Discusses improving mathematical reasoning through the design of computer microworlds and evaluates a computer-based learning environment that uses multiple representations to improve undergraduate students' conception of average speed. Describes improvement of students' estimates of average speed by using visual feedback from a simulation.…

Considers transitions from naive realism to formal mathematical modeling, using a Direct Manipulation Environment for Newtonian Mechanics. Highlights include a case study of pre-university students in the United Kingdom; the interplay of mathematical reasoning, modes of interaction with technology, and setting; and comparisons between direct…

Discusses methodological issues of mathematical microworld development integrated with generating innovation in school settings. Includes experiences in developing a component architecture for educational software based on Logo as a scripting language and discusses problems of collaboration between organizations and people of differing expertise…

This study examined the use of online argumentation scaffolds to engage and support coherent argumentation. Participants were students in an undergraduate economics course. Results showed that providing a constraint-based argumentation scaffold during group problem-solving activities increased the generation of coherent arguments and resulted in…

This study examined the effect of video-based contextualized advisement and competition on transfer of mathematics skills in a computer-based simulation game in which participants helped their "aunt and uncle" fix up a house. Participants were 123 seventh- and eighth-grade students. Results indicated an interaction between competition and…

Examines instructional design theories and elaborates principles about when learning is promoted, i.e., when learners are engaged in solving real-world problems, when existing knowledge is activated as a foundation for new knowledge, and when new knowledge is demonstrated to the learner, applied by the learner, and integrated into the learner's…

This study investigated the effects of teacher evaluation and the combination of teacher evaluation and student self-evaluation on student performance and attitudes. Participants were 189 Latvian high school students and six teachers. Students in the teacher-evaluation and the self-plus-teacher evaluation groups received significantly higher…

Advances a line of research that investigates the potential of hypermedia resources and scaffolding for supporting problem-based social studies and developing critical reasoning. The line of inquiry consists of a series of generative design experiments that informs problem-based curriculum development. The experiments examined 11th grade U.S.…

Describes a study that examined the potential of a hypermedia-based expert tool to scaffold regular education sixth graders engaged in a problem-based learning program. Topics include cognitive apprenticeship support for problem-based learning; using hypermedia to offer expert modeling; attitudes toward the learning environment; and self-directed…

Reports on a longitudinal study of the effectiveness of computerizing a liberal arts university. Discusses problems of measurement when tracking changes in the educational outcome; and uses data from the study to develop a reliable scale to measure attitudes related to interaction, computer-mediated communication, student expectations, and…

Describes a study that evaluated the effects of computer experience, gender, and academic performance on computer attitude and user information system satisfaction in a university setting. Results of an analysis of variance showed that the personal characteristics made a difference in computer attitudes but not in academic computer system user…

Discusses the validity of automated, or computer-based, scoring for improving the cost effectiveness of performance assessments and describes a study that examined the relationship of scores from a graduate level writing assessment to several independent, non-test indicators of examinee's writing skills, both for automated scores and for scores…

Describes a study that explored the construct of teacher knowledge of educational technology based on Shulman's model of teachers' knowledge that included content knowledge, pedagogical knowledge, and pedagogical content knowledge; and investigated the ways in which teacher knowledge is acquired, shared, and used by student teachers and their…

Presents a response to David Solomon's paper "Toward a Post-Modern Agenda in Instructional Technology" (issue 48 number 4 page 5 of "Educational Technology Research and Development"), by offering an example of how postmodern perspectives can be used in instructional technology research and development. (Contains 43 references.) (AEF)

Responds to a reaction (issue 50 number 1 p5) to the author's original paper, "Toward a Post-Modern Agenda in Instructional Technology" (2000). Contributes to the dialogue about culture and learning in instructional technology (IT). Reviews opportunities. Suggests philosophical implications for IT, derived from the author's own research on…