Unit as a part of a continuing research program dedicated to developing better training methods and techniques for teaching soldier skills. ARI oversaw the entire VISTA research and development effort. Research support and

funding during development and evaluation came from the Training Developments

Institute (TDI) of the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command, Fort Monroe.

The U.S. Army Communicative Technology Office (ACTO), Fort Eustis, provided the

equipment and funds for the videodisc production. The U.S. Army Infantry School

at Fort Benning provided subject matter experts and students for the evaluation.

The Training and Audiovisual Support Centers at Fort Benning and Fort Gordon

provided support during the studio production and editing stages of the project.

The VISTA project produced nine highly interactive videodisc training

scenarios covering 20 leadership problems that were judged to be high in difficulty, importance, and/or frequency. Each scenario can be presented in one of

two instructional modes designed to maximize the potential of the new training

technology. In addition, other products were created which were designed to

*expedite future development efforts.

The evaluation of the scenarios indicated that the videodisc method resulted in significantly greater learning of leadership principles. Both role

* playing and the videodisc products were rated high on a subjective preference

scale used to measure user acceptance. Role playing was slightly but significantly higher than videodisc and both role playing and videodisc were much

higher than a programmed text containing the same instructional content as

the videodisc. The majority of the students indicated that a combination of

* videodisc and role playing would be optimal for leadership training.

EDGAR M. JOH SON

Technical Director

v

.
VIDEODISC INTERPERSONAL SKILLS TRAINING AND ASSESSMENT (VISTA)

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Introduction:

The U.S. Army-s VISTA (Videodisc Interpersonal Skills Training and

Assessment) project was initiated to determine whether leadership and counseling skills could be trained using current computer-assisted instruction/

videodisc technology. The target audience was Army junior officers (Second

Lieutenants in the Infantry Officer's Basic Course at Fort Benning, Georgia).

Five government agencies and two contractors were involved in this effort that

included a front-end topic analysis, hardware selection, software development,

scenario writing, studio production, editing, videodisc mastering, and final

evaluation. The final evaluation compared the VISTA products with a programmed text containing the same information and role playing using the same topic

themes. All seven VISTA videodiscs (nine scenarios) were tested.

Procedure:

The first stage of the project involved a front-end topic analysis, hardware and software selection, and design of the instruction. In the topic

analysis, 57 candidate interpersonal problem situation topics were generated

and rated by 58 subject matter experts for difficulty, importance, and frequency.

Situations involving the highest composite scores for the three dimensions

were subsequently addressed in the training scenarios. Twenty problem

situations were covered in the 9 scenarios produced to date. The hardware

system selected comprised an Apple 2+ computer, a DiscoVision videodisc

player, a Sony monitor and other assorted peripherals. The software language

chosen was Pascal. Two instructional modes of presentation were designed.

The Experiential mode simulates a roleplaying situation. There is no textual

feedback and the students can go several steps off the "best path". In the

Pedagogical mode, extensive textual feedback is presented and the student is

never allowed to go more than one step off the best path.

The second major stage of the project involved the scenario writing and

the software development. A scenario authoring aid was developed. Guidance

for the determination of appropriate alternatives was derived from the two

U.S. Army field manuals dealing with leadership and counseling, subject matter

experts, and various theoretical approaches for counseling and leadership.

The software was developed to complement the instructional design. In addition,

software was developed to allow relatively simple entry of textual information

and videodisc frame numbers to expedite future videodisc development efforts.

The final stage involved the evaluation of the seven videodiscs (9

scenarios). An experimental evaluation conducted on all training products

measured both learning of leadership principles and the student's acceptance

of the new instructional technology.

vii
Findings:

The overall results of the evaluation indicated a VISTA superiority

followed by role playing and programmed text, respectively, on a test designed

to measure the acquisition of leadership principles. Also, both role playing

and videodisc were rated high on a subjective preference scale used to measure

user acceptance. Role playing was slightly but significantly higher than

videodisc and both videodisc and role playing were much higher than the

programmed text. The great majority of the students indicated that a combination of videodisc and role playing would be optimal for leadership training.

Products completed:

- Nine scenarios which address 20 problem areas have been produced and

evaluated. Overall results indicated a significant superiority of VISTA

products over both role playing and programmed text.

- Two instructional approaches designed to optimize the training impact of the

new technology.

- Scenario authoring workbook to aid future scenario writing.

- Generic software that will control any of the videodiscs developed played

by either of two popular videodisc players, with or without maintenance

of detailed student records, and with choice of two instructional modes.

Utilization:

- The VISTA products were implemented in the Counseling Laboratory of the IOBC

in June, 1983.

The following is recommended:

- Due to the success of the VISTA project and other videodisc training

projects, the U.S. Army should continue to investigate other possible areas

for application of computer-assisted instruction/videodisc training.

- Develop standards in both hardware and courseware structure.

- The VISTA products should serve as a supplement to current leadership

training approaches rather than a replacement of those approaches.

- The IOBC Counseling Laboratory is currently taught in two periods, one at

the beginning of IOBC and one toward the end. Because of the standardized

format, role playing should be conducted in the second laboratory as a

performance test and the VISTA products should be utilized in the early

laboratory (while students are at an early stage in their learning of

leadership).

- Although the VISTA products were developed for the Infantry Officer's Basic

Course, the problems addressed are probably common to the other branches.

Therefore, the VISTA products should be investigated for possible application in other training centers.

viii

• .- . -- : -" -- "-- . . -,-. " -.-. -- . .. " - , .i " • o . . . " , ,' ' ' " " " ' , , -
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

'-p

This study was originated by Dr. Frederick N. Dyer at the U.S. Army

Research Institute, Fort Benning Field Unit. A total of five government

agencies and two contractors were eventually involved. All seven organiza- 16

tions contributed to the success of the project.

Litton Mellonics was the primary contractor responsible for the great

majority of the work effort. The original team was headed by Dr. James E.

Schroeder who coordinated the overall effort and designed the instruction and

evaluation. Dr. Paul Czerny was responsible for the hardware and software

selection and the software development. Mr. Daniel P. Gillotti was the

Leadership/Counseling subject matter expert responsible for the development of

the scenario content. Dr. Edward W. Youngling was the Program Manager of the

Litton Mellonics effort for the entire duration of the contract. Over the

months, a number of other Litton employees were involved and made significant

contributions: (alphabetically) Dr. Gary C. Bayer; Mr. W. Alfred Cook, Jr;

Mr. Harry A. Lucker; Dr. Mary N. Perkins; Dr. Mike S. Perkins; Dr. Robert

Pleban; Mr. David W. Reiss; and Dr. Gary P. Williams.

The U.S. Army Research Institute, Fort Benning Field Unit supervised the

research effort. Special acknowledgement is exended to COL Franklin A. Hart,

COL L. Neale Cosby, Dr. Frederick N. Dyer, Dr. Seward Smith, and Mr. Hal

Strasel who all provided excellent management, guidance, and suggestions. In

addition, Dr. John C. Morey and Sid Hall (an Auburn University doctoral

candidate working with ARI through and the Cooperative Education Program at

Auburn University), both provided valuable assistance in the data analysis.

Also, thanks to MAJ Charles J. Slimowicz, the Research Coordinator at ARI,

Fort Benning for his valuable input and for his assistance in securing troop

support.

A special acknowledgement is given to the many individuals who volunteered to serve as actors for the six programs. For the most part, these were

active duty soldiers who voluntarily arranged their own work schedules to

accommodate the VISTA production schedule. Also, some of the actors were

volunteers from Litton Mellonics and ARI at Fort Benning.

Fort Benning's Training Audiovisual Support Center (TASC) provided the

facilities and expertise for the production of five of the six programs

and editing of all six programs. Special credit is extended to Mr. Rubin

Webster, Mr. Randy Amos, and Mr. Bennett Yeilding and their staff. The

TASC at Fort Gordon provided the actors, facilities, and expertise for

the production of the "Performance Counseling" program. Special credit

is given to MAJ Doug Dooley, Mr. Gaylord Cavallaro and their staff.

The Training Development Institute (TDI) at Fort Monroe, VA provided

funds for the topic analysis, instructional design, software development,

scenario development, and evaluation. Acknowledgement is given to COL F. A.

Nerone, COL Edmund J. Glabus, Ms. Janet Lamb, Ms. Jean Rose, Mr. Donald A.

Kimberlin, and Mr. Frank E. Giunti for their valuable guidance and comments.

ix

.'.. _.".*..............................................--..-........'........."*.7N ...

. . . . . . . .
The Army Communicative Technology Field Office (ACTO) provided the

hardware for the development as well as the funds for the videodisc mastering

which was completed by Discovision (later Pioneer Video). Special thanks are

extended to COL John A. Goetz, Mr. Bob Reynolds, Mr. Pete Benden, and CPT

John Thompson from ACTO for their valuable coordination and assistance.

The U.S. Army Infantry School has made great contributions to the success I

of the project. Appreciation is extended to all the departments involved.

Special thanks go to COL William L. Shackelford and Mr. Walter G. Gardner from

the Directorate of Training and to the entire Leadership Department staff who,

over the two year period, provided excellent suggestions and guidance

(especially): LTC Richard G. Stillwell; MAJ Burton G. Lockwood, II; MAJ

Donald E. Allison; MAJ Carl E. Linke; MAJ Edward L. Williams; MAJ Carl B.

Fedde; MAJ Larry L. Owens; CPT Theodore Wiggins, Jr.; CPT Craig F. Bennedict;

CPT Willard I. Ghere; and CPT Charles L. Smith).

X

'C.

......................................................'... "

............................................ . ., . . "........". .. ". - ... ",,',. -
VIDEODISC INTERPERSONAL SKILLS TRAINING AND ASSESSMENT (VISTA):

OVERVIEW AND FINDINGS

VOLUME 1

* ~CONTENTS___

Page

* OVERVIEW.........................................1

* INTRODUCTION...........................................1

TOPIC ANALYSIS........................................3

THEORETICAL APPROACH FOR INSTRUCTIONAL CONTENT..................5

Counseling Theories...............................11

Leadership Theories...............................14

INSTRUCTIONAL DESIGN................................15

Experiential Mode..................................16

Pedagogical Mode......................................16

SCENARIO DEVELOPMENT PRODUCTION..........................20

* TECHNOLOGY APPLICATION.................................24

Hardware......................................24

Programming Language..................................26

Software Description..................................28

EVALUATION DESIGN AND RESULTS.............................31

Design...........................................31

Results...................................35

Leadership Principles Test.............................35

Subjective Preference Ratings.............................38

CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS............................41

REFERENCES.......................................43

NOTE: Appendixes were published separately as follows: ARI Research Note

86-08--Appendixes A, B, C, and D--contains details of the topic analysis, counseling and leadership theories, and scenario development.

