We describe a method for analyzing student data from online programming exercises. Our approach uses contingency tables that combine whether or not a student answered an online exercise correctly with the number of attempts that the student made on that exercise. We use this method to explore the relationship between student performance on online…

Sprego is programming with spreadsheet functions. The present paper provides introductory Sprego examples which have so far only been available in Hungarian. Spreadsheet environments offer both a programming tool which best serves beginner and end-user programmers' interest, and an approach which lightens the burden of coding and language details.…

Cooperative learning has been proven to be helpful in enhancing the learning performance of students. The goal of a cooperative learning group is to maximize all members' learning, which is accomplished via promoting each other's success, through assisting, sharing, mentoring, explaining, and encouragement. To achieve the goal of cooperative…

Presents an analysis of the learning outcomes pertaining to one unit of the undergraduate television distance-education course, Information Technology, in the computer science program at University Laval (Quebec, Canada). Investigates the relative effects of television distance education versus tradition classroom teaching on learning…

This comparison of bibliographies/online databases regarding their classification schemes, periodicals list, coverage of articles, indexing, and overlap reveals that only five bibliographies cover whole of subject area, and differences exist between number of periodicals scanned (73 to 2,771) and percentage of articles included from six…

This bibliometric study of the computer science literature in Nigeria examines such factors as growth and size of the literature, formats, journal characteristics, organizers of conference proceedings, and geographical spread of contributing cities. Problems are identified and recommendations for improvement are offered. (CLB)

A study to identify instructional methodologies that business educators (n=167) use to teach microcomputer software skills found that demonstrations, simulations, and self-paced learning are most effective; most acquire skills through self-instruction; educators are likely to teach the way they learned; and there is a need for training in…

Attitudinal measures of training and control group engineering students showed positive and significant gains for the treatment group both in attitude toward the effectiveness of on-line searches and for the number of citations yielded. Cost-effectiveness was greater for on-line searches than for manual searches. (Author/IRT)

Investigates effectiveness of advance organizers for teaching functioning and use of compilers to undergraduate students in computer science courses. Two experimental groups used the advance organizer while two control groups did not. Findings indicate that an explicitly concept-directed organizer is effective in providing a framework for…

Describes a computer-assisted instruction (CAI) program used to teach DOS commands. Pretest and posttest results for 65 graduate students using the program are reported, and it is concluded that the CAI program significantly aided the students. Sample screen displays for the program and several questions from the pre/posttest are included. (nine…

Describes a study of computer science majors conducted at Purdue University to determine what factors predict academic success or lack of it. Results show that strength in mathematical and verbal skills is necessary for success as indicated by SAT scores, minimum number of high school mathematics credits, and class standing. (MBR)

Summarizes findings of the Fourth Inventory of Computers in Higher Education. Responses to a questionnaire were received from 1,822 U.S. institutions and campuses, which reported on the administrative functions, personnel, equipment, instructional use, and costs of their computer facilities. A two-volume report on this survey will be published in…

Describes the use of the Flesch readability and interest formulae to evaluate textbooks intended for use in college level introductory educational computing courses. Variables that influence what textbook is chosen for a college course are discussed, and readability scores, human interest categories, and subject matter coverage are examined in…

A learning style inventory was administered to 68 undergraduates enrolled in a course on computer applications in education. Correlation of these data with grades on class projects and exams indicated that students with high abstract sequential ability had higher performance scores, and learners with a dominance in abstract random style had lower…

Discusses the results of an ongoing research study to measure college students' microcomputer literacy before taking a microcomputer course. A brief review of the literature on computer literacy is provided, a comparative analysis of results is given, and a microcomputer literacy index is described that measures literacy and ranks students.…