This paper reports on a qualitative study of students' engagement with a Web-based inquiry environment aimed at prompting student reflection in processes of scientific inquiry. In order to demonstrate how prompts become structuring resources for students' scientific inquiry, detailed analyses of students' interaction processes are conducted. The…

Teachers have begun using student response systems (SRSs) in an effort to enhance the learning process in higher education courses. Research providing detailed information about how interactive technologies affect students as they learn is crucial for professors who seek to improve teaching quality, attendance rates and student learning. This…

This paper is a study on the interaction patterns of distance learners enrolled in the Mathematics and Physics programmes of Universiti Sains Malaysia in the videoconferencing learning environment (VCLE). Interaction patterns are analysed in six randomly chosen videoconferencing sessions within one academic year. The findings show there are more…

The development of computer-assisted instructional lessons on the following three topics is discussed: 1) the mole concept and chemical formulas, 2) concentration of solutions and quantities from chemical equations, and 3) balancing equations for oxidation-reduction reactions. Emphasis was placed on developing computer routines which interpret…

Describes a study of high school students that investigated students' responses to an anomaly generated by the juxtaposition of opposing explanatory frameworks and examined the nature and impact of cognitive conflict as students moved from prescientific to scientific explanatory frameworks concerning the concept of force. (19 references)…

A high school science teacher reported that the students have motivation and learning problems to understand the concept of fossilization. Working with the science teacher, a Web-Based Learning Environment (Web-LE) was designed by a group of students in the Department of Instructional Technology at University of Georgia to enhance and sustain the…

Describes CAPA, a software tool to implement a computer-assisted personalized approach for homework assignments and examinations in a large introductory physics class at Michigan State University. Highlights include increased individual attention for students; correlation between homework performance and results of the final exam; feedback for…

Describes a study of eighth-grade students that investigated the impact of computer simulations on students' ability to generalize scientific concepts from classroom to naturally occurring problems. A curriculum for teaching thermodynamics that was reformulated to emphasize integration of understanding is described, and student reactions are…

Computer assisted instruction (CAI) in Biology and Developmental Reading was administered at two junior high schools and two senior high schools in Philadelphia. The achievement of the students in CAI was compared with comparable students in traditionally instructed classes. The results of the standardized tests were equivocal. In Reading, the CAI…