This paper describes outcomes from a project conducted at a small US university where 23 secondary school mathematics teachers participated in the study. Based on sketches created in a dynamic geometry software (DGS) and written responses to an assignment related to developing the trapezoid area formula, we explored how teachers used DGS when…

Students learning a defined subject only perform by learning of thinking based on the concepts forming that subjects. Otherwise, students may move away from the scientific meaning of concepts and may fall into conceptual errors. Students' conceptual errors affect their following learning and cause them resist change. It is possible to prevent this…

This mixed-methods study looks at patterns of emoticon usage in adult, ESL student writing. Data are drawn from 13 students and their participation in online discussion forums designed to supplement a traditional ESL writing course. The study conceptualizes computer mediated communication as a hybridized and emergent form which utilizes features…

With the development of e-learning technology, many specifications of instructional design have been proposed to make learning activity sharable and reusable. With the specifications and sufficient learning resources, the researches further focus on how to provide learners more appropriate learning activities to improve their learning performance.…

Computer video games are an emerging instructional medium offering strong degrees of cognitive efficiencies for experiential learning, team building, and greater understanding of abstract concepts. As with other new media adopted for use by instructional technologists for pedagogical purposes, barriers to classroom implementation have manifested…

Discussion of the development of educational software for reading instruction focuses on seven misconceptions that reflect a misunderstanding of the reading process and a misapplication of the principles of instructional design to the teaching of reading. Highlights include electronic text versus printed text; sound-symbol correspondence;…

Examines the use of a computer simulation program as a tool to help in the understanding of wave phenomena. After analyzing some of the main difficulties and common misconceptions about waves, features of the "Making Waves" software package are described. Figures showing a typical monitor display are presented. (YP)

In this article we describe a mathematical microworld for investigating car motion on a racing course and its use with a group of grade 12 students. The microworld is concerned with the mathematical construction of courses and functions which describe car motion. It is implemented in the computer algebra system, Maple[R], which provides the means…

Describes the use of a microcomputer-based laboratory (MBL) in teaching the concepts of heat and temperature to eighth grade students. Discusses the advantages of being able to instantly display the results of their experimentation with the use of temperature and light probes, and heat pulsors. (TW)