The design of a structural system can begin only after a student has a thorough understanding of basic design practice and theory. This basic knowledge is gained through the traditional methods of lecture, study, and practice in the form of working problems. In an effort to make a student's task of working problems more beneficial, a computer program called CAIDS (Computer Aided Instruction for the Design of Steel) has been developed to assist students in developing the basic skills required for the design of steel members.

CAIDS offers a unique environment for both student and instructor. From the student's point of view, CAIDS (1) assigns a homework set (2) corrects the homeset after problems have been worked by hand and (3) provides both immediate evaluation of the problem solution as well as help and guidance in the form of explanations and interpretations of design procedures and code requirements with reference made to the American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC) specifications. From the instructor's point of view, CAIDS (1) assigns unique problems to each student through the use of a random code number generated by the program and permanently assigned to each student (2) encourages students to continue work on all assigned problems until a successful solution has been achieved as determined by the grading routine and (3) easily performs changes, additions, and deletions to problem sets through the use of direct access data files.

The most obvious and advantageous difference between CAIDS and tradititional methods of assigning and correcting homework problems is that with CAIDS the errors are pointed out, help is given, and the student must work and achieve acceptable answers before a grade is received. CAIDS provides a responsive and informative learning tool for students and a flexible format for instructors to develop homework problems in which students can practice the design theory and the codes which are necessary to develop a basic knowledge of steel design.

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