Description

1 QUESTION1 – CREATE GOMS MODEL
Objective:
Create a thorough GOMS model for contacting a professor to ask for an explanation of a grade.
We will recap what is GOMS model from Joyner’s lesson.
The GOMS Model (Joyner, 2016a)
1. G – Goals
2. O – Operators
3. M – Methods
4. S – Selection rules
Below is the GOMS model for the task.
Initial Situation – One have questions about a grade and need to contact a professor to ask for an explanation.
• Selection rules – If the question is general and contains no sensitive information, one should choose to use a public post on the Edstem forum.
• Methods – Edstem Public Post
• Operators – Enter URL of Edstem (30 secs)
• Operators – Login with Gatech account username and password (30 secs)
• Operators – Create new thread (3 secs)
• Operators – Type in title (30 secs)
• Operators – Select Category (30 secs)
• Operators – Key in question (5 mins)
• Operators – Leave Private unchecked (1 sec)
• Operators – Click Post (1 sec)
• Selection rules – If the question is not a general one and contains personal information, one can choose to post privately on Edstem forum.
• Methods – Edstem Private Post
• Operators – Enter URL of Edstem (30 secs)
• Operators – Login with Gatech account username and password (30 secs)
• Operators – Create new thread (3 secs)
• Operators – Type in title (30 secs)
• Operators – Select Category (30 secs)
• Operators – Key in question (5 mins)
• Operators – Check Private box (2 sec)
• Operators – Click Post (1 sec)
• Methods – Search Edstem Post
• Operators – Enter URL of Edstem (30 secs)
• Operators – Login with Gatech account username and password (30 secs)
• Operators – Click Search box (1 sec)
• Operators – Key in the question (1 min)
• Operators – Find answer in search results (5 mins)
• Methods – Edstem Post follow-up question
• Operators – Enter URL of Edstem (30 secs)
• Operators – Login with Gatech account username and password (30 secs)
• Operators – Click Search box (1 sec)
• Operators – Key in the question (1 min)
• Operators – Find related question in search results (5 mins)
• Operators – Click Add comment under that thread (1 sec)
• Operators – Key in the follow-up question (5 mins)
• Selection rules – If you cannot find an answer on Edstem forum and not able to get reply using Edstem post, the last choice is to email the professor.
• Methods – Email the professor
• Operators – Google Professor’s name (10 secs)
• Operators – Find Professor’s website and click through (1 min)
• Operators – Find Professor’s email address on the website (3 min)
• Operators – Open the email app (10 secs)
• Operators – Copy Professor’s email address to “Send-to” (10 secs)
• Operators – Draft the email asking the question about the grade (5 mins)
• Operators – Send out email (3 secs)
Ultimate Goal – You question about the grade is answered and you understand the explanation.
2 QUESTION2 – CREATE HIERARCHICAL TASK ANALYSIS
Objective:
Create a hierarchical task analysis of the task of submitting this assignment to Canvas and subsequently receiving one’s grade and feedback.
While GOMS is using the processor view, Cognitive task analysis adopts the predictor view of a human’s role in the system. It generally follows below common sequence: (Joyner, 2016b)
1. Collecting preliminary knowledge
2. Identify knowledge representations
3. Apply focused knowledge elicitation methods
4. Analyze and verify data acquired
5. Format results for the intended application
Below is the Cognitive task analysis for the submitting assignment and getting feedback task.
Top level task – Submitting this assignment to Canvas and subsequently receiving one’s grade and feedback
• Sub-task – Submitting this assignment to Canvas
• Sub-sub-task – Find Canvas assignment page
• Operator – Entering a Canvas URL
• Operator – Clicking Course page
• Operator – Clicking Assignments page
• Operator – Scrolling down to the correct assignment
• Operator – Clicking that assignment link
• Sub-sub-task – Upload assignment in the assignment page
• Operator – Clicking Start Assignment button
• Operator – Selecting a file from the file browser
• Operator – Selecting Choose a file
• Operator – Selecting the correct file and click Open
• Sub-sub-task – Add more assignment files in the assignment page
• Operator – Clicking Add another file button
• Operator – Selecting a file from the file browser
• Operator – Selecting Choose a file
• Operator – Selecting the correct file and click Open
• Sub-sub-task – Submit assignment
• Operator – Selecting “Agree to the agreement”
• Operator – Clicking Submit Assignment button
• Sub-task – Receiving one’s grade and feedback
• Sub-sub-task – Find Canvas Assignments page
• Operator – Entering a Canvas URL
• Operator – Clicking Course page
• Operator – Clicking Assignments page
• Sub-sub-task – Find grade on the Assignments page
• Operator – Scrolling down to the correct assignment
• Operator – Reading the score under assignment name
• Sub-sub-task – Find the assignment sub-page that specific to the target assignment
• Operator – Clicking the target assignment
• Sub-sub-task – Find the feedback on the assignment sub-page
• Operator – Reading the feedback on the right side of page
• Operator – Scrolling down to read the full feedback
3 QUESTION3 – THE SYSTEM FOR NAVIGATION
According to Joyner (Joyner, 2016b)
“Distributed Cognition suggests models of cognition should be extended outside the mind.”