Research Note 86-09--Appendixes E, F, G, H, I, and J--has presentation -

of' the six scenarios. Research Note 86-10--Appendixes K, L, and M--

contains the details of the software, the evaluation instrument.s, and

details of the evaluation results.

xi
CONTENTS (Continued) __

Page =

LIST OF TABLES ha

Table 1. Most Difficult + Important + Frequent interpersonal

situations ............. .......................... 6

2. Scenario topics ........... ....................... 7

3. Hardware selection ........ ...................... . 25

4. Final hardware ......... ........................ . 26

5. Comparison of Pascal, BASIC, and FORTRAN ... ........... ... 27

6. Description of events that constitute a junction point . . .. 29

7. Comparison of pedagogical and experiential modes ........ . 32

8. VISTA evaluation design ...... ................... . 34

9. Statistical analysis of Leadership Principle Test for

Content Areas 1-6 and overall ..... ................ . 39

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1. Topic analysis ..............................

2. Counseling decision tree ...... .................. . 13

3. Instructional flow chart for pedagogical model . ....... . 18

4. Scenario authoring flow chart ..... ................ ... 22

5. Final results for each replication .... ............. . 36

6. VISTA: Overall test results .... ................ . 37

7. VISTA: Overall subjective ratings ...... ............. 0

xii
Overview Ok

This final report of the Videodisc Interpersonal Skills Training and

Assessment (VISTA) project has been structured to allow the reader to go to

various levels of detail. The report presents general information about how

the project was developed and evaluated. The various development sections

address the wide range of topics involved in the VISTA project, from counseling

theories to hardware selection. The evaluation section reports only the most

important general findings. The Appendices (published separately) provide

more detailed discussions of selected areas. The entire report has been

divided into four volumes. Volume 1 contains the main report. Volume 2

contains Appendices A - D, which present details of the topic analysis,

discussions of counseling and leadership theories, and details of scenario

development. Volume 3 contains Appendices E - J which present the six sceanrios.

Volume 4 contains Appendices K - M which present details of the software, the

evaluation instruments, and details of the evaluation results. It should be

noted that masculine pronouns are used in this report because VISTA was

designed for a Combined Arms-Infantry population.

Introduction

The quality training of leadership and interpersonal skills is of major

importance to any organization. The U.S. Army has always emphasized the

importance of training and maintaining strong leadership skills at all levels,

especially among junior officers. Over the years, various approaches have

been utilized from textbooks to simulations (e.g., role playing and assessment

center simulations). Assessment centers and role playing have typically been

shown to be effective means for the assessment and training of interpersonal

leadership skills. However, both procedures have the disadvantage of requiring a large instructor core, including role players, evaluators, and

administrators.

The Videodisc Interpersonal Skills Training and Assessment project

(VISTA) was initially conceived as a means to use computer-assisted leadership

training to reduce the high personnel costs associated with assessment

centers and role playing (i.e., videodisc programs could be used to supplement

the current role playing and, hence, reduce the number of support personnel

required). Historically, the major problem was simulating subordinates as

they would probably respond in a given leadership situation. An audiovisual

medium was needed that would allow rapid and accurate random access to a large

number of video motion sequences depicting various outcomes. Videotape was one

possibility, but access times were too long for realistic simulations.

Videodisc technology opened the door for such simulation.

Previous research has shown that a videodisc system could successfully

train soldier skills even when only a fraction of the branching and other

capabilities of the medium were used (Holmgren, Dyer, Hilligoss and Heller,

1979-80). Other recent projects have demonstrated the cost and training

effectiveness of computer assisted videodisc in the Army hardware maintenance

domain (e.g., Young & Tosti, 1981). Researchers have attempted to teach

interpersonal skills using computer assisted instruction (e.g., Spencer,

Hausser, Blaiwes, & Weller, 1975). In addition, various projects have

71
.- -o. .:_ ... .. . : .. r v.7b . --- . - - -. - - .- . battempted to train specialized interpersonal interaction skills to various

audiences. For example, vonFeldt (1978) used the DAVID (Digital and Video

Interactive Device) system with video segments from a videotape source to help

deaf students prepare for job interviews. Possible applications for training

medical students have been investigated (e.g., Leveridge, 1980 and 1981).

WICAT (World Institute for Computer Assisted Training) has produced a videodisc designed to teach appropriate interview techniques to medical students.

Similarly, a videodisc has been produced to help teach California State

Highway Patrolmen how to handle difficult situations, including interpersonal

interactions. The VISTA project represented a test case for the possible

extension of videodisc training technology into the soft skills areas of

leadership and interpersonal skills. Consequently, there were two main goals

for the VISTA project: to develop meaningful training material to satisfy a

training need, and to determine the efficacy of using the new technology in

soft skill areas.

Development of the VISTA leadership program included the selection of

hardware; the identification of the most significant interpersonal problem

areas for the target population (entry level infantry officers); designing

the instruction in a way that would exploit the capabilities of the new

technology; writing the scenarios; developing the computer software; and

finally, the evaluation of all the products. The evaluation involved a series

of experiments in which each videodisc training scenario was experimentally compared to role playing and to a low-fidelity simulation of the

leadership training scenario (programmed text). The target audience that was

selected to test and demonstrate the capability of videodisc for training and

assessment of leadership skills was new infantry second lieutenants in

the Infantry Officer Basic Course (IOBC). This course represents their first

leadership course following commissioning. The current method for training

interpersonal leadership skills is role playing. This requires more than a

dozen evaluators and the same number of soldiers playing roles to provide

training for about 90 Lieutenants in a three-hour period. In addition to

high personnel costs, the effectiveness of role playing is greatly dependent

on the acting skill of the role player and the ability of the observer to

provide a meaningful critique. One of the possible advantages of the VISTA

approach is the introduction of standardized training in an area where standardization has traditionally been difficult or impossible.

Three Army agencies, two civilian contractors, and two Army television

studios worked with the Army Research Institute in the development and

evaluation of this new technology for interpersonal skills training. The Army

agencies were: the Training Developments Institute of the U.S. Army Training

and Doctrine Command at Fort Monroe, Virginia which funded scenario development and evaluation; The Army Communicative Technology Office at Fort Eustis,

Virginia which provided equipment and videodisc mastering; and the U. S. Army

Infantry School at Fort Benning, Georgia which provided leadership subject

matter experts and students for the evaluation. The Litton-Mellonics Systems

Development Group at Fort Benning, Georgia conducted the topic analysis,

developed the leadership training scenarios, integrated the computer and

videodisc hardware and developed the computer software. They also carried out

the experimental evaluation of the materials. Video production was done

2
primarily by the Fort Benning Educational Television Branch with some assistance from the Training and Audiovisual Support Center at Fort Gordon, r

Georgia. Videodisc mastering was done by DiscoVision Associates (now Pioneer).

Topic Analysis V

It was critical for the success of the project that the topics selected

for the VISTA scenarios be highly relevant and match the needs of the young 1

officer. For that reason, a great deal of effort went into the front-end

topic analysis. A conceptual overview of the entire analysis is presented in

Figure 1 (page 4). The general strategy was to generate an extensive list of

potential interpersonal problem areas and subsequently narrow the list down to

the eight problem areas which were judged by subject matter experts to have

the highest aggregate of difficulty, importance, and frequency. To reach this

goal, a structured interview containing open-ended questions was constructed

and administered individually to several officers and NCO's (a copy of the

interview can be found in Appendix A, Part 1). The interviews were conducted

with 18 Army personnel from randomly selected units assigned to the 197th

Infantry Brigade, Fort Benning, Georgia. Interviewees fell into the following

rank and duty assignment categories: six Captains serving as Company Commanders, six Lieutenants serving as Platoon Leaders, two First Sergeants

serving as First Sergeants, and four Sergeants First Class serving as Platoon

Sergeants. The interviews took place during November and December, 1980.

Before each session, the interviewees were told the purpose of the interview. After this orientation, participants were asked to answer a series of

questiono based on their own experiences. Basically, the interviewees were

asked to identify critical interpersonal/leadership situations which a new

Infantry Second Lieutenant would be likely to encounter on the job. More

specifically, interviewees were asked to comment on four general areas:

problems arising from leader-to-subordinate relations, problems arising

from leader-to-group relations, problems arising from subordinate-to-leader

relations, and the general area of how to provide the young officer with

better leadership skills to help him in his early career.

From the taped interviews, a list of problem areas was generated. In

addition, 60 hours of taped interviews from the Rumsey and Creskoff (1982)

study were screened, and relevant situations were added. The working list of

critical interpersonal/leadership situations was carefully scrutinized to

avoid redundancy and over-generalization, and was eventually reduced to a

draft list containing 87 items (see Appendix A, Part 2). Because a questionnaire composed of 87 items was judged to be much too long and cumbersome

to administer, the list was critically reviewed by members of the Leadership

Department of the United States Infantry School, Army Research Institute

personnel, and Litton Mellonics personnel. Any problems which appeared

redundant were dropped or incorporated in common problem areas. The result

was a list of 57 critical situations.

3

. . .. . *. . . . . . . . . . .
I

K

I~

Reduced (1.AC Class)Toica Ne Fli eniltructured w alist Rkite 

St genera List of to 57 t in Orderings Interviews u87 Problem --mtr of 57 wrt Difficulty rate of Problem

fr D l Problem Importance p oesw rn k Topics Topics Frequency c

(n=58)".

Figure 1. Topic analysis.

Note: Following the initial structured interviews, a list of 87 problem areas

was generated and subsequently reduced to 57 topics in order to remove

redundancy. Subject matter experts were then asked to rate all problems

for Difficulty, Importance, and Frequency. Finally, the problems were "

rank ordered for: (a) Difficulty, (b) Importance, (c) Frequency, ,

(d) Difficulty + Importance, and (e) Difficulty + Importance + Frequency.

5-
i.

Using the 57 items, a questionnaire was developed in which subjects were

asked to rate each of the situations on a scale of one to seven for difficulty

(how difficult it is to handle a given problem), importance (how important it

is that a given problem be handled well), and frequency (how frequently a

given problem occurs). The questionnaire was then administered to a group of

58 Captains and senior First Lieutenants in the Infantry Officer's Advanced

Course. The complete questionnaire is contained in Appendix A, Part 3.

Demographic information was also obtained and a summary appears in Appendix A,

Part 4.

