The purpose of this study was to: identify critical characteristics of a situated learning environment from the extensive literature base on the subject; operationalize the critical characteristics of a situated learning environment by designing a multimedia program that incorporated the identified characteristics; and investigate university…

Analyzes assumptions underlying learner-centered, technology-based environments in light of how well learners appear to meet the cognitive demands for engaging them. Design implications include the following considerations: direct learner attention to key variables and visual cues; prompt and guide connections to prior knowledge; and provide…

Explores the issues involved in implementing a technology-enhanced student-centered unit in order to provide recommendations to improve and enhance these types of learning activities. Results suggest that a variety of factors impact the success or failure of student-centered activities, including student orientation to the unit problem, student…

Explains essential factors found in recent research for student accomplishment in Web-based degree programs and how these can be facilitated in the course level through instructional design, teaching, and technical assistance. Examines academic and administrative services at the institutional level, and explains factors of both types, with…

Examines factors affecting the success of asynchronous online learning both through a review of the research and through an empirical investigation of student perceptions and course design factors in one of the largest asynchronous learning networks in the United States. Reveals that three such factors-consistency in course design, contact with…

Describes an experiment that looked at how adult learners made use of their Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI[R]), a personality assessment tool, type to cope with the challenges of learning in an online environment. Presents results of the experiment, and draws tentative conclusions. Provides notes related to the four psychological dimensions of…

Investigates the use of asynchronous (mailing lists) and synchronous (chat sessions) Internet-based communication and its impact on teachers' attitudes toward collaboration, activity completion rate, and test performance. Also examines the impact of collaboration on activity completion rate and teacher performance measured by objective tests. The…

Describes four Web-based agents developed for reengineering a freshman chemistry laboratory education: the "intelligent tutoring tool" that conducts online problem-solving coaching; "the adaptive lecture guide" that provides navigation guidance sensitive to students' knowledge status; the "student modeler" that assesses students' knowledge…

Reviews the published evaluations used in online formal courses in higher education. The 10 instruments reviewed indicated three general categories of evaluation. Three evaluation (30%) were given pre-course, two (20%) were given mid-course, and five (50%) were post-course evaluations. Questions in each of these categories break down into several…

Presents the development and piloting of a coding system for evaluation of asynchronous Web-based instruction/learning. Processes were guided by four prominent education perspectives and the extended examination of, and survey data from, 17 archived Web-based courses. These served as the bases for the development and application of the coding…

Describes a study of undergraduates that examined the effects of the cognitive load associated with using hypertext linking capabilities in instructional materials. Highlights include cognitive flexibility theory; hypertext navigation; results of criterion measures and regression analysis; and cognitive load theory. (Contains 56 references.) (LRW)

Examines the use of computer-mediated communication (CMC) in the college classroom using survey data from 89 undergraduate sociology students. Discusses advantages and disadvantages of conferencing systems, either through local area networks or Internet-based systems; preferred uses of CMC; and results of regression analyses. (Author/LRW)

Describes the development of a computer-based learning courseware that presented associative learning between abstract and concrete domains and discusses results of a study of college students that determined whether various audio-visual combinations and differences in IQ levels influenced learning and long-term retention using the courseware.…

Reports on a study of secondary students in the United Kingdom that examined the gender and social competency of frequent and infrequent computer users. Results suggest that frequent users are just as likely to be female and no less sociable, contrary to persistent stereotyping of computer users as antisocial males. (Author/LRW)

Discusses the use of Web logs to record student behavior that can assist teachers in assessing performance and making curriculum decisions for distance learning students who are using Web-based learning systems. Adopts decision tree and data cube information processing methodologies for developing more effective pedagogical strategies. (LRW)