Critique and Summary of the Chanute AFB CBE Project

Chanute Air Force Base was the first military training center to undertake an extensive investigation of the use of the PLATO IV system in technical training. The service test was to compare a conventionally taught course in general vehicle maintenance with a course taught with computer-based instructional materials. Part I of this document is the final report of the project and discusses site history and management efforts. Topics include the research agreement, selection and training of PLATO authors, evolution of the project management, lesson development procedures, and Instructional Systems Development (ISD) management of the service test. Written by personnel from the Computer-based Education Research Laboratory of the University of Illinois, who acted as evaluation, instructional, and programming consultants for the service test, Part II is a chapter-by-chapter critique of the final report. (Author/JAB)