Software Instrumentation for Intelligent Embedded Training

Software applications play a critical role in many work environments. These applications may be general purpose, such as word-processing and spreadsheet tools, or tailored to specific mission functions, such as systems for air-traffic management and military "command and control" (C2). End-user training is critical if these applications are to be adopted and used effectively. With OPTEMPO up, and training budgets under constant pressure to "do more with less," it is more important than ever to bring training to the users and enable them to learn whenever they have time, wherever they may be. One way to accomplish this is to embed a training system in the mission application itself. Such embedded training systems (ETSs) have been used to varying degrees throughout the military services, and the United States Army has mandated the use of embedded training techniques for all new systems it procures.

Experience has shown that application-operation skills are learned best when trainees are given extensive "hands-on", interactive coached practice on the mission application to be used on the job. Our research at MITRE focuses on developing ETSs that approximate the advantages of one-to-one expert human tutoring through the use of intelligent computer-assisted instruction (ICAI) techniques. For ICAI-based ETSs to support interactive coached practice, they must have some means of observing both the trainee's actions on the mission application, and the application's response(s) to those actions, and also a way to take control of the mission application for the purpose of demonstration or to set up the initial environment for training.

To provide this service, MITRE has developed a technique called software instrumentation, whereby we non-invasively modify the mission application's computing environment (rather than the application itself) and thus gain the required forms of access for our ETS. We discuss this general technique and our implemented software instrumentation tools for X-Windows and standalone Java applications.