The article proposes a self-study system which suggests web links to learners. The suggestions depend upon the learner's chosen competences selected from a competence structure for a particular knowledge domain. Three experiments were conducted, where the first compared the perceived usefulness and value of the links generated by different…

New products continue to launch quickly but many of them are converged products. The "new product" is not a completely new thing to consumers and the basic features stay the same. As a result, the added functions or fancy design can't explain why consumers adopt the new media. Past studies have examined perceptions of innovations or user…

Playing entertainment computer, video, and portable games, namely, digital games, is receiving more and more attention in academic research. Games are studied in different situations with numerous methods, but little is known about if and how the playing situation affects the user experience (UX) in games. In addition, it is hard to understand and…

Several current international comparative large-scale assessments of educational achievement (ICLSA) make use of "Rasch models", to address functions essential for valid cross-cultural comparisons. From a historical perspective, ICLSA and Georg Rasch's "models for measurement" emerged at about the same time, half a century ago. However, the…

We present an inference algorithm for perturbation models based on Poisson regression. The algorithm is designed to handle unclassified input with multiple errors described by independent mal-rules. This knowledge representation provides an intelligent tutoring system with local and global information about a student, such as error classification…

The proposed strategy, which is designed to maximize the effectiveness and minimize the costs of marketing the Information Analysis Products (IAPs) produced by the 16 ERIC Clearinghouses, is based on a study of the concept of centralized versus decentralized ordering of selected ERIC products. The experiment measured four variables--postage,…

Elicitations study during 40 mediated information retrieval (IR) interactions identified 1557 search intermediary elicitations within 15 purpose categories (requests for information on search terms and strategies, database selection, search procedures, system's outputs and relevance of retrieved items, and users' knowledge and previous…

An adaptation of Heilprin's model of the path of propagation of human messages is used to explore the truism that more experienced academic researchers tend to go directly to the published literature, while less experienced researchers may rely more on such secondary sources as indexes and other library reference and bibliographic services. The…

To enhance knowledge of media consumption processes, a study compared the abilities of six alternative gratification models to predict media satisfaction, specifically, satisfaction with television news. The models were three different formulations of gratifications sought/obtained discrepancies--two emphasizing gratifications obtained and one…

Examines influences on the use of electronic information resources, including the Internet. Highlights include information quality and accessibility; the Technology Assessment Model; the Fitness for Purpose model; the Theory of Planned Behavior; and a study in Australia that compared the ability of these models to explain electronic information…

Eight established methodologies were evaluated and compared in this preliminary study, which was conducted to resolve methodological questions and problems and develop an adequate approach for the collection of valid, generalizable data for an extensive study of family use of television. The study focused on four variables: which family members…

Describes research that was conducted to determine the search state patterns through which users retrieve information in hypertext systems. Use of the Markov model to describe users' search behavior is discussed, and search patterns of different user groups were studied by comparing transition probability matrices. (Contains 25 references.) (LRW)

Describes a model enumerating cost factors for comparing costs for paper, online, and CD-ROM indexes and abstracts. The model is applied to start-up and annual costs, and to the cost of storing and providing access to ERIC, Applied Science and Fisheries Abstracts, and Excerpta Medica, based on anticipated academic library usage. (MBR)

This overview of the ERIC system begins with a brief history of the system; a description of the types and numbers of materials contained in the database; sources of types of information for educators that are not processed by ERIC; and the various publications and reference materials produced by and for the system. The analysis of ERIC usage in…

Aspects of 11 instructional television (ITV) networks in the United States and Canada were compared to illustrate areas of practical interest to Alaskan educators and policy makers. Areas examined included: (1) the use of broadcasting to deliver K-12 programming; (2) post-secondary academic courseware, adult basic education, and continuing…