The resulting top 10 problem areas (derived by a simple summation of the

three scales for each problem topic) are shown in Table 1 (page 6). Complete

listings for each of the three scales separately, combinations of Difficulty +

Importance, and Difficulty + Importance + Frequency along with detailed analyses can be found in Appendix A, Part 5-

Originally the intent at this point was to use the top eight problem

areas as the themes for the scenarios. However, upon closer inspection, it

became apparent that more than eight topics could be addressed. More specifically, clusters of topics were identified which--with some creative

writing--could be addressed within a single scenario. A complete list of

the scenarios along with their respective problem topics can be found in

Table 2 (pages 7-10). As an example, consider the third scenario (Meeting

the NCO's and the Platoon). Within that scenario, four specific problem areas

were addressed (each of which was in the top 10 in Difficulty + Importance +

Frequency). It should be noted that in addition to the four topics identified, a number of other instructional points were made in this scenario (e.g.,

company policies on promotions, how to introduce oneself to the platoon, etc.)

For each of the general scenario topics, as many specific topics as could

be meaningfully and realistically covered were included. Thus, many more than

the originally anticipated eight topics were addressed. For the composite

scores of Difficulty + Importance + Frequency, nine out of the top ten problems and 15 out of the top 20 were addressed. A total of 26 topics were covered.* In the following section, the theoretical approach taken for the

leadership/counseling content of the VISTA scenarios will be discussed.

Theoretical Approach for Instructional Content

In order to determine optimal leadership responses and justification for

these choices, a number of sources were utilized. First, the training material

must be consistent with existing Army leadership doctrine. The two relevant

field manuals (FM 22-100 on Military Leadership and FM 22-101 on Leadership

Counseling) were carefully studied and heavily referenced. Second, retired

military personnel, active officers, and NCOs within the U.S. Army Infantry

School Leadership Department were utilized as subject matter experts. These

individuals were helpful in determining the best way to handle a given problem.

*A total of 26 problem areas will be dealt with when all 8 scenario topics

are completed. This report includes only topics 1-6 and, hence, only 20

problem areas have been addressed to date. Ongoing contractual work should

complete the last two scenario topic . by mid-1984.

5

"*.. . '.J . ; . ' .. % :?-% * " "! .' -'! . . . . . ". . -..- *.-. " -...-.--. ** ... .. * . . ..--*
Table I

Most Difficult + Important + Frequent Interpersonal Situations

Ra nk Item

Ordeor Number

I The NCO will insure that the individual arms and equipment of sub- 55

ordinates, and all other government property issued to the Platooti

is properly maintained and accounted for at all times.

2 The NCO is responsible for preparing subordinates to accomplish 53

assigned missions by training subordinates in basic skills and

attributes of a soldier.

3 The NCO will be held accountable for the location and actions of 54

subordinates while in a duty status.

4 A Platton Leader giving his new Platoon Sergeant an initial briefing 9

on how he expects the platoon to function.

5 The NCO is responsible for insuring that subordinates maintain 56

established standards of personal appearance and hygiene, proper

wearing of the uniform, and of military courtesy.

6 The NCO will supervise the care and maintenance of enlisted per- 57

sonnel billets and unit work areas.

7 A Lieutenant counseling a Sergeant who has failed a series of

unannounced inspections.

8 The wife who cannot accept, or does not understand Army life. 38

9 A soldier who receives letters of indebtedness because bills are 29

not paid on time or neglected completely.

10 The wife who is lonely or homesick because the husband is gone on 37

training exercises frequently, works late, or pulls a lot of roster

type duties.

6
I-.

Table 2

Scenario Topics

Topic 1: Verbal Abuse

DIFF + IMP + FREQ

#8 The wife who cannot accept, or does not

understand Army life.

#38 A Platoon Leader counseling a Sergeant who

verbally abuses and belittles soldiers in

front of other platoon or squad members.

Topic 2: Taking Charge

DIFF + IMP + FREQ

#4 A Platoon Leader giving his new Platoon

Sergeant an initial briefing on how he

expects the platoon to function.

Topic 3: Meeting the NCO's and the Platoon

DIFF + IMP + FREQ

#1 The NCO will insure that the individual

arms and equipment of subordinates, and all

other government property issued to

the Platoon is properly maintained and

accounted for at all times.

92 The NCO is responsible for preparing

subordinates to accomplish assigned

missions by training subordinates in basic

skills and attributes of a soldier.

#3 The NCO will be accountable for the

location and actions of subordinates

while in a duty status.

#6 The NCO will supervise the care and

maintenance of enlisted personnel billets

and unit work areas.

7
Table 2

Scenario Topics

(continued)

Topic 4: Performance Counseling an NCO

DIFF + IMP + FREq

#7 A Lieutenant counseling a Sergeant who has

failed a series of unannounced Inspections.

#15 A Platoon Leader counseling a Sergeant

whose platoon has failed to pass a training

exercise.

#17 A Platoon Leader counseling a Squad Leader

who will not accept responsibility for his

men and/or his equipment.

#19 A Lieutenant counseling a Sergeant who has

failed to have his men and equipment report

on time for a support requirement.

Topic 5: Insubordination

DIFF + IMP + FREQ

#5 The NCO is responsible for insuring that

subordinates maintain established standards

of personal appearance and hygiene, proper

wearing of the uniform, and of military

courtesy.

#21 A Platoon Leader counseling an Enlisted

Soldier who has repeatedly failed to show

up for work on time.

#26 A Lieutenant counseling an Enlisted Soldier

who is insubordinate.

#27 A Platoon Leader counseling an Enlisted

Soldier who disappears during duty hours.

8
I-, ~T a b l e 2 ,,

Scenario Topics (cont inued)

Topic 5: Insubordination (Continued)

I)IFF + IMP + FREQ

044 The Soldier who openly begins to disobey

any order given him.

#45 A Platoon Leader counseling an Enlisted

Soldier whose personal appearance is

falling below standards.

Topic 6: Personal Crises

DIFF + IMP + FREQ

018 A Soldier who needs to go on emergency

leave.

#24 The Soldier who normally is very social

with his peers and supervisors, and

suddenly becomes very withdrawn, extremely

quiet, and depressed.

#31 A Soldier mumbling about suicide.

Topic 7: Financial

DIFF + IMP + FREQ

#9 A Soldier who receives letters of indebtedness because bills are not paid on time or

neglected completely.

013 A Soldier unable to balance a checkbook, or

who writes bad checks.

9
* Table 2

Scenario Topics

(continued)

Topic 8: EER Counseling

DlFF + IMP + FREQ

f16 A Platoon Leader counseling an Enlisted

Soldier about his EER.

#39 A Lieutenant counseling a Sergeant whose

personal appearance is starting to slip

below standards.

042 A Platoon Leader counseling an Enlisted

Soldier who has done an outstanding job on

a training exercise.

#48 A Platoon Leader counseling an Enlisted

Soldier whose poor performance on a recent

training exercise was easily recognizable.

10.
Vn.

Because of their experience with junior officers, they were also extremely

valuable in identifying incorrect choices and consequences which frequently

occur in the field. Another valuable human resource was the subject matter

experts available within many different Army agencies. For example, the staff

at the Judge Advocate General Office was very helpful in advising about legal

implications for the insubordination scenario. Similarly, the Red Cross, the

Army Community Services, and the Community Mental Health Center all willingly

provided useful suggestions and information.

A third source of input for generating behavioral alternatives and their

positive or negative feedback was the rather extensive theoretical counseling

literature. Obviously, the goal of the VISTA project was not to make polished

therapists out of Second Lieutenants in three hours of instruction. However,

the various counseling approaches do offer valuable guidelines and tested

principles which could be useful to a beginning counselor. Also, the new

leader should be able to recognize problems at an early stage of development,

be aware of the various sources of expert counseling that are available in

the Army structure, and refer complex problems that require more expertise to

the appropriate agency or person.

A fourth source of theoretical information considered was the various

leadership theories. As in counseling theories, the intent was not to make

a theorist out of the Second Lieutenant, but rather to take empirically supported principles and applications from existing leadership theories and

present them as solutions or as a justification for a solution in a way that

was easily understood.

Finally, facts from many other well-established disciplines were incorporated into the alternatives or feedback where appropriate (e.g., communications, learning and motivation, decision theory, cognitive theory, management

theory, and social psychology). Two of the five sources of information

(counseling theories and leadership theories), deserve further explication

and, hence, are expanded in the following two sections. Also, much more detailed discussions of counseling and leadership theories are provided in

Appendices B and C, respectively.

Counseling Theories

The purpose of this section is not to provide detailed theoretical accounts of the major counseling theories. Such accounts are available at

various levels of discourse varying from the original source to excellent

texts giving overviews of the various approaches. Also, a brief review of

selected theories can be found in Appendix B.

On the basis of the two Army Field Manuals, a Counseling Decision Tree

was constructed (see Figure 2, page 13). This decision tree doesn't appear

in either Field Manual or in any of the VISTA scenarios. Rather, it was constructed to be consistent with doctrine and provide guidance to the scenario

writers. When referring to "problems" in Figure 2 or in the following discussion, reference is being made to only the problems that a Second Lieutenant

might encounter which are of a leadership/counseling nature and that involve

interpersonal skills as part of the solution.

11
The original detection of a problem may come as a result of personal

observation, reports from the individuals experiencing the problem, reports

from a subordinate about another subordinate experiencing a problem, or

reports from a superior. In any case, for the purpose of Army counseling, the

problem is likely to fall primarily into one of three categories: performance

problems, personal problems, or career problems. The three problem areas are

not mutually exclusive, and in most cases, more than one of the problem areas

are likely to be present. In such complex problems, the performance component

is probably the most quickly and efficiently handled. That is, where there is

a performance problem, immediate "on the spot" correction should be given as

soon as possible. Depending on the magnitude, frequency, and circumstances,

the leader should probably go one step farther and try to assess the reason

for the performance problem. If there is an ability problem (either physical

or mental), then additional training or reclassification are probably the best

alternatives. If there is a motivation problem, then the leader should make

use of any existing incentives and/or clearly inform the subordinate of the

consequences of continued poor performance. If there is some personal problem

at the root of the por performance, then that personal problem should be

attacked as soon as possible. Similarly, if there is a career crisis causing

the performance problem, then career counseling should be made available as

soon as possible.

If a personal problem is encountered, one ot the main decisions the

Second Lieutenant has to make is whether to refer the individual to one of the

many Army agencies available, or whether he/she should attempt to counsel the

individual. If the problem is personality-based, too difficult, too timeconsuming, or more easily handled by another agency, then the individual

should be referred to the appropriate agency. If the problem is more environmentally based, the Second Lieutenant should probably counsel the individual

and attempt to resolve the situation by providing the necessary information

and/or obtaining authority to effect a solution (e.g., get the individual a

pass). In any case, if the situation becomes too difficult or time-consuming,

the Second Lieutenant should probably refer the individual to an appropriate

agency. If the individual has career-related problems, the Second Lieutenant

should provide the necessary information as it is available or else refer the

individual to an Army career counselor.

