Educational software games aim at increasing the students' motivation and engagement while they learn. However, if software games are targeted to school classrooms they have to be usable and likeable by all students. Usability of virtual reality games may be a problem because these games tend to have complex user interfaces so that they are more…

It is complicated to design a computer simulation that adapts to students with different characteristics. This study documented cases that show how college students' prior chemistry knowledge level affected their interaction with peers and their approach to solving problems with the use of computer simulations that were designed to learn…

This article is a review of the pedagogical experience obtained with systems for algorithmic animation. Algorithms consist of a sequence of operations whose effect on data structures can be visualized using a computer. Students learn algorithms by stepping the animation through the different individual operations, possibly reversing their effect.…

A meta-analysis was performed to synthesize existing research comparing the effects of computer applications (i.e., computer-assisted instruction, computer simulations, and Web-based learning) versus traditional instruction on elementary school students' achievement in Taiwan. Forty-eight studies were located from four sources, and their…

Provides full narrative reviews of B-1 Nuclear Bomber (Avalon, 1982); American History Adventure (Social Science Microcomputer Review Software, 1985); Government Simulations (Prentice-Hall, 1985); and The Great War, FDR and the New Deal, and Hitler's War, all from New Worlds Software, 1985. Lists additional information on five other history and…

Computer simulations have four general educational uses in remedial and special education: learning about systems analysis, understanding a real-world system, applying functional skills in realistic settings, and exploring fantasy worlds through adventure games. Potential uses include computer assisted video instruction to teach functional and…

Simulations and games are designed to provide participants with an experiential context for reflection and learning in classrooms, corporate training centers, and community-based organizations. A conversational approach to debriefing sessions is one way to more deeply involve participants in exploring the meaning of their experience from multiple…

Efforts to teach basic helping skills to counselors in training using computer assisted simulation continue to evolve. Recent commercial releases include integration of compressed video and text to allow students to view client/counselor interactions and make choices regarding response categories. (Contains 28 references.) (Author)

Six teenagers with Autistic Spectrum Disorders (ASDs) experienced a Virtual Environment (VE) of a cafe. They also watched three sets of videos of real cafe and buses and judged where they would sit and explained why. Half of the participants received their VE experience between the first and second sets of videos, and half experienced it between…

This study investigated novel pedagogies for helping teachers infuse inquiry into a standards-based science curriculum. Using a multi-user virtual environment (MUVE) as a pedagogical vehicle, teams of middle-school students collaboratively solved problems around disease in a virtual town called River City. The students interacted with "avatars" of…

In this paper, we present the results of an exploratory study into the relationship between student self-efficacy and guidance use in a Multi-User Virtual Environment (MUVE) science curriculum project. We describe findings from a sample of middle school science students on the combined impact on learning of student self-efficacy in scientific…

The present study investigated whether computer assisted instruction was more effective than face-to-face instruction in increasing student success in physics. The study was conducted in the spring semester of 2006 at the Department of Science and Mathematics for Secondary Education at Hacettepe University. Seventy-eight freshman students from…

Simulation-based educational products are excellent set of illustrative tools that proffer features like visualization of the dynamic behavior of a real system, etc. Such products have great efficacy in education and are known to be one of the first-rate student centered learning methodologies. These products allow students to practice skills such…

Describes a computer simulation game that helps teach spatial autocorrelation, a fundamental geographic concept referring to the degree and kind of spatial patterning to be found in geographic data. Experiences with this simulation exercise at the State University of New York Buffalo are briefly summarized. (Author/BSR)

Discusses intelligent tutoring systems (ITS), one application of artificial intelligence to computers used in education. Basic designs of ITSs are described; examples are given including PROUST, GREATERP, and the use of simulation with ITSs; protocol analysis is discussed; and 38 prototype ITSs are listed. (LRW)