ABSTRACT
Keywords: Human-Computer Interaction, Exploratory Learning, COGENT, ACT-R
Introduction
Exploratory Learning. People often learn a novel device or software application by
actually trying to use it, drawing on a combination of prior knowledge, information from
the interface itself, and problem solving skills. We describe this phenomenon as
exploratory learning. Rieman (1996) showed that in a real world situation, people prefer
to learn by exploration in the context of a real task they need to perform, rather than
taking time out to experiment with it or work through the documentation in a
task-independent manner. Exploratory learning also occurs in situations when training or
documentation is not available and in the case of walk-up-and-use devices.