The essential ingredient for success along any of the above paths is the

ability to interact effectively with other people. As stated above, the

purpose of the VISTA project was not to make counselors or therapists out of

Second Lieutenants in a three or four hour period of instruction. Rather,

the purpose of VISTA was to teach the student some commonly accepted principles about how to interact with others in a way that will improve the

problem situation and expedite its resolution. For this reason, the various

counseling theories were studied, not with the goal of picking the "best"

theory, but rather to collect general principles from the various approaches

which were commonly agreed upon, easily explained, and would be useful to a

new counselor.

Most counseling approaches are descendants of various therapeutic

approaches. Therapy is usually conducted by psychiatrists, or psychologists, over an extended period of time, and usually involves more complex

12
.

Mental - Training or Reclassification

Ability Physical - Training or Reclassification

Make Proper Use of Existing Incentives.

Motivation-4

Clearly Inform of Negative Consequences.

Personal

Career Refer to Appropriate Agency Performance |' For Professional Counseling.

(Provide Correction) Personality Based

or

Too Difficult

or

Too Time Consuming

Problem Personal

Environment

Based Provide Necessary Information.

Career

Obtain Authority To Carry Out Solution.

If Too Difficult Or Time Consuming,

Refer To Appropriate Agency For

Professional Counseling.

Provide Necessary Information.

Refer To Career Counselor.

Figure 2. Counseling decision tree--proposed paths for varl.ous counseling

. ituations.

13
personality-based difficulties. There are many ways of categorizing the

various theoretical approaches. Selection of a single approach would have

been untenable because even the most expert counselors and therapists disagree

among themselves about the best approach. For example, one major distinction

that can be made between different approaches is whether they are directive or nondirective. Directive therapies and counseling approaches ( e.g.; Rational

Emotive Therapy, (Ellis, 1962); Reality Therapy, (Glasser, 1965); Gestalt

Therapy, (Perls, 1958); and the various Behavior Modification approaches of

Wolpe, 1973; Krumboltz, 1969; Ullman and Krasner, 1969; Bandura, 1965; and

others), typically emphasize the role of the therapist/counselor as a more

authoritarian professional who strongly guides and determines the direction of

the therapy/counseling session (i.e., the therapist is directive). On the

other hand, nondirective approaches (e.g., Client-Centered Therapy, (Rogers,

1942, 1951); Logotherapy, (Frankl, 1963); Helping Counseling, (Carkhuff,

1969); and many of the various Existential Approaches of Keirkegaard, 1944;

May, 1953; Tillich, 1952; and others), stress the importance of the client/

counselee in the relationship. The counselor's main goal is to set an accepting, understanding atmosphere in which the client/counselee can gain acceptance, understanding, empathy, and can therefore grow. The Army Officer, by

the very nature of his or her position, should obviously not be locked into

either of these general counseling modes. Depending on the situation, the Army

Officer must at times be very directive (e.g., in performance counseling

situations), and at other times should be nondirective (e.g., during some personal

counseling situations or during some career counseling situations). For that

reason, the VISTA strategy was to teach flexibility. Depending upon the

situation, various approaches were introduced as appropriate. In general,

Behavioral approaches were stressed in situations involving performance

counseling because of the behavioral component. However, students were urged

to look deeper for more subtle motives and conduct personal counseling if

appropriate. In personal counseling, many approaches were tapped, but the one

most utilized was Carkhuff's Helping Counseling Approach because it is

relatively intuitive, it was designed for counseling (as opposed to therapy),

and there is empirical evidence indicating that it could be relatively easily

understood and applied by a layman population (see Carkhuff, 1969).

Leadership Theories

Like the counseling theories, the various leadership theories have

different origins and orientations (see Appendix C for a more

complete overview of the various theories). Also, as in the Counseling

Theories, it would be untenable to select a single theoretical approach for

Army leadership as the best approach. A similar conclusion was recently made

by Henriksen, Jones, Hannaman, Wylie, Shiver, Hamil, and Sulzen (1980).

Therefore, as in Counseling, the approach was to selectively draw principles

from the various theories as they appeared relevant and applicable in the

various VISTA situations. Since the primary purpose of the VISTA project was

the training of leadership, a few of the historical theoretical approaches

were not particularly relevant because they deal principally with descriptive

information concerning the prediction of leaders (e.g., the Trait Theory of

Galton (1879), and Carlyle (1910); the Environmental Theory of Stogdill, 1948

and Hemphill, 1949; and the Empirical Approach of the Ohio State work group,

14

" "' " ": A............................ .-. ................. A ........--... ...... .. ,,.- , , ........... m unna,'~dn lmIl~ ln bnIII iI~ I n m n l
 w pm W _ j ... . S , . 

  , _ < 

, - -

e.g., Stogdill and Coons, 1957). Many contemporary theories can somewhat

arbitrarily be divided into two clusters. In general, humanistic theories

(e.g., McGregor, 1960; Blake, Mouton, & Bidwell, 1962; and Bowers & Seashore,

1966) emphasize the importance of creating an environment in which the

individual can fulfill his/her own potential while contributing to the organization's objectives. The role of the leader is to modify the typically

* structured organization to one that allows naturally motivated individuals to

grow and reach their potential (Stogdill, 1974).

A second cluster of theories might be called Leader-Situation theories

because they tend to emphasize the interactions between leader and situational

characteristics (e.g.; Contingency Model, (Fiedler, 1967); Path Goal Theory,

(House & Dressler, 1974); Decision-Making Model, (Vroom & Yetton, 1973);

Jacob's Social Exchange Theory, (Jacobs, 1974), Life cycle Theory, (Hersey &

Blanchard, 1977); Behavioral Theory, (Yukl, 1971); Power Theory, (McClelland,

1975); Vertical Dyad Linkage Approach, (Graen, Dansereau, & Minami, 1972); and

Developmental Model of Leadership, (Sgro, Pence, & Orban, 1979). In general,

these various approaches identify an important leadership characteristic (or

characteristics) and systematically address how these characteristics impact

on leader effectiveness over various situations. It should be noted that most

of the theories listed above are not necessarily in conflict with each other.

Rather, each has selected a given dimension for emphasis. In using the

various leadership approaches as references for the VISTA project, various

principles were applied as they fit the situation. In no case, was an

elaborate theoretical explanation given. The purpose of VISTA was not to

teach theoretical approaches. Rather, the intention was to teach easily

comprehended and easily remembered principles which have their roots in more

elaborate theoretical structures.

Instructional Design

The original intent of the VISTA project was to simulate an interpersonal

interaction that represented an actual leadership situation that a young

officer would probably encounter. The fast random access to video segments

that the computer assisted videodisc provides, allows such simulation. For

example, given a trainee's response in a particular situation, the videodisc

system can quickly show the subordinate's probable reaction which will

provide the trainee with immediate and realistic feedback about whether that

choice was the best, or less than optimal. Because of the simulation nature

of this mode of instruction, it was labeled "Experiential". Because of the

difficulty in writing scripts that fully portray and explain some of the more

subtle principles and teaching points that should occur in an interaction, it

was decided to develop a second instructional mode that would similarly

exploit the capabilities of the technology but would provide more detailed

feedback about the principles being taught. Because of its high structure

and heavy use of tutorial feedback, this mode of instruction was labeled

"Pedagogical".

15

* -' *.
Experiential Mode

In the typical Experiential training situation, a new junior officer

leadership trainee sits before a television monitor and holds a light pen

or game paddle that will allow a direct interaction with the TV monitor and

thus, the computer. Typically, the computer initiates the session by presenting

background information on the monitor that sets the stage for the actual

problem situation. Next, the videodisc player presents a video segment that

introduces the problem situation. This might involve a member of the platoon

who has financial problems or a NCO who has been verbally abusing members of

his squad. For example, the person with the problem might be seen on the

screen entering the Lieutenant's office or approaching the Lieutenant in a

field setting. The televised subordinate typically begins the interaction

speaking directly to the viewer. Following the initial comment by the

simulated subordinate, the leadership trainee is shown a menu of possible

responses that a Lieutenant might make in that situation. Each alternative

was carefully chosen by scenario developers to appeal to a segment of the

trainee population (see the section on Scenario Development and Production).

However, some of the responses are more appropriate than others. The trainee

reviews these alternative responses and chooses the one that he believes to be

the best. Using the light pen, he informs the computer of his choice by

touching that alternative. Immediately, the simulated subordinate reacts as

he probably would if treated in the manner that was selected. When the video

segment depicting the simulated subordinate is complete, a new menu of possible

responses to the current situation appears on the screen and the trainee

selects a response for the updated situation.

In the Experiential mode of instruction, interactions continue between

the leadership trainee and the simulated subordinate for as many as 10 exchanges until the situation is resolved for better or worse. In the latter

case, the subordinate might be last seen bolting away from the Lieutenant

muttering about incompetent Second Lieutenants. Presumably, these interactive

scenarios with their rapid branching will cause trainees to react and respond

to the simulated subordinate in much the same way that they would respond to a

real subordinate. Realistic consequences of these leader responses are the

feedback. Hopefully, this approach to interpersonal skills training will

provide a potent tool for training leader skills which, unfortunately, are now

learned by trial and error on the job (see Rumsey and Creskoff, 1982). In the

Experiential mode, the videodisc scenarios also provide trial-and-error

learning, but the errors do not have "real life" negative consequences for

either the counselor or the counselee.

Pedagogical Mode*

The instructional design for the Pedagogical mode is presented in Figure 3 (page 18). The student is originally given some background information. The background information contains only as much information as is

necessary for the completion of the scenario. In the VISTA project, all text

(e.g. background information, questions, answers, feedback, etc.) is presented

on the monitor from a computer source. The reason for using the computer as a

text source rather than having text stored as single frames on the videodisc,

is that flexibility was desired. Wording changes for questions, answers, and

*Parts of this section were taken from Schroeder, 1982.

16
feedback can be easily made in the computer software, but can never be made

once placed on a videodisc.

After receiving the background information, a short video segment is

presented from the videodisc source. The video segment sets the stage for the

first choice (e.g., a Sergeant reports a discipline problem and asks the

Lieutenant what should be done). Following the video segment, the Trainee is

asked to write down what he would say in that situation. This step was

included so that the Trainee would be allowed to practice constructing a

response. Following the completion of the constructed response, the Trainee

is presented a response menu and asked to select the alternative that is the

most similar to his constructed response or that is the best option of those

presented. Once a response is selected, the Trainee is shown a video segment

from the videodisc that depicts that choice. In this video segment the camera

is on the Lieutenant so that the Trainee can see the effect of a particular

response from the subordinate's perspective. The video segment portrays the

chosen response only and stops before any feedback from the subordinate can

clue the Trainee about the adequacy of the choice. The reason that the

Trainee is given a preview of what the choice looks like when enacted is to

prevent any discrepancies which might occur between the words of a choice when

read and those same words acted out. For example, think of the various

meanings that could be acted out with the words "I think you did Just fine."

