The most important factor in learning is to find out what the learner already knows, and to make the instruction meaningful at that level. Meaningfulness is particularly important in computer assisted instruction, where instructors do not have feedback from students from questions or from body language. We discuss four methods of making computer assisted instruction material more meaningful that were incorporated in the design of AI/LEARN: formative evaluation, computer response tracking, student ratings, and organization techniques. Since the theoretical support for formative evaluation to enhance meaningfulness is rarely presented, we cite references from the cognitive psychology literature in support of the importance of meaningfulness and the benefits of organizers.
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