In this section, we will analyze the distributed cognition for navigation tasks.
3.1 The system for navigation comprised a married couple, a map, and street name sign
We can summarize how the cognitive activities are distributed in the system in Table 1 below.
Table 1—Navigation for a couple driving with a map
Cognition Component Cognitive Activity
Long-Term Memory Map Where the car has gone through so far
Long-Term Memory Map What is the route to the destination
Short-Term Memory Street name sign Where is the car currently at
Short-Term Memory Street name sign When to turn left/right if you want to go certain places on the map
Short-Term Memory Passenger Where is the car currently at on the map
Working Memory Passenger What to do in the next crossing
Working Memory Driver What is the traffic now
Deliberation Driver Whether to turn left, right or keep
straight
3.2 Compare and contrast this same situation with a lone driver using a GPS
Without a passenger, the below tasks will be replaced with GPS as shown in table 2 below.
3.3 What does social cognition reveal about the situation that distributed cognition does not
3.4 How might the social relationships among the parts of the system affect the success of the system as a whole
Social relationships among the parts of the system can help to reduce the cognitive load of the individual parts, and many activities that can be distributed using social relationships cannot be replaced by artefacts yet as shown in the
Table 2—GPS vs Passenger in handling navigation cognitive tasks
Cognitive Activities GPS Passenger
Understand overall route planning Show in GPS map Read the map
Understand when to turn left or right Use GPS with map and voice
instructions Use physical map and road signs to figure out
Understand where the car current is Use GPS with map to show Estimation based on map and surroundings
Notice traffic around Missing Through observation
Rephrase instruction if driver do not understand Missing Through conversation
Suggest change of route Missing Based on conversation to change the plan
Suggest to take a rest Missing Through observation that drive is tired
previous table 2. In this way, social relationships reduce cognitive effort and individuals can have more working memory to accomplish the tasks. The system as a whole has a higher chance of success.
4 QUESTION4 – TASK ANALYSIS FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF DIS-
TRIBUTED COGNITION
4.1 Identity and briefly describe the task you’ve chosen and the interface associated with it
The task chosen here is collaboratively writing documentation on Google doc. Currently, a lot of group projects or products need a team to write together on an online platform. Google doc is one of the best options. The main interface of
Google Docs is like a simplified version of what we already have in Microsoft Word as shown in Figure 1. Collaborative works are shown in the interface.
4.2 Describe the pieces of the system
The interface has a big “Share” button to let you control who you want to share the document with. It has a version history of how files changed through the timeline and shows when and who changed which content. One can use the editor tools to alter the size and font of the text or change the alignment and

Figure 1—Main interface – Collaborating on Google Doc
indent. Also, one can highlight part of the content and add comments. On the top of the interface, there is a status indicating who is currently on this page. In the main content, there are cursors in different colours indicating who is currently writing on which part of the document.
4.3 Describe what cognitive tasks are performed by each member of the system, both human and artefact alike
Table 3—Cognitive tasks by each member of the system
Member Task Category Cognitive Task
Human Reasoning and action Writing the content
Cursor Perception Understand where one is writing, and where the others are writing now
History versions Memory Remember what is the historical versions of the content
Highlighting and comments Memory Save other people’s feedback
Editor tools Perception and action Alter the content formatting, the icons reduce the cognitive effort
User status Perception Understand who is currently active on this document
Auto suggestion Action Help to avoid misspelling
Cognitive tasks performed by each member of the system are summarized in table 3.
5 REFERENCES
[1] Joyner, David (2016b). Cognitive Task Analysis. url: https://classroom. udacity.com/courses/ud400/lessons/9438503139/concepts/94303133490923.
[2] Joyner, David (2016a). GOMS Model. url: https://classroom.udacity. com/courses/ud400/lessons/9438503139/concepts/94303133420923.