After seeing the words acted out, the Trainee should have a much better idea

of the intended meaning. The Trainee is next asked whether or not he wants to

keep the response. If not, he is returned to the response menu. In this

manner, it is possible for the student to preview every choice before keeping

one. There are two additional reasons for showing the Lieutenant's actions in

this video segment. First, if the camera were on the subordinate at this

point, the subordinate's facial expressions or body language might serve as

feedback regarding the effectiveness of a particular response. Second, by

pairing a model's actions with feedback about their correctness, the Trainee

will hopefully learn which styles of behavior to emulate.

After the student has selected and kept a response, he is immediately

shown a video segment that again depicts that answer, but this time it is from

the Lieutenant's perspective. Also, the Trainee is shown the subordinate's

probable reaction to that response. Besides providing feedback to the Trainee

about his last choice, the subordinate's reaction is carried to the point that

a new decision point is created. Thus, the subordinate's video segment serves

as a "conclusion" to the prior choice point and a "lead in" for the next

decision. If the scenario is well written, the subordinate's reaction will

convey some information about whether that response was good or poor. However,

to insure that the subtle teaching points are communicated, the student is

next given some very specific feedback (e.g., This answer was probably not the

best for the following six reasons:, or, This answer was judged to be the best

for the following five reasons). The feedback statements are typically based

on principles of Counseling, Leadership, Management, Communications, Learning,

Social Psychology, etc. The main principles to be taught were decided

before and during the scenario writing. It was, therefore, the instruction

that drove the scenarios and the technology rather than the other way around.

If the response chosen was not the best, the student is given appropriate

feedback and then returned to the response menu. If the response chosen was

the best, the student is given appropriate feedback and then given the opportunity to learn why the other choices were less than optimal, or otherwise

17
* 0

-J4-

.- 2 001 0 J2 w

z 4 U.

U. 0.

.2-

U. LL

0

00

C

-4

-3

ICo J,7
proceed with the interaction. Should he choose the former, he is again

presented with the response menu and can select the video and textual feedback

for any or all of the remaining choices. The student must make the correct V

choice before he can continue with the interaction. Also, the student is

never allowed to go more than one step off the best path.

The procedure described above repeats in cyclic fashion until the inter- %

action reaches some closure. It should be noted that the subordinate's

reaction to the best choice plays a double role: (a) it provides feedback

about the appropriateness of the last choice, (b) it serves as a transitional

lead-in to the next choice point.

Most of the instructional features found in the Pedagogical Mode are

found in most computer assisted instruction applications (e.g., immediate

feedback, branching, etc.). These principles come from well established

principles of learning. There are five novel features which contribute

greatly to the learning environment in the present application. First, the

inclusion of the constructed response in addition to the fixed alternative

choices allows the student to practice originating a response within the

otherwise structured format of CAI. This attribute keeps the student active

in the learning situation and is claimed to be extremely important in programmed

learning (e.g., Skinner, 1958). In addition, the constructed response adds

variability to the response mode which is apparently important in maintaining

the student's interest (Gardner, 1979). The potential danger in using this

procedure is that a student might construct a response that is substantially

different from the subsequent fixed alternatives. In such a situation, the

student could conceivably never receive feedback on the constructed response.

To prevent this, it would be desirable to have a laboratory proctor available

for further explanation.

A second novel feature is the provision of a "preview" of the answer

selected. The reason for the novelty, of course, is that in most CAI applications, providing the student with a preview of what the response looks like

would be unnecessary, impossible, or would provide the student with the

answer. However, there are two very good reasons for including the preview in

the present interpersonal skills training application. First, it is important

that the textual-behavioral discrepancies be removed in order that students

don't believe they have been misled. Second, the preview allows the student

the unique opportunity of seeing what a surrogate-self looks like while acting

out the various alternatives. By pairing behavioral portrayals with subsequent

explicit feedback, the student has an opportunity to model and learn appropriate

behavior. Also, the student can witness less than optimal performance and

discern why it was not the best. In this way, the Trainee can objectively

scrutinize the incorrect response without the defensiveness that might occur

if, for example, he saw a videotape of himself making the same error.

The third significant inclusion is the option of studying the other

(incorrect) alternatives after successfully completing a choice point. The

student may have been torn between the correct choice and one or more distractors and may have arbitrarily selected the best choice. In such a situation,

the Trainee would probably get feedback about why that alternative was the

19

2i
|

best, but under many conventional instructional modes, he would leave the

situation never really understanding (or being exposed to) the reasons that

the other choices were not the best. Of course, arguments about whether 9

students should be allowed to make, study, or dwell on incorrect options may

be appropriate here (e.g., Skinner, 1968). However, while such arguments are

appropriate in some learning tasks in which there is nothing to be learned

from making the wrong response except the wrong response, they may be less

appropriate in this situation where layers of explanation and feedback are

added to facilitate understanding why the response was not the best.

A fourth significant feature of the present design is the fact that

precise feedback is delivered immediately following a response. In most

conventional interpersonal skills training approaches (e.g., role playing),

feedback is delivered only at the conclusion of the entire interaction. The

interaction would be interrupted if the instructor wished to give immediate

feedback. After the interruption, it would be difficult to recreate the

situation prior to the interruption. This interruption problem is also

present with the Pedagogical design, except that the student can choose

the option of looking at the prior sequence again in order to refresh the

situation.

A fifth important feature of the current design is the mere presence of

the textual feedback. In applied areas such as interpersonal skills training,

reasons for behaving or not behaving in certain manners range from being

clearly stated to being vaguely stated (depending on the skills of the

instructor). The simple requirement of feedback in the scenario keeps the

scenario writers honest in the sense that they must be able to state clearly

why action A is better than action B. Hence, action A and B as well as their

feedback are open to the scrutiny of both the student and other professionals

for their agreement or disagreement. This feature leads to two important

consequences. First, scenario writers must put a great deal of thought into

the script and feedback because of the specificity required. Second, the

requirement of specific feedback brings standardization into a content area

where standardization has traditionally been difficult. The pedagogical mode

can be thought of as a standardized role playing situation. Also, the visible

feedback forces scenario writers, instructors, and theorists to clarify and

operationally define their views. This process may help distinguish areas of

theoretical agreement and/or disagreement.

Scenario Development and Production

The major objective of the VISTA project was to determine whether the new

computer assisted videodisc training technology could train leadership skills.

Regardless of the sophistication of the hardware and software involved, the

success or failure of any training system is still probably determined by the

quality of the content material. For this reason, a great deal of effort

was put into scenario development. In addition, regardless of how tutorial,

creative, and insightful the written scenario may be, the translation from

script to actual production must be of high quality in order to deliver a

final product that is realistic, interesting, doctrinally accurate, and

instructional.

20
An overview of the scenario development is shown in Figure 4 (page 22).

After the topics for a given scenario had been determined (see section on

Topic Analysis), the next step was to establish a realistic situation (time,

place, characters, etc.), in which a given problem would be likely to occur.

Also, it is important at this early point to establish the primary instructional objectives. These objectives were determined by consulting with

subject matter experts (SME's), checking Army doctrine, and checking any other

relevant sources of information (e.g., theories, referral agencies, etc.). A

complete list of the major instructional objectives can be found in Appendix

D, Part 1. It is important for the scenario writer to remember two things

as he/she proceeds through the subsequent stages. First, the items listed

should be included in the scenario if at all possible. The second point is

not as obvious. The scenario writer should not feel compelled to limit the

instruction to those a priori objectives. It is impossible to know what

additional instructional points will evolve as the scenario progresses. For

that reason, the original list should be considered as an initial list to

which additional instructional points can be added as the writing evolves.

The next step is to create the ideal linear correct path. That is, the

writer must write a dialogue between the counselor and counselee that is: (a)

realistic; (b) contains all of the original objectives plus any that evolve;

(c) resolves the problem situation to the extent that a Second Lieutenant can

resolve it; and (d) is consistent with doctrine, theory and the SME's. This

dialogue will represent the correct path for the scenario.

After the correct path has been determined, the next step is to carefully

examine each of the Counselor's (Second Lieutenant's) responses and, with the

help of the SME, doctrine, etc., determine if each is a point in the interaction that is critical, necessary for the correct resolution of the problem,

involves one of the teaching objectives, and/or is a point where mistakes are commonly made. If a response satisfies one or more of the above conditions,

then that part of the dialogue becomes a prime candidate for a choice point

and the Lieutenant's statement becomes the correct alternative for that

choice point. Next, the specific feedback for the Pedagogical Mode should be

created. As stated above, writing the feedback has the desirable effect of

keeping the writer honest (i.e., insuring that there is substantial justification for a correct choice). Writing feedback also provides another useful

function in the scenario development. If there is insufficient feedback

for a given choice, the choice point should be questioned.

After choice points and correct feedback for the correct alternatives

have been determined, the next step is to create incorrect alternatives

for each of the choice points. These alternatives should be realistic and

commonly made mistakes. Along with the alternative, the counselee's most

probable response should be written. This reaction should, if possible,

depict an undesirable outcome so that immediate video feedback can indicate a

less-than-optimal choice has been made. Also, feedback for each of the

incorrect choices should be written that clearly states what was wrong with

that alternative. At this point, the scenarist should also be identifying

negative resulting consequences or end points which could develop as a result

of a given incorrect response. When the above steps have been completed, the

Pedagogical scenario is complete.

21

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To complete the Experiential scenario, the writer must address each

incorrect alternative on the correct path as a new situation. The writer must

identify a possible negative outcome or end point that could occur if the

student were to persist in the wrong direction, and dialogue that takes the

trainee to that end point. The writer should then identify potential choice -

points along that incorrect path and alternatives for those choice points. If.4

possible, one of the alternatives at each choice point should allow the

* student to get back to the correct path and salvage the situation. For

purposes of economy, a given incorrect path should probably never go more than

three choice points off the correct path and various incorrect paths should be

channeled into common undesirable end points If these suggestions are not

followed, it could mean that the video segments might not fit on one videodisc.

Of course, the final step is to submit the finished written scenario to the

appropriate approving agency before production.

In order to facilitate future scenario writing, a Scenario Authoring

Guide was created. This guide provides an outline and checklist for new

scenario writers so that they can quickly proceed with scenario writing rather

than recreating a scenario writing strategy that has already been developed,

tried, and successfully tested. The Scenario Authoring Guide can be found in

Appendix D, Part 2 and Scenarios 1-6 can be found in Appendices E-J.

After scenario approval and appropriate actors have been selected, the

Production and Editing stages begin. It is very important to work closely

with the production people from the onset. The Director should be given

copies of the scenario well in advance of the actual shooting. Also, the

scenario writer should go through the entire scenario with the Director to

explain any desired mood, affect, etc. which may not be obvious in the text.

