The purpose of this design case is to tell the story of our work to design context-aware activity notification for learning management systems. The story of the design experience is not simple, in that it includes research and development, conceptual evolution, implementation and extinction, and multiple phases, including inspiration for future…

Recent years have seen a surge in the use of intelligent computer-supported collaborative learning (CSCL) tools for improving student learning in traditional classrooms. However, adopting such a CSCL tool in a classroom still requires the teacher to develop (or decide on which to adopt) the CSCL tool and the CSCL script, design the relevant…

In this paper, we report on (1) how preservice secondary mathematics teachers (PSMTs), who had experiences doing and practice-teaching mathematics in a technology-rich environment, subsequently used this technology when planning lessons and (2) how the use of technology affected other aspects of the PSMTs' quality of classroom life. These results…

This paper describes the goals, pedagogical system, and educational outcomes of a three-semester curriculum in microelectromechanical systems (MEMS). The sequence takes engineering students with no formal MEMS training and gives them the skills to participate in cutting-edge MEMS research and development. The evolution of the curriculum from…

The comprehension of interdependent complex systems, which is part of state and national standards, is an enormous challenge for learners. In traditional physiology teaching materials, which structure the human body into decoupled subsystems (e.g., respiratory and cardiovascular) isolated in separate chapters, there is a ubiquitous absence of…

Evaluating the impact of instructional innovations and coordinating instruction, assessment, and testing present complex tensions. Many evaluation and coordination efforts aim to address these tensions by using the coherence provided by modern cognitive science perspectives on domain-specific learning. This paper introduces an alternative…

This article examines software development techniques used by special educators through the perspective of the software life cycle. The paper argues that traditional programming techniques are becoming less and less feasible for software development within the typical funding levels and timelines of federal initiatives. More use of commercial…

A special 6-week program, designed to increase the scores of low achieving minority eighth-grade students on the ninth grade Texas Education Assessment of Minimum Skills (TEAMS) Test, was implemented in 1986 in the Houston Independent School District as "Summer Academies." The students, who voluntarily enrolled in the program, were…

This volume is a compilation of chapters by faculty from a variety of disciplines demonstrating the use of different multimedia instruction techniques in order to enhance the higher education classroom experience for students. The book is divided into five parts: (1) General; (2) Multimedia; (3) Software; (4) Software/Hardware; and (5) the Web.…