Gateway courses in English challenge students to strengthen skills in critical thinking, reading, grammar, and writing structure and strategies -- skills that also help build competency in comprehension and composition. They can also prove to be a particular challenge to many community college students. This case study examines the efforts at…

This article presents key steps in the design and analysis of a computer based problem-solving assessment featuring interactive tasks. The purpose of the assessment is to support targeted instruction for students by diagnosing strengths and weaknesses at different stages of problem-solving. The first focus of this article is the task piloting…

Adaptive Educational Hypermedia Systems provide personalized educational content to learners. However most of them do not support the functionality of Learning Management Systems (LMS) and the reusability of their courses is hard work. On the other hand some LMS support SCORM specifications but do not provide adaptive features. This article…

To correctly evaluate learners' knowledge, it is important to administer tests composed of good quality question items. By the term "quality" we intend the potential of an item in effectively discriminating between skilled and untrained students and in obtaining tutor's desired difficulty level. This article presents a rule-based e-testing system…

One of the key issues in e-learning environments is the possibility of creating and evaluating exercises. However, the lack of tools supporting the authoring and automatic checking of exercises for specifics topics (e.g., geometry) drastically reduces advantages in the use of e-learning environments on a larger scale, as usually happens in Brazil.…

The Advanced Distributed Learning (ADL) initiative was undertaken to make education, training, and lifelong learning accessible at any time, anywhere. It has developed specifications and techniques that are being adopted globally by governments, businesses, and schools. Although ADL currently focuses on government and business applications, it has…

Describes a recently developed computer and videodisc technology for remedial reading instruction called Principle of the Alphabet Literacy System (PALS). Discusses how the system works, characteristics of the target population. Notes the system's success and students' enthusiasm in the classroom. (SR)

Describes the use of learning groups and computer-assisted instruction in introductory psychology classes at the University of Minnesota's General College, focusing on such applications as student psychology projects, study guide exercises, homework assessment, matching exercises, weekly quizzes, and practice materials. (DMM)

Los Angeles Pierce College has been using Computer-Based Spelling Instruction (CBSI) software in spelling enrichment classes since 1992. Students who have used the program average 96% on final exams, and student retention proves excellent. The CBSI module performs the following functions: (1) administers a 1,200 word pretest; (2) divides missed…

The proceedings of a conference on learner-machine interaction in computer-assisted language learning (CALL) include the texts of four papers, descriptions of program demonstrations and talks given by participants, a report on the plenary session by Eric Brown, information sources about CALL, a comment on the workshop by Leslie Churchman, a review…

The Macintosh microcomputer was selected by Drexel University as part of a program that requires all freshman to have access to a personal computer. Because of a lack of good courseware for the chosen microcomputer, especially in electrical engineering, Drexel has provided faculty release time, several development systems, computer assisted…

Two papers describe the roles of the Software Development Group (SDG) and the Software Review Center (SRC) at Drexel University. The first paper covers the primary role of the SDG, which is designed to assist Drexel faculty with the technical design and programming of courseware for the Apple Macintosh microcomputer; the relationship of the SDG…

This paper reports on a project aimed at finding out what students do when working cloze passages on computer. To generate data, a computer-based cloze program, "Super Cloze," was configured so that all student keypresses would be recorded. This was worked by several classes of students at Sultan Qaboos University (Oman) during their…

CLIOTUTOR is a computer-assisted instructional package of 30 tutorial lessons keyed to a standard text and operated with a VAX computer system. Western Michigan University, a member of the CLIOTUTOR consortium, operates its own copy of the program in conjunction with a redesigned two-semester freshman history course. CLIOTUTOR provides a half-hour…

Designed to provide information on educational computing to elementary and secondary school educators, particularly those in South Australia, this publication is produced once each term. The Term 1 issue includes the following articles: a description of Information Technology Month (July 1984) activities in South Australia; "Software Piracy…