The scenario should then be transformed into a production script by removing

irrelevant material (choice point alternatives, feedback, etc.), inserting

appropriate prompts for the Director and actors, and dividing the scenario

into relatively short scenes. The scenes should be selected so that they run

continuously from a given alternative at a choice point up to the next choice

point or end point, whichever is next. The reason for flowing from one alternative to the next is that although videodisc edits can be conducted during

the actual training, such edits are choppy and disrupt the flow of tne

instruction.

During the shooting, two cameras should be used simultaneously. One

camera should be positioned so that it is facing the counselee (i.e., so that

later, in the training setting, the trainee sees what he would if he were

actually there talking to the counselee). The counselee should look into that

camera when talking rather than looking at the actor who is playing the

Second Lieutenant. Similarly, the second camera should be positioned in a

similar fashion except facing toward the Second Lieutenant Counselor. Shots

taken from the second camera will be used to show the student what a given

response looks like. On opening and closing scenes, it proved beneficial to

have a third camera taking a wide angle shot of the set. This was effective

in establishing the situation and providing closure. Concerning sequence of

shooting scenes, it is helpful to shoot scenes on the correct path first.

Subsequently, it is helpful to shoot scenes along a given wrong path in

correct sequence. This strategy helps everyone keep track of the appropriate

mood, etc.

23

...................
The scenario writer should be present during all shooting for three

reasons. First, he/she must review each scene to insure that the right

message was conveyed. Second, he/she must check to see that each scene has

been included. Third, he/she must make sure that scene transitions flow

smoothly. Given the heavy use of branching and the resulting impossibility of

shooting scenes in true sequential order, this task is often a difficult one.

To accomplish this, the scenario writer and director must often recreate

earlier scenes or replay the appropriate tape if possible. In addition to the

Director and Scenarist, it is desirable to have a military SME present to make

sure that the acting carries the appropriate military bearing and to insure

that unifor-'s, etc. are in accordance with military doctrine.

Technology Applica tion

Hardware

The selection f the hardware started with the design of an ideal system

to be used in the project. That is, the Ideal system was designed and

hardware was selected to implement, as closely as possible, the ideal system.

This system was to consist of an industrial version, laser reflective optical

videodisk player; a NTSC color monitor; a microprocessor (and floppy disk

drives) that had a NTSC compatible text generator; a real-time clock; a

videodisc interface card; and finally, a touch-panel for the monitor. Such a

system would permit text from the computer or scenes from the videodisc player

to be displayed on the monitor and would also permit a student to interact

with the system by touching the monitor's screen. The latter capability would

guarantee that the system would be easy to use.

A laser reflective optical videodisc player was chosen because it

would permit rapid (under five seconds) access of any motion sequence stored

on the videodisc. Because a laser beam is used to read the information from

the videodisc, the laser reflective optical system also has the advantage of

no degradation of the information stored on the disc with extensive use. An

industrial version was chosen because it would permit the videodisc player

to be connected to an external computer for its control. The external

computer, therefore, would contain the program which would control the videodisc

player.

A real-time clock was included in the design to afford the capability to

collect time-based measures of the students performance. Examples of such

measures are response latency (the amount of time that the student takes to

respond to a set of choices) and lesson duration (the amount of time that

the student takes to complete an entire lesson).

The use of a touch-panel eliminates the necessity of the student using a

keyboard to interact with the system. It precludes errors from being made

during the response process, and it simplifies the man/machine interaction.

Table 3 (page 25) lists the microcomputers reviewed prior to the

selection of the computer for the system. As the table indicates, the Apple

II was the only microcomputer that met the necessary critera. This particular microcomputer has the advantage that it can be expanded to a full 64K

of memory. Most of the other microcomputers reviewed could only be expanded

to 48K.

24
The decision of which videodisc player to use had already been made by

the Army Communicative Technology Office (ACTO). The player that they

chose was a DiscoVision Associates PR-7820.

An interface board, manufactured by Colony Products, was chosen that

would interface the PR-7820 to an Apple II. The board has the capability

to be used with either of the programming languages, BASIC or Pascal, to

command the player, and also has the capability to switch the source of

the video appearing on the monitor to the videodisc player or to the text

generator of the Apple II.

The clock card that was selected was the Mountain Hardware Clock Card.

This card permits the time of day and date to be accessed either in Pascal or

BASIC. This card is supplied with a rechargeable Ni-Cad battery for back-up

when power is not supplied to the Apple II.

Unfortunately, a touch-panel for the Apple II could not be located.

Consequently, the decision was made to use a light pen in its place. A Symtec

light pen was selected for this purpose. The pen also permits use with BASIC

or Pascal. Table 4 (page 26) is a review of the devices selected that constitute the ideal system, along with a rationale for their selection.

Table 3

Hardware Selection

Necessary Capabilities

of Microcomputer Apple II TRS-80 ATARI 800 EXIDY

Interface to videodisc player? yes yes yes yes

Switch video between videodisc

player and computer? yes yes yes yes

NTSC signal out of microcomputer

character generator? yes yes yes yes

Real-time clock card available? yes yes no no

Light pen available? yes yes no no

Different languages available

(Pascal, BASIC, FORTRAN)? yes no no no

25

............................................................................
Table 4

Final Hardware

Device Function to be Served

Apple II Computer Will contain the program which will control

the videodisc player.

DiscoVision Associates Will display motion sequences on command

PR-7820 Optical-Format from the Apple II.

Videodisc Player

Symtec Light Pen Will permit the student to interact with the

system by touching the light pen to specific

positions on the face of the TV monitor.

Mountain Hardware Real- Will allow the capability to collect timeTime Clock Card based measures of the student's performance.

Colony Products VAI-I Will permit the PR-7820 to be interfaced to

Videodisc Interface Board the Apple II. Also permits the video signal

to the monitor to be alternated between

the signal from the videodisc player, and the

text generator of the Apple II.

Programming Language

After the hardware was selected, a review was made of the advantages

and disadvantages of the various programming languages available for the

Apple II. This comparison is listed in Table 5 (page 27). Because it is a

structured language, Pascal has an immediate advantage over the other two

languages, BASIC and FORTRAN. A structured language, by its design, forces

top-down programming. Simply put, top-down programming requires the pro-

* grammer to define the problem to be programmed before writing the program. A

structured language also makes the logic of the program easier to follow,

because procedures must be defined before they are used. Pascal also tends to

be self documenting. The same cannot be said for either FORTRAN or BASIC.

Naturally, any language that approaches self-documentation is to be preferred

, over one that does not. In addition, the Apple implementation of Pascal

allows for user developed procedures to be added to the LIBRARY of the

language. Consequently, the vocabulary of the language can be expanded for a

* particular set of programs. This feature speeds the development of subsequent

software in the same application area. Finally, the Apple implementation of

Pascal permits a program to be broken down into several small segments. Each

26
Table 5

Comparison of Pascal, BASIC, and FORTRAN

Pascal BASIC FORTRAN

Language allows for the expansion of its

vocabulary? yes no no

Language uses computer memory efficiently? yes no yes

A program written in the language is easily read? yes no no

Language forces "top-down" programming? yes no yes(?

A standard exists for the language? yes no yes(?)

27

. . . -I
of the segments can be executed one at a time without the necessity for the

entire program to be resident in memory at the same time. As a consequence, a

program much larger than the available memory of the Apple can be executed.

Software Description

It is noteworthy that in this project the software design was developed

to be complementary to the instructional design. That is, the instructional

design drove the software and not vice versa. The following discussion

describes how the software looks to the user. For a more detailed discussion,

refer to the Functional Software Overview and the instructions for LAMP,

Structure, and Transfer (in Appendix K). The main computer program, called

Videodisc, produced for this contract is a general purpose computer-assistedinstruction (CAI)/videodisc program. The same program is capable of controlling

each of the seven videodiscs developed for this project, even though each

videodisc deals with a different topic area. The program accomplishes this by

having flexibility designed into its structure. That is, the program was not

designed to control one videodisc, but rather, was designed to control a

generalized videodisc. The program assumes that each lesson consists of a

series of junction points. A junction point is defined as the collection of

potential events (text and/or motion sequences) that may occur prior to and

following the selection of an answer by a student. Because a junction point

consists of the potential for text and/or motion sequences, the appearance of

each junction point can be defined independently of the preceding and/or

following junction points. Table 6 (page 29) contains the list of events that

may or may not happen during the execution of a junction point. From an

instructional design view, these events can be thought of as options to be

included or excluded. Thus, two quite different appearing instructional modes

(or more) were made possible from one general program. If all of the potential

events listed are included in a lesson, a somewhat traditional CAI lesson

would be the result. This mode of operation was named the Pedagogical mode

and has been discussed in depth in a previous section. If event #5 (displaying

the second motion sequence), event #6 (allowing the student to decide about

keeping the choice), and event #8 (providing feedback in the form of text) are

consistently eliminated, another mode of instruction results. This mode is

referred to as the Experiential mode and was also discussed in a previous

section. In other words, the software was designed to instantiate the two

instructional modes that had been established in the design of the instructional

material. This may seem a trivial point, since this is the recommended

procedure for software development, but it needs to be emphasized because many

CAI projects seem to develop in the opposite manner. In the following paragraphs,

the Pedagogical and Experiential modes will be reviewed. First, however, a

" brief description will be given of how the program looks to the user before

one of the two modes is selected for use.

When the program is executed, text is displayed that informs the student

that the videodisc is being positioned. Next the student has the option

of viewing the instructions on the use of the light pen or bypassing the

instructions.* If the student doesn't respond within 10 sec, then the

*The remainder of this discussion will assume that a light pen is in use. If

a touch-panel is in use, the student would substitute touching the monitor

screen with his finger for the light pen. Each of the videodiscs has in- K'

structions for both light pen and touch-panel use.

28

S. . . ... ,.
Table 6 .1

Description of Events that Constitute a Junction Point

Even t Type Description

f

TEXT Used to provide background information or to

(From Computer) provide additional information to student.

2 MOTION SEQUENCE #1 Used to present the problem to the student or

(From Videodisc) to continue the flow of an interview.

3 TEXT Used to provide additional background infor-

(From Computer) mation to the student or to provide additional

informa tion.

4 TEXT The student is provided a set of choices (up

(From Computer) to five) and must select from them.

5 MOTION SEQUENCE #2 This motion sequence corresponds to the text

(From Videodisc) of the selected choice. However, it does not

show the consequence of the choice and it is

from the counselor's perspective.

6 TEXT After viewing motion sequence /2, the student

(From Computer) is permitted to alter his selection or keep

the selection.

7 MOTION SEQUENCE #3 The motion sequence is a repeat of motion

(From Videodisc) sequence #3 with the additional information of

the consequences of the choice. Also, this

sequence is from the lieutenant's perspective.

