Conversational agents that draw on the framework of academically productive talk (APT) have been lately shown to be effective in helping learners sustain productive forms of peer dialogue in diverse learning settings. Yet, literature suggests that more research is required on how learners respond to and benefit from such flexible agents in order…

This article distills a discussion about the goals, mechanisms, and effects of three environments which aim to support the acquisition and development of computing concepts (problem solving and programming) in pre-University and non-technical students: Alice, Greenfoot, and Scratch. The conversation started in a special session on the topic at the…

Designed for student use in solving linear programming problems, the interactive computer program described (EZLP) permits the student to input the linear programming model in exactly the same manner in which it would be written on paper. This report includes a brief review of the development of EZLP; narrative descriptions of program features,…

Describes an interactive simulated hypothetical instructional computer that significantly improves the student's understanding of how a computer works and how high-level language constraints are handled by essentially simple machines. (Author/IRT)

Three significant training needs in the computer area must be met: (1) providing computer staff with needed technical skills, (2) training non-specialist staff in new procedures and skills, and (3) enabling everyone who uses computers in his work to know something of their workings and application. (MW)

Computer scientists have developed an interactive, graphical display system for pole-zero map analysis. They designed it for use as an educational tool in teaching introductory courses in automatic control systems. The facilities allow the user to specify a control system and an input function in the form of a pole-zero map and then examine the…

To improve the instructional process, time shared computer-assisted instructional methods were developed to teach upper division undergraduate chemical engineering students the concepts of process simulation and analysis. The interactive computer simulation aimed at enabling the student to learn the difficult concepts of process dynamics by…

NLS-SCHOLAR is a prototype system that uses artificial intelligence techniques to teach computer-naive people how to use a powerful and complex editor. It represents a new kind of computer-assisted instruction (CAI) system that integrates systematic teaching with actual practice, i.e., one which can keep the user under tutorial supervision while…

Reviews recent advances in microtechnology and describes the impact they will have on computer aided instruction and learning. It is suggested that distributed systems based on network technology will become widespread, and computer assisted guidance systems will be developed to assist new unskilled users. Eight references are given. (CHC)

Discussion of the use of computers in education focuses on a graphics-based system for teaching the Pascal programing language for problem solving. Topics discussed include user interface; notification based systems; communication processes; object oriented programing; workstations; graphics architecture; and flowcharts. (18 references) (LRW)

This study focused primarily on two types of computer interfaces and the differences in academic performance that resulted from their use; it was secondarily designed to examine gender differences that may have existed before and after any change in interface. Much of the basic research in computer use was conducted with command line interface…

A description is provided of GUIDE-0, an experimental information system. The system serves as a bibliographic aid for students who are taking introductory computer science courses whose material is at least partially implemented via PLATO-IV lessons. Following a brief introduction to the system in Chapter I, the second Chapter describes the…

A description of the Program Assembly and Monitored Execution for Learning Applications (PAMELA) is presented. It is intended for instructors who propose to use the system and for programers who wish to modify it. PAMELA is an interactive system designed to teach the operating principles of the IBM System/360 digital computer at the machine…

To minimize training time, an adaptive training model for optimizing path sequencing in computer aided instruction was developed. The model reduced a course to logical components or quanta, then plotted the material for possible sequences and evaluated each component quanta as to importance to subject assimilation. For implementation and testing,…

NLS-SCHOLAR is a prototype system that uses artificial intelligence techniques to teach computer-naive people how to use a powerful and complex text editor. It represents a new type of computer-assisted instruction (CAI) system that integrates systematic teaching with actual practice; i.e., one which can keep the user under tutorial supervision…