Expert programmers possess schemas, abstractions of concrete experiences, which help them solve programming problems and lessen the load on their working memory during problem solving. Possession of schemas is a key difference between novices and experts, which is why instructors need to help students construct them. One recent tool for…

For over a decade it has been a common observation that a "fog" passes over the course in linear algebra once abstract vector spaces are presented. See [2, 3]. We show how this fog may be cleared by having the students translate "abstract" vector-space problems to isomorphic "concrete" settings, solve the "concrete" problem either by hand or with…

This paper reports on a novel approach taken by the author to the teaching of an Internet programming course targeted at final year diploma and second year degree students. The uniqueness of engineers and their identity is discussed, as is the self-constructed world and ways of knowing in which humankind operates. The novel approach to teaching a…

The use of Global Positioning Systems (GPS) units has exploded in recent years along with the computer technology to access this data-based information. Geo-caching is an exciting game using GPS that provides place-based information regarding the public lands, facilities and cultural heritage programs within the Virginia Parks and Museum system.…

This article reports on how computer software (NVIVO) was used to analyse data for a research project on design issues in e-learning. The aim of the project was to study how South African higher education has incorporated new e-learning in the delivery of programmes. The study began by exploring the emerging patterns of the use of e-learning in…

Today, Mac computers offer schools an easy and powerful way to engage students in learning, foster 21st century skills and leverage existing software assets. Innovative software and hardware built into the Mac allows students to demonstrate their individual strengths--empowering them to be creators of content, rather than just consumers. Judging…

In this article, the author describes a 200-year-old ladder problem that can carry learners to high levels of mathematical thinking and activity. This problem requires learners to go from a word problem to an equation to a graph and from there to a solution. As this problem of specifics is turned into a problem using variables, technology,…

When students are engaged in learning environments that allow for the practice of problem-solving skills, they are able to connect the classroom to the real world. Students with disabilities need to develop the skills of problem solving, and they need to know how to identify a problem, find the answer, and evaluate their choice. This article…

For a single authoring environment to be sufficiently general to be applicable to contexts across the whole lifespan of learning, some of the benefits that come from knowledge-rich domain specificity have to be sacrificed. Consequently, it is an open question as to whether it is possible to achieve effective learning environments from a generic…

In this undergraduate physical chemistry laboratory experiment, students acquire a high-resolution infrared absorption spectrum of carbon dioxide and use their data to show that the rotational-vibrational state populations follow a Boltzmann distribution. Data are acquired with a mid-infrared laser source and infrared detector. Appropriate…

This paper synopsizes a series of nine tutorials investigating how various chemical processes can be shown to have musical aspects. Both chemistry and music share a common language: mathematics. Interesting music can be created as chemical reactions--mediated by instrumentation and mathematics (e.g., spectrometry and discrete Fourier…

One current area of dispute in the psychological literature is the inclusion of and proper meta-analytic data analysis procedures for single-subject designs. The current single-subject meta-analysis (N = 25) investigated the effect of time-out for the reduction of disruptive classroom behaviors in nondevelopmentally delayed children. Two separate…

Many individuals with autism spectrum conditions (ASC) have difficulty recognizing emotions in themselves and others. The present pilot study explored the use of assistive technology to teach emotion recognition (ER) to eight children with ASC. Participants were between the ages of 8 and 11 years and had a diagnosis of Asperger syndrome (AS). ER…

Many college classrooms these days may as well have lighted signs over their doors that read "On Air" or "Recording in Progress." A growing number of professors are recording their lectures and making them available as podcasts--regularly updated sets of audio files that students can download to their computers or MP3 players. Some campus…

A personalized e-learning framework based on a user-interactive question-answering (QA) system is proposed, in which a user-modeling approach is used to capture personal information of students and a personalized answer extraction algorithm is proposed for personalized automatic answering. In our approach, a topic ontology (or concept hierarchy)…