Prospective teachers and teacher educators both confront practical and philosophical issues in attempting to integrate technology into their practice. This paper describes a case study of a science teacher educator, a novice in instructional technology, who integrated technology into an elementary science methods course, with the support of a PT3…

Students from five high schools participated in a 2 to 4-week microcomputer based laboratory (MBL) physics curriculum in two groups. One group completed the curriculum entirely online, and the other completed the same curriculum in a traditional classroom setting. Variables were collected to predict student success on a post-unit measure of…

Many students enter mathematics courses with a poor attitude toward mathematics (Gal & Ginsburg, 1994), making attitude as important a consideration as achievement in mathematics (Cognition and Technology Group at Vanderbilt (CTGV), 1992; Marsh, Cairns, Relich, Barnes, & Debus, 1984; Sedighian & Sedighian, 1996). Pedagogical agents are often…

The primary purpose of the study was to determine if a treatment that concentrates on building programs from previously written modules can improve the decomposition processes of novice programmers in the C++ programming language and, hence, programming performance. For purposes of performance analysis, a subsample of 23 students was divided into…

Computational precision is sometimes given short shrift in a first programming course. Treating this topic requires discussing integer and floating-point number representations and inaccuracies that may result from their use. An example of a moderately simple programming problem from elementary statistics was examined. It forced students to…

The purpose of this article is five-fold: (1) to elaborate on mathematical pedagogy, the application of mathematics, the misunderstanding and the myth around this powerful language; (2) to explain the differences between theoretical solutions and constructive solutions; (3) to explain the influence of technology and its pivotal--in many cases,…

This study investigates the effects of web-based assessment and practice on improving middle school students' mathematics learning attitudes. With the use of an experimental design and a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods, the study compared and contrasted the attitude achievement of students, who used the web-based assessment and…

The life sciences, in particular molecular genetics, have become a pivotal area of research and innovation, and at the same time are amongst the most controversially discussed in today's society. Despite this discussion, the demand for life science expertise increases rapidly, creating a growing need for life science education in particular and…

This paper introduces technology-based teaching ideas that facilitate the development of qualitative reasoning techniques in the context of quadratic equations with parameters. It reflects on activities designed for and used with prospective secondary mathematics teachers in accord with standards for teaching and recommendations for teachers in…

The notion of problem-based physics laboratories enhanced by computer technology has been coined "studio physics" (Wilson, 1994) and has been practised at various institutions for some time (Cummings, Marx, Thornton, & Kuhl, 1999; Williams, MacLatchy, Backman, & Retson, 1997). In recent years, new technology tools have been available to supplement…

The purpose of this paper is to describe a typology of instructor discourse interventions to enhance mathematical discourse in online asynchronous discussions in a statistics course for teachers. A completely asynchronous model of distance delivery was used for the course. Emphasis was given to fostering mathematical discourse in that the students…

Included in contemporary mathematics curricula is the expectation that mathematics teachers will use technology--computers and calculators--in their classrooms. It is widely believed in Australian educational circles and in society at large that students' learning will be enhanced by engaging with these technologies. For children to use computers…

This article attempts to extend current research and development activities related to the use of technology in problem posing, to early grades mathematics. It is motivated by the authors' work with elementary preservice teachers toward this goal, both at the graduate and undergraduate levels. New York State Learning Standards for K-4 mathematics…

Nondeterminism is an essential concept in mathematics and one of the important concepts in computer science. It is also among the most abstract ones. Thus, many students find it difficult to cope with. In this article, we describe some didactic considerations, which guided the development of a "Computational Models" course for high school…

This article explores the existing and potential relationships between computer use and mathematical literacy. Specifically focusing on data obtained from the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), the article describes some analyses of educational practices in U.S. schools in relation to various types of computer use and…