This newsletter has been designed to update and supplement the curriculum guide "Resources for Teaching Virginia Government." Issue 1 features "Campaigning on the Tube" (J. Babb), an articles that teaches about television's role in promoting political events and candidates in Virginia. "...Demagogues, Pedagogues,…

Describes New Jersey Institute of Technology's (NJIT) comprehensive plan of becoming a computing-intensive campus. Explains how it provided full time freshmen with microcomputers, free of charge, and how use of computers was integrated into various courses at NJIT. Reviews accomplishments of the program. (ML)

Explains the procedures and materials involved in converting a high school's punch-card system to an online database. Identifies the capacities of the new system and highlights its advantages. (ML)

The use of a Computing Resource Centre featuring word processing, spreadsheet, and database management activities by a group of talented and gifted students in Maple Ridge, British Columbia resulted in a marked increase in the students' organizational and planning skills and also in the quality of their work. (CB)

Discusses the need to take into account the effects of arrested fractional crystallization in the petrographic classification of volcanic rocks containing plagioclase phenocrysts. Describes the development and use of a computer program to accomplish this task graphically. (TW)

Traces the origin, changes, and current status of the PLATO system at the University of Illinois. Highlights the program's benefits to students, its adaptations, and its establishment of large networking systems. (ML)

Planning for information technology, computer services, computer hardware, administrative computing, academic computing, and office automation/networking at Austin Peay State University are described. (MLW)

Through the High Scope Curriculum Demonstration Project, which explored the use of microcomputers with children aged 3 to 7, it was found that microcomputers can be an educational asset when they are integrated into a developmental program in a way that supports the goals of the curriculum. (BB)

Identifies problems students have learning physics and explains how microcomputer-based laboratory (MBL) tools can help the learner. Describes the possibilities for instruction with MBL instruments and stresses the pedagogical advantages it has in the sciences. (ML)

Describes a computer simulation called "Supercontinent Aggregation and Dispersal" designed to model the interplay between the movement of the continents and the flow patterns of rock in the mantle. Discusses the strengths and weaknesses of the program in relation to the effects of continents on the mantle. (CW)

Explains a unified approach to using the computer as a teaching tool for helping students discover concepts and principles involved in geometry. Describes the Geometric Supposer series which allows students to develop constructions and measure angles, areas, and circumferences. States that supplemental materials are also available. (RT)

Explains the use of the 3-dimensional analytic geometry method to find values for a field geology problem. Gives a description of the mathematical theory for this method which can be applied to data obtained by drilling as well as open surfaces, and a computer program. (RT)

Simulations provide practice in aspects of care without harm or inconvenience to the actual patient. Five types of simulations have been identified that vary in their fidelity to real situations - written simulations, three-dimensional models, computer-based patient management problems, multi-media approaches and simulated patients. Uses and…

Describes the University of Alaska Computer Network (UACN) which is beginning to electronically link educators from widely scattered geographical areas of the state. Discusses the procedures for becoming involved in the network and the sattelite technology used. (TW)

This description of workstations, i.e., multipurpose computers expected to become one of the dominant forms of computing in higher education, focuses on computer vendors and market considerations. Highlights include hardware requirements, cost factors, the relationship of vendors and educators, software development problems, and possible future…