That is, looking at NCO.

8 TEXT Feedback, in the form of text, is presented

(From Computer) to the student indicating whether this choice

is the best of those listed. Additional

information is given explaining the rating

of this choice.

29
VW . -7 I -

light pen instructions are automatically presented. To bypass the instructions,

the student is required to touch the light pen to one of the lines of text on

the monitor before the 10 sec have elapsed. The student then has the option

to read an overview of how the lesson will progress. To look at the overview,

the YES line is touched with the light pen. To bypass the overview, the

NO line is touched. When appropriate, this YES/NO convention is used in the

program. Next, the student must enter his or her identification number. This

is done by touching the pen to the appropriate sections of the screen to enter

the digits of the service number and then to another line to enter the number.

Next, the student has the option of choosing the Pedagogical or Experiential

mode. This option, however, can be eliminated by setting one variable in the

main information file; see the subsection labeled "Information stored in

record #0 of file Point.One" in the Functional Software Overview section of

Appendix K. If this variable is set, the student will automatically go into

the Pedagogical mode.

Once in the Pedagogical mode, the first event is either a display of

page(s) of text or the initial motion sequence. If text is present, it is

used to convey background information of the role to be assumed during the

lesson. Next, a motion sequence may be displayed. This motion sequence is

used either to present the problem that the student is to deal with, or to

continue the flow of an interview as the student progresses through the

lesson. Additional text may then be presented to give the student more

background information pertaining to the scenario. Next, the student is asked

to construct a response regarding what he would do in this situation. Next,

the student is presented with up to five choices of what he could do in this

particular situation. He is asked to choose the alternative that is closest

to his constructed response or is the best of those given. After he makes

this choice, he is shown that selection acted out but not its consequences.

This was done to avoid any discrepancies in meaning between the text and the

behavioral portrayal of that answer. When the choice is acted out, it is from

the perspective of the person being counseled. That is, the student is

looking at the junior officer. This was done for both role-modeling purposes

and because it was thought that looking at the lieutenant conveyed less

information than would be true if the student were shown the counselee's

reactions. That is, the alternative is shown without indicating to the

student whether it is the best of those listed.

The student is then given the option of keeping his selection or returning to the set of choices to make another choice. If he decides to keep his

choice, he is again shown the response acted out along with its consequences.

In this motion sequence, however, the perspective is that of the young

officer. That is, the student is looking at the counselee while he hears the

lieutenant speaking and while the counselee responds; as if the student were

there. Next, the student is given feedback in the form of text as to whether

or not this choice was the best of those listed. If it was the best, the

student is shown a display which permits him to request "help" from the

computer, look at the consequences of the other choices, repeat the last

correct response, or continue to the next junction point. The "help" option

allows the student to move back to earlier junction points or to exit the

program. The option to look at other choices and their consequences was built

in to permit the student to experiment with the other choices after he had

30

9- .- . - - .. . - - - s .- ' - • i - ' - . '. y .- " .-
made the appropriate choice. The option to repeat the last correct choice was

included in the event that the student lost the flow of the interview being

mimicked. If the selection was not the best of those listed, the student is

returned to the set of choices which is now minus the incorrect selection.

That is, if the student picked choice number 1, and it was incorrect, when he

is returned to the set of choices, choice number I will be eliminated.

The sequence of events listed above continues until the student has

correctly progressed through the lesson. It should be noted that the student

is forced to make the appropriate choice before he is advanced to the next

junction point. Consequently, the student not only sees the correct choice

acted out, but is also given additional feedback in the form of text as

to why that choice is considered to be the best of those given.

As discussed earlier, the Experiential mode of instruction differs from

the Pedagogical in that the second motion sequence, the opportunity to alter

the selection made, and the textual feedback are eliminated during the lesson.

This mode then simulates an interview more closely than does the Pedagogical. -,

Up to and including the set of answers being presented, the Pedagogical and

Experiential modes are identical. However, in the Experiential mode, after a

choice is made, the student is shown his choice acted out along with the

consequences of that choice. The perspective during this motion sequence is

that of the lieutenant. That is, the student is looking at the counselee

while he hears the lieutenant's response as well as seeing and hearing the

counselee's reaction. Also, there is no provision for altering the selection.

The only feedback is given in the counselee's reaction. The Experiential

mode offers the advantage of a more realistic, flowing interaction with the

possible disadvantage of relying heavily on the acting ability of the subordinate to convey adequate feedback about the quality of the choice made.

The student progresses until an end point is reached; when the interaction

between the lieutenant and the NCO reaches a logical conclusion. When this

occurs, the student is allowed to return to the beginning of the scenario,

move back one junction point, repeat the last junction point, or exit the

program. Table 7 (page 32) is a review of the design differences between the

two modes of instruction. For a more detailed discussion of the software and

program listings, see Appendix K.

Evaluation Design and Results

Design

In order to assess the training effectiveness of the VISTA products, the

videodiscs were evaluated relative to alternative instructional approaches.

The first decision made concerned the selection of appropriate instructional

alternatives from which relative measures of effectiveness could be obtained.

Since the VISTA videodiscs were designed to supplement role playing techniques

currently being used in the Counseling Laboratory of the Infantry Officer's

Basic Course (IOBC), it seemed reasonable to include a control group that

received role playing. In order to provide uniformity between conditions, the

Role Play control group received the VISTA scenario topics, role played by

31
Table 7

Comparison of Pedagogical and Experiential Modes

Presence of Option

Pedagogical Experiential

1. Text Yes Yes

2. Motion Sequence #1 Yes Yes

3. Text Yes Yes

4. Display Choices and Pick up Response Yes Yes

5. Motion Sequence #2 Yes No

6. Allow Student to Alter Choice Yes No

7. Motion Sequence #3 Yes Yes

8. Display Feedback Yes No

the Counseling Laboratory instructors. Thus, the inclusion of the Role

Play condition allowed a comparison of the VISTA products with the current

instructional approach.

Because the initial costs of the videodisc hardware and development are

relatively high, it was decided to include a third condition that received

exactly the same instructional information except at a much reduced fidelity

and cost. This was accomplished by translating the VISTA scenarios into a

programmed textbook format. By including a Text condition, comparison of

the effectiveness of a much lower fidelity (along with lower development

costs) could be made with both the Videodisc and Role Play conditions.

The major empirical question to be answered in this evaluation involved

the relative training effectiveness of the three training conditions (i.e.,

VISTA, Role Play, and Text). In order to evaluate the three modes of instruction, an experimental design was chosen that allowed measurement of both the

cognitive acquisition of leadership principles and the students' subjective

evaluations of the three approaches. In addition, six different leadership

content areas were addressed. Because of the limited amount of VISTA equipment, different IOBC Counseling Laboratory sections were used to test the six

content areas. The IOBC Counseling Laboratory is divided into two sections

with approximately 100 students per three-hour section. Assignment to each

section is random. It was decided to use each section as a "unit" for the

first and second content areas. Because of time and subject constraints,

32
one-half of a section served as a unit for the third through sixth content

areas. Table 8 shows the experimental design used for each content area. The

design shown in Table 8 was repeated six times (once for each content area).

In the entire effort, three different IOBC classes were used over a period of

about 10 months. Hence, resulting statistical differences due to "content

area" could be the result of different classes, different content areas,

and/or different time of the year. However, this is not a major problem in

the present effort because such differences are of minimal interest and can be

statistically controlled. The main question was whether the different modes

of instruction differentially affected the amount learned and/or if there was

a significant interaction between mode of instruction and content area. Such

an interaction would indicate that the effectiveness of the instructional mode

was determined in part by the content area being addressed.

Subjects (N=312) were randomly assigned to each of the three major

conditions. At the beginning of each evaluation session the students were

given a brief explanation of the purpose of the experiment, i.e., three

different methods of teaching leadership were being evaluated in order to

determine the best approach. They were also given an outline of what would

transpire over the next two hours. The Videodisc and Role Play stations were

small rooms large enough for groups of seven students and one instructor. The

size of the groups was set at seven because that is the size of the groups in

the current training and also, the probable size of the groups if the VISTA

program is implemented. The Text groups were exposed to the programmed texts

in a large classroom. Once in the instructional environment, all subjects

were given 5 min. of instructions and subsequently exposed to their experimental

condition. For the Videodisc group, instructions and background information

were presented on the television monitor. For the Text and Role Play groups,

the instructions and background information were read from paper. In the

Videodisc and Text conditions, the students were exposed to the Pedagogical

mode of instruction for 35 min. followed by a 15 min. exposure to the Experiential mode. In the Role Play condition, the students either role played or

watched others role play for the entire 50 min.

Following 50 min. of exposure to their major condition, the students were

tested on what they had learned. The scores on this test were the major

dependent variable in the experiment. It was decided that a highly structured

format (e.g., multiple choice, fill in the blank, or short answer), would be

inappropriate because it would probably be biased in favor of the Videodisc

and Text conditions, i.e., there was no way of knowing what would be taught in

the Role Playing situation and, hence, no way of knowing what questions to

ask. Instead, it was decided to give students an open-ended, unstructured test

(see Appendix L). Subjects were simply asked three questions. The first

asked them to list any "principles" they had learned or been reminded of in

the last 50 min. about how to deal with people. An example of a principle was

"If you see a soldier doing an outstanding job, give him recognition". The

second question asked subjects to list any principles they had learned or been

reminded of in the last 50 min. about how to better perform their duties. An

example was "Always make a written record of important meetings.". The third

question asked the subjects to list any important Army information or facts

they had learned or been reminded of in the last 50 min. The example given

was "The Platoon Leader is responsible for all issued property that is sub-hand

receipted from the Company Commander to him."

33
CO4

C.4

10

co

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u_ __ I >_ _ _ _

0 8AOH ___

00 0

CN 0 0 14 .- 4 0 -4 "y

4 ..

(o t

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00 0- CIP

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34O
Although it is debatable whether this test is the best possible test of

"leadership," funds were not available for a longitudinal analysis. It is

argued that regardless of whether students can or do apply the principles of

leadership, any good instruction should make the student aware of such

principles to the extent that he can state them clearly. Also, it is argued P

that this test is not biased in favor of any of the experimental treatments

because such principles are supposedly being taught in all three approaches.

The above criterion measure was scored by three independent raters. Two

of the raters were personnel who had been working on the VISTA project. In

addition, a third Army Leadership SME who was not familiar with VISTA or group

identity (the groups were color coded), served as the third judge. One

point was given for each valid principle or fact. Levels of agreement were

computed for all combinations of three judges taken two at a time.

