The conveyance of knowledge of the life cycles performed by fungi and plants with spores is a challenge for teaching in university education. The life cycles of fungi, in particular, can be very complex and difficult to understand. This paper presents the development and implementation of a German and English educational software program,…

The first data structure that first-year undergraduate students learn during the programming and algorithms courses is the one-dimensional array. For novice programmers, it might be hard to understand different algorithms on arrays (e.g. searching, mirroring, sorting algorithms), because the algorithms dynamically change the values of elements. In…

We are so used to accept new technologies being the driver of change and innovation in human computer interfaces (HCI). In our research we focus on the development of innovations as a design process--or design, for short. We also refer to the entire process of creating innovations and putting them to use as "cognitive processes"--or…

This article discusses the integration of student-generated GeoGebra applets and Jing screencast videos to create a YouTube-like medium for sharing in mathematics. The value of combining dynamic mathematics software and screencast videos for facilitating communication and representations in a digital era is demonstrated herein. We share our…

Our research explores a virtual reality application based on Web camera (Webcam) input-interface. The interface can replace with the mouse to control direction intention of a user by the method of frame difference. We divide a frame into nine grids from Webcam and make use of the background registration to compute the moving object. In order to…

User-created virtual worlds, such as Second Life, are a hot topic in higher education. Thousands of educators are currently exploring and using Second Life, and hundreds of colleges and universities have purchased and developed their own private islands in Second Life, including the University of Kansas Medical Center (KUMC). Because it is so easy…

In this paper, a new dance training system based on the motion capture and virtual reality (VR) technologies is proposed. Our system is inspired by the traditional way to learn new movements-imitating the teacher's movements and listening to the teacher's feedback. A prototype of our proposed system is implemented, in which a student can imitate…

This paper examines the effective deployment of conversational agents in virtual worlds from the perspective of researchers/practitioners in cognitive psychology, computing science, learning technologies and engineering. From a cognitive perspective, the major challenge lies in the coordination and management of the various channels of information…

The objective of this article is to investigate the computer animation and virtual reality technologies for developing a virtual marine museum. The museum consists of three exhibition areas. The first area displays fishes in freshwater, including creeks, rivers, and dams in Taiwan. The second area exhibits marine ecology and creatures of different…

In this study, the Bystander Turing Test (BTT) paradigm is used to determine whether participants rate particular dialog moves in tutoring transcripts to be generated by a computer tutor, AutoTutor, or by a skilled human tutor. Currently, AutoTutor initiates a conversation with the learner by posing a question or presenting a problem for the…

Negotiation skills are essential in everyday life, whether in a professional or personal context. Negotiation enables two parties to address misunderstandings and avoid conflicts through an exchange that depends as much on the interpersonal skills of the negotiators as the tactics employed. Acquiring these skills requires not only sound conceptual…

The acceptance of animation technologies is increasing. Video games, such as Sony PlayStation (SONY, 2002), have become part of the culture for young people from kindergarten through undergraduate school. Animation technologies have been implemented into educational systems in the form of animated pedagogical agents (Johnson, 2000). The research…