In the article, we consider a technique for training university students, who study IT specialties to solve problems of finding ergonomic reserves to improve the efficiency of automated systems. We describe the structure of the "Ergonomics of Automated Systems" course, software for evaluating and optimizing the activities of operators of "human-equipment-environment" systems, and methodological techniques for using ergonomic computer modeling to build effective automated control systems. Discipline is built using a mansystem approach to the study and design of automated systems, when a person is considered the main element of the system, but the diverse influence of hardware, software and information support, as well as the environment, is taken into account. A significant difference between the developed method and similar existing disciplines devoted to the study of the "human factor" is that, firstly, not only the characteristics of the human operator working with technology are studied, but also the mutual influence of system elements; secondly, the course is based on a qualimetric approach to assess the reliability of the activity and the economic results of this activity; thirdly, the computer modeling used is focused on optimization with the use of economic criteria of activity, while observing the requirements of ergonomic norms and standards. Functional networks developed by the scientific school "Efficiency, Reliability, and Quality of Ergotechnical Systems" by Professor Anatoly Ilyich Gubinsky were used as a methodological basis for modeling and optimization of activities.