Data-driven decision making, popularized in the 1980s and 1990s, is evolving into a vastly more sophisticated concept known as big data that relies on software approaches generally referred to as analytics. Big data and analytics for instructional applications are in their infancy and will take a few years to mature, although their presence is…

The ability to visualize student engagement and experience data provides valuable opportunities for learning support and curriculum design. With the rise of the use of learning analytics to provide "actionable intelligence" on students' learning, the challenge is to create visualizations of the data, which are clear and useful to the…

Describes the use of computer courseware in an undergraduate chemistry curriculum for (1) a tutorial program, (2) a computer assisted test construction (CATC) system, (3) a set of simulation and data reduction programs, (4) a "Numerical Methods in Chemistry" course, and (5) a library of computer managed instruction (CMI) programs. (JL)

Discusses the use of computers for nine different tasks in biological education: information retrieval, data accumulation, data analysis, simulation and systems analysis, decision making, experimental control, course review, computer-managed instruction, and word processing. (PEB)

As learners use World Wide Web-based distance learning systems over a period of years, large amounts of learning logs are generated. An instructor needs analysis tools to manage the logs and discover unusual patterns within them to improve instruction. However, logs of a Web server cannot serve as learners' portfolios to satisfy the requirements…

The paper examines in depth administrative and instructional uses of the computer in adult education. The author demonstrates: (1) positive findings related to the feasible use of the computer in data analyses and report writing for administrative purposes, and (2) preliminary, yet encouraging, findings in the area of computer managed instruction…