In Dubai, traffic accidents kill one person every 37 hours and injure one person every 3 hours. Novice traffic accident investigators in the Dubai police force are expected to "learn by doing" in this intense environment. Currently, they use no alternative to the real world in order to practice. This paper argues for the use of an…

This article describes a university-sponsored experiential-based simulation, the NANO SCENARIO, to increase the public's awareness and affect attitudes on the societal implications of nanoscience and nanotechnology by bringing together diverse stakeholders' perspectives in a participatory learning environment. Nanotechnology has the potential for…

This paper reports on findings from a five-teacher, exploratory case study, critically observing their implementation of a technology-intensive, augmented reality (AR) mathematics curriculum unit, along with its paper-based control. The unit itself was intended to promote multiple proportional-reasoning strategies with urban, public, middle school…

In social studies classes, there is a longstanding interest in how societies evolve and change over time. However, as stories of the past unfold, it is often difficult to identify a direct link between causes and effects, so students are forced to accept at face value the interpretations of economists, political scientists, historians,…

This study presents an application of a measure of learner involvement developed by Paas, Tuovinen, van Merrienboer, and Darabi (2005). These authors combined learners' performance scores with their perceived mental effort invested in instruction and used it to assess learner involvement in instructional conditions. The present study examines the…

This project developed computer-based language teaching software to assist beginning second language learners develop listening comprehension skills. Students interact with computer-based simulations of real world problems, which require their understanding of oral language provided by the computer system. The project embraced a communicative…

This paper describes the features of the 1996 version of an intelligent tutoring system (ITS) called CALAT. The architecture of CALAT is an extension of conventional World Wide Web systems, consisting of an ITS kernel on the server side and a multimedia viewer on the client side. The viewer control system is designed to achieve both educationally…

The challenges and problems in both designing and conducting research on distance learning courses are considered in light of the present cyberspace revolution. This paper discusses: the future possibilities of Internet-based learning; assumptions of online courses which are usually embedded in constructivist and socio-constructivist theories and…

The Computer Assisted Teaching Unit (CATU) was instituted at Queen Mary College in 1973 to provide aid to the Faculty of Engineering in developing and implementing computer-based learning procedures to support the undergraduate teaching program. Earlier computer programs had simulated electrical and nuclear systems to give students the opportunity…

This study examined learning by individuals and groups in a computer environment. Individual interactivity as a function of group size was investigated by focusing on various modes of interaction available to students while they completed activities using a computer. The activities, which involved manipulation of pictures of batteries, bulbs, and…

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of animated instruction and levels of practice on application learning in a computer-based instructional (CBI) science lesson. A total of 119 fourth and fifth grade students participated in an introductory lesson covering Newton's Laws of Motion. Three levels of visual elaboration (static…

The target of difficulty of the Educational Technology Center (ETC) Heat and Temperature Group is basic thermal physics, particularly the differentiation between heat and temperature. High school teachers often find that thermal concepts are very difficult for their students to master and attribute students' difficulties at least in part to the…

This paper argues that electronic text applications in higher education can be conceptualized in terms of three communicational intentions of computer-based systems: informational, instructional, and instrumental (tool-oriented). Product-oriented and service-oriented applications of electronic text are contrasted, and instructional applications…

Describes a computer simulation which deals with the Werner-Jorgensen controversy from the standpoint of Kuhn's description of scientific change. Encourages the use of such instructional approaches to introduce general chemistry students to the process of science, including how (1) theories develop, (2) change occurs, and (3) scientists behave.…

Describes a course recently developed at the University of Pennsylvania in mechanical engineering which emphasizes computer applications to laboratory instruction. Discusses the course objectives and explains the computer simulations and experiments utilized in the course. (TW)