This article is written as a tribute to R. Garry Shirts who through his exemplary authorship and publication of gamed simulations was designated "Defender of the Playful". Garry Shirts was the master of creating the "Aha! Moment" in learning through "deep play". Among the many gamed simulations he designed, the…

For the thirty-eighth time, the Research and Theory Division of the Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT) is sponsoring the publication of these Proceedings. Papers published in this volume were presented at the annual AECT Convention in Indianapolis, Indiana. The Proceedings of AECT's Convention are published in two…

Recent assessments indicate that American students do not score well on tests of scientific problem solving, relative to students in other nations. IMMEX is a web-based virtual environment that provides students with opportunities to solve science problems by viewing information resources through a suite of menu options, developing a hypothesis…

This quantitative survey study examines the willingness of online students to adopt an immersive virtual environment as a classroom tool and compares this with their feelings about more traditional learning modes including our ANGEL learning management system and the Elluminate live Web conferencing tool. I surveyed 1,108 graduate students in…

With their increased popularity, games open up possibilities for simultaneous learning on multiple levels; players may learn from contextual information embedded in the narrative of the game and through the risks, benefits, costs, outcomes, and rewards of the alternative strategies that result from fast-paced decision making. Such dynamics also…

For the thirty-eighth time, the Research and Theory Division of the Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT) is sponsoring the publication of these Proceedings. Papers published in this volume were presented at the annual AECT Convention in Indianapolis, Indiana. The Proceedings of AECT's Convention are published in two…

Negotiation skills are essential in everyday life, whether in a professional or personal context. Negotiation enables two parties to address misunderstandings and avoid conflicts through an exchange that depends as much on the interpersonal skills of the negotiators as the tactics employed. Acquiring these skills requires not only sound conceptual…

A RESEARCH TRAINING CONFERENCE ON LEARNING WAS HELD FOR 37 PSYCHOLOGISTS AND EDUCATIONAL RESEARCHERS. THE 6-WEEK CONFERENCE CENTERED ITS ACTIVITIES ON SUCH TOPICS AS LANGUAGE LEARNING, COMPUTER SIMULATION, INSTRUCTIONAL PROCEDURES DESIGN, ATTITUDE AND PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT, AND CURRICULUM EVALUATION. LECTURES AND TALKS WERE OFFERED BY…

THE PLANS FOR A SIMULATION MODEL USING SYSTEMS ANALYSIS AND COMPUTER SIMULATION TECHNIQUES WERE PRESENTED. THE TECHNIQUES AND DESIGN RECOMMENDATIONS WERE INTENDED TO FIND NEW METHODS FOR IMPLEMENTING INSTRUCTIONAL MEDIA. FOUR MAJOR STEPS WERE INVOLVED IN THE PROJECT--(1) SURVEY AND SELECTION OF HIGH SCHOOLS, (2) SYSTEMS ANALYSIS OF FIVE HIGH…

A SYSTEMS ANALYSIS WAS MADE OF A 10TH-GRADE SOCIAL STUDIES COURSE IN AMERICAN HISTORY TAUGHT AT THE NOVA HIGH SCHOOL, FORT LAUDERDALE, FLORIDA, TO EVALUATE THE COURSE AS AN INSTRUCTIONAL SYSTEM. THE ANALYSIS WAS CONCERNED WITH SUCH PROBLEM AREAS AS TEACHER ROLES, THE EFFECTS OF MEDIA ON STUDENT-TEACHER RELATIONSHIPS, INFORMATION REQUIREMENTS, THE…