Following the major test, all subjects were given brief, 10-mmn. exposures to the other two conditions. Thus, all subjects were exposed to all

three conditions. Also, all possible orders of presentation were given

(yielding the six groups in Table 8), in order to control for order and

sequence effects. Following the two brief exposures to their secondary

conditions, the students were given a preference inventory (see Appendix

L). In this inventory students were asked to rate on a scale of 1 to 9, their

subjective opinions on such topics as: (a) how much they thought they had

learned, (b) how interesting, (c) how motivating, (d) how valuable the three

instructional approaches were, and (e) how much they agreed with the training

content. Analyses of variance were performed on measures from each of these

subjective ratings.

Results

Listings of raw data and specific statistical analyses for VISTA content

areas one through six can be found in Appendix M, Parts one through six.

Overall statistical analyses for all six content areas can be found in Appendix

M, Part seven. The two major dependent measures for all content areas were

scores on the Leadership Principles Test (which served as the measure of

training effectiveness), and ratings on the subjective preference questionnaire (which served as a measure of user acceptance). The following two

sections address the two major dependent measures.

Leadership Principles Test

The Leadership Principles Test was graded by three independent judges for

each of the six content areas. The mean agreement across all combinations of

three judges taken two at a time for all content areas was 82%. More specific

agreement statistics for separate evaluations can be found in Appendix M. The

mean scores for each of the three instructional mode conditions for all six

content areas are shown in Figure 5 (page 36). The scores represent the mean

number of acceptable leadership principles stated in the test for all three

judges. The means for all three conditions across all six content areas is

shown in Figure 6 (page 37). A corresponding statistical overview of each

content area and for all six content areas collapsed together is shown in

35

• .

- . . .... .. . . . .. ... .. . . . . ....... . ... , . . . . • . .-.. . .,. .
4

,: S 

C:

Co~~ () 4; c)

c

crI

CC -

- - E

a) CL~

(t 0

C:

-% %
r

J

..

'.' .

14-

12

10-

2

8

S

•E C

z: 6-

4-

2

Videodisc Role Text

Play

(n=103) (n=105) (n=104)

Instructional Mode

Figure (. VISTA: Overall test results.

Note: Mean scores on the Leadership Principles Test for the thre instructional modes averaged acros:; th,. ;ix r-p1 ica;t.ions. 7

x.i .* -..- .- * --.- ..-... ~ -. . . . . . . . . . . . .
Table 9 (page 39). As indicated, the only content area showing a significant

main effect due to mode of instruction was "Insubordination." Newman-Keuls

multiple comparisons tests indicated a statistically significant superiority

of Videodisc over both Role Playing and Text in "Insubordination."

An overall Analysis of Variance was conducted on raw scores (means for

the three judges). The appropriate test was a two factor Analysis of Variance

with the three modes of instruction forming the three levels of one factor

(Mode of Instruction), and the six content areas forming the six levels of the

second factor (Content Area). As shown in Table 9 (page 39), the

main effect due to Mode of Instruction was significant. A Newman-Keuls

multiple comparisons test indicated a statistically significant overall

superiority of Videodisc to both the Role Play and Text conditions. Besides

the significant effect due to Mode of Instruction, the analysis also indicated

a significant main effect due to Content Area (F (5,294)=8.147, P<.001), and

Mode of Instruction by Content Area interaction (F (10,294)-2.067, P-.027).

The Content Area effect indicates that different content areas varied in terms

of amount of principles reported. Similarly, the significant interaction

probably indicates that optimum instructional mode depended on which content

area was being taught. In order to remove variability in the data due to

different topic content all raw scores (mean scores for the three judges) for

each separate content area were transformed into T scores with a mean of 50

and a standard deviation of 10. Analysis of Varlance on the T scores indicated

a significant effect due to Mode of Instruction (F(2,294)=4.633, P-.01). As

with the raw scores, a Newman-Keuls multiple comparisons test indicated a

statistically significant superiority of the Videodisc condition relative to

both the Role Play and Text conditions. Also, as with the raw scores, there

was no significant difference between the Role Play and Text conditions. Of

course, there was no effect due to Content Area because of the T score transformations. The Mode of Instruction by Content Area interaction was removed

with the T score transformations (F (10,294)-l.638, P>.05).

Subjective Preference Ratings

On the Leadership Training Preference Test given at the end of the period

of instruction, students were asked to rate each of the instructional modes on

a scale of one to nine as to: (a) how much they had learned about dealing

with people, (b) how useful the training was, (c) how it kept their attention,

(d) how it motivated them, and (e) the quality of the content. A complete

copy of the Leadership Training Preference Test along with specific statistical outcomes for each separate content area and the overall evaluation can

be found in Appendix M. The overall mean ratings averaged across all five

subjective dimensions and all six content areas are shown in Figure 7 (page

40). Statistical analysis of the overall scores indicated that the preference

of Role Play over Videodisc was significant (Newman-Keuls, p<.050). However,

none of the separate content areas revealed a statistically significant preference for Role Play over Videodisc. Also, the preference of both Role Play

and Videodisc over the Text condition was highly significant (Newman-Keuls,

P<.O01). Similarly, all of the separate content areas indicated a highly

38

7_
Table 9

Statistical Analysis of

Leadership Principle Test For

Content Areas 1-6 and Overall

Role Play Role Play Videodisc

versus versus versus

VISTA Main Videodisc Text Textb

Content Area Effect (Newman-Keuls) (Newman-Keuls) (Newman-Keuls)

#/1 Verbal F(2,87)=2.24-

Abuse p=.ll

12 Taking F(2051)=3.09 .05( -p<.l0 Y>.1O .05(p<.10

Charge p=.054 (Videodisc> (Videodisc>

Role Play) Text)

113 Meeting F(2,35)<1.0

the NCOs

and

Pla toon

#4 Perfor- F(2,41)=3.03 p>.1O k<.05 .05Kj(<.lO

mance p=.059 (Role Play> (Videodisc>

Counsel- Text) Text)

ing

#/5 Insubor- F(2,42)=3.85 -p(.05 k~>.10y<0

dination p=.029 (Videodisc> (Videodisc>

Role Play) Text)

#6 Personal F(2,38)<1.0

Crisis

OVERALL (1-6) F(2,294)= yp<.05 pm.Oy.0

RAW SCO~RES 5.432 (Videodisc> (Videodisc>

p=.005 Role Play) Text)

T Scores F(2,294)= _E.05 T>.10yO0

4.633 (Videodisc> (Videodisc>

01Role Play) Text)

39
Fiur 7-VSA vrlpujciertns

4o4

*Very Very

*Low High

I I I I I I 1 I

~-Role Play Text Videodisc -,

*Figure 7. VISTA: Overall subjective ratings. .'

Note: Overall mean ratings for five questions on which students were asked to '

rate the quality of the three training procedures.
statistically significant preference for both Role Play and Vidoedisc over

Text (Newman-Keuls, P<.001). When presented with a forced choice question as

to which approach was the best in terms of learning about Army leadership, 58%

chose Role Play, 37% chose Videodisc, and 5% chose Text. When presented a

forced choice question as to which approach best kept their interest, 54%

chose Role Play, 46% chose Videodisc, and 2% chose Text. Overall, 90.5% of

the students felt that the three approaches should be combined with the

Counseling Laboratory consisting of 17.6% Text, 36.8% Videodisc, and 45.5%

Role Playing. When asked whether they preferred the Pedagogical or Experiential

mode of instruction, 70.2% indicated a preference for the Pedagogical mode

(only the Videodisc subjects were included in this analysis since they were

the only students with exposure to both modes). This last comparison is

probably unfair to the Experiential mode since students only received 15 min.

of exposure to the Experiential mode while receiving 35 min. of exposure to

the Pedagogical mode. Overall, 67.4% indicated that they thought the two

instructional modes should be combined.

Students were also asked to rate various VISTA quality dimensions on a

scale of 1 to 9. The four qualitative dimensions were rated relatively high.

The median for writing was 6.86; the median for filming was 7.34; the median

for acting was 6.60; and the median for feedback was 7.38. Finally, the

students had relatively high agreement with the content of the training for

both Role Play and Videodisc (mean ratings were 7.29 and 7.24 respectively),

but a significantly lower agreement with the Text (mean rating was 5.92). The

disparity between programmed Text and Videodisc was interesting (given that

the actual content was identical for the two), and probably reflected a

general dislike for the programmed text.

Conclusion and Recommendations

The major purpose of the VISTA project was to determine if current

computer-assisted videodisc technology could teach soft skills in the Army.

The evaluation results suggest that soft skills can be effectively taught with

Videodisc technology. One important point needs to be made. In the final

evaluation, the videodisc programs were matched against both a programmed test

and role playing in order to make a relative comparison. The results do not

necessarily imply that the VISTA products should replace role playing and

written material for the following reasons. First, the results did indicate a

general VISTA superiority overall, but inspection of the separate content

areas revealed differences in the effectiveness of the videodisc programs on

different topics. Second, the students indicated a preference for the role

playing and felt that ideally, the three approaches should be combined.

Third, the major dependent variable was the score on a cognitive acquisition

of leadership principles test. It could be argued that a performance test

such as role playing would have been more appropriate and may have indicated

that role playing is the superior method. However, because of time limitations,

it would have been impossible to test every student using role playing. Also,

the traditional problems of obtaining qualified raters, how to structure the

ratings, and the general unreliability of such measures precluded role playing

as the dependent variable. Fourth, the VISTA products were never intended to

replace role playing but rather to supplement role playing.

41
,w.. . -w . w - w' . -. '-.W77. _.7 . -. - .- -

For the above four reasons, it is suggested that the videodisc products f

should be used in conjunction with role playing and written material. In

order to demonstrate leadership, one must know the correct solution or

strategy (cognitive component) and also must be able to carry it out (performance component). For this reason, it is suggested that the VISTA products be

used early in the training (e.g., during the first Counseling Laboratory), and

that the more performance-oriented role playing be used later (e.g., during

the second Counseling Laboratory).

Because of the success of the VISTA project and other Army videodisc

projects, it is recommended that more videodisc training/simulation efforts be

considered. It is very important that careful front-end analyses be completed

before trying to apply the new technology (i.e., the videodisc should not be

considered a general panacea for all training/simulation areas). In addition,

the quality of the content must be maintained at a high level (i.e., presenting poorly written material on a videodisc will not make the material

acceptable).

Although the VISTA products were designed for the Infantry Officer's

Basic Course, there may be other potential uses for them. One possibility is

a refresher course for Company Commanders. Another possible application is

other Officer's Basic Courses. There may be enough similarity between

leadership problems encountered among different branches that a more general

distribution is warranted. This possibility should be examined.

Further research is currently in progress to develop three additional

videodisc leadership programs, to develop a trainer's manual to determine

optimal group size for training, and to determine if the Pedagogical or

Experiential mode is better. In addition, other training areas are being

considered by the Army to determine if they would be appropriate domains for

videodisc.

42

42
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