This article presents a review of existent literature that provides insight in the effectiveness of computer learning games. Based on this research, the effectiveness of games is illustrated in detail with regard to three current perspectives on games: design characteristics of games, the process of gameplay and the reflection of specific…

Computer based instruction (CBI) is composed of individual frames viewed one at a time. Compared to a typical textbook, CBI restricts the adult learner's capacity to access information from different parts of the lesson and to view complex presentations. Designers of CBI must compensate for these limitations by making a concerted effort to…

A principal limitation of frame-based computer assisted instruction (CAI) results not from the characteristics of the computer medium, but rather from prior instructional design practices, specifically the logical abstraction of behavioral objectives. Learning hierarchy-based instruction implemented in the interactive computer-based medium results…

This paper summarizes research in modern cognitive theory that relates to the role of computer drill and practice programs in learning and describes a prototype program that exemplifies recommended characteristics. Focus is on four major issues that are relevant to the design and optimization of computer drills: interference, spaced practice,…

In most existing computer assisted instruction (CAI), the nature of the instruction would not actually require a computer. Text is presented and read, questions are asked, and then materials are presented or reviewed depending on students' answers. There are two problems with this approach: computer capabilities for interactive task simulation are…

Attempts to train learning strategies have not produced marked or lasting increases in academic IQ, probably because current training models fail to recognize the evolutionary nature of strategies acquisition. Empirical and theoretical evidence supports an incidental learning model, which engineers the instructional environment following study…

This report describes an in-depth analysis of the errors made by users of SOLO, a programming language written for Open University students studying cognitive psychology. The study was designed to (1) determine the effectiveness of SOLO's current error-handling routines by evaluating how often SOLO produced "sensible" messages or…

Considers cultural diversity in Web design and traces the design processes involved in the development of an online learning environment for indigenous Australian learners entering university. Highlights include culture, constructivist learning and situated cognition; cultural pluralism in instructional design; and ten design principles for…

In this paper, we suggest that case-based resources, which are used for assisting cognition during problem solving, can be structured around the work of narratives in social cultural psychology. Theories and other research methods have proposed structures within narratives and stories which may be useful to the design of case-based resources.…