We are at the beginning of a new era in human history--the cognitive augmentation era. Until now, humans have had to do all of the thinking. The future will make it possible for humans to partner with cognitive systems doing some of the thinking themselves and in many ways thinking that is superior to humans. Together, humans and "cogs"…

It is common to see students multitasking or switching between different tasks on the computer while also listening to the teacher lecture in the front of a classroom. In today's classrooms, students have much greater control over how they use their time, with the classroom integration of computers and mobile devices combined with social media and…

This paper provides a general overview of distributed cognition and activity theory in order to provide perspective for a discussion of the computer as a cognitive tool. Both distributed cognition and activity theory enlarge the scope of cognition to include the individual's interactions with the environment. Activity theory offers a framework…

This paper reports on the development and evaluation of cognitive tools used by learners to interpret graphs and tables. The development of these tools was informed by research about how learners interpreted graphs and tables. A prototype of the cognitive tools was trialed with a small sample of preservice teachers. This prototype was then…

There is a significant gap between theories of general psychological functions on one hand (e.g., memory) and theories of mathematical content knowledge on the other (e.g., content of algebra). To better guide the design of ground breaking and demonstrably better mathematics instruction, we need instructional principles and associated design…

The field of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Education has traditionally a technology-based focus, looking at the ways in which AI can be used in building intelligent educational software. In addition AI can also provide an excellent methodology for learning and reasoning from the human experiences. This paper presents the potential role of AI in…

The educational use of computers is changing the way people think and steering culture toward a more functional and self-conscious form of literacy. This supposition is based in Walter Ong's theory of orality and literacy (maintaining that literacy caused a removal from immediate, everyday existence and enabled the development of an analytical…

This study investigated junior high school students' use of problem-solving heuristics and metacognitive processes and the relationships that might exist between the students' use of these processes and their cognitive style. Using a computer microworld called "Nimbot" based on the ancient game of Nim, 10 seventh- and eighth-grade…

The purpose of this study was to investigate students developing understanding of concepts related to rate of change. Twenty students first participated in a rate of change curriculum unit as part of an after school math and technology program. During the unit, students used motion detectors and related graphing software to create and analyze…

This paper describes a study of whether and how collaborative learning at the computer fosters conceptual change. A suite of computer simulation programs developed to confront students' alternative conceptions in mechanics was integrated into a grade 10 science class in a high school in Melbourne, Australia. A Conceptual Test was administered as a…

This paper presents learning tasks of a new type that are made possible by dynamic geometry software and discusses reasons why it takes time for teachers to design and use such tasks. The paper is divided into four sections: (1) The Spatial and the Theoretical; (2) Tasks in Dynamic Geometry Software Fostering the Learning of Geometry; (3) The…

This document contains the following full and short papers on cognition and conceptual change from ICCE/ICCAI 2000 (International Conference on Computers in Education/International Conference on Computer-Assisted Instruction): (1) "A Method of Creating Counterexamples by Using Error-Based Simulation" (Tomoya Horiguchi and Tsukasa…

Describes the current state of knowledge about human decision-making and problem-solving processes, explaining recent developments and their implications for management and management training. Rational goal-setting is the key to effective decision making and accomplishment. Bounded rationality is a realistic orientation, because the world is too…

The design of an Intelligent Tutoring System (ITS) in a knowledge domain where expertise is modeled as a set of uncertain and incomplete beliefs that are justifiable and expressible in the form of a critical argument is outlined. Issues concerning knowledge communication in a tutorial interaction are discussed with reference to a cognitive model…

This document provides an introduction to the relationship between the current knowledge of focused and creative thinking and artificial intelligence. A model for stages of focused and creative thinking gives: problem encounter/setting, preparation, concentration/incubation, clarification/generation and evaluation/judgment. While a computer can…