Autonomously developing organisms face several challenges when learning reaching movements. First, motor control is learned unsupervised or self-supervised. Second, knowledge of sensorimotor contingencies is acquired in contexts in which action consequences unfold in time. Third, motor redundancies must be resolved. To solve all 3 of these…

For thousands of years people from da Vinci to Einstein have created models to help them better understand patterns and processes in the world around them. Computers make it easier for novices to build and explore their own models and learn new scientific ideas in the process. This book introduces teachers and students to designing, creating, and…

A typology of authoring programs in computer-assisted language learning (CALL) with different features (reconstruction, rearrangement, matching, transformation, multiple choice, vocabulary data bank, simulation) is presented. Examples of screen presentation methods and a catalog of teaching/learning software requirements are included. (Contains 12…

In a study focusing on components of metacognition, 12 expert and 12 novice computer programmers were compared in terms of metacognitive knowledge and task-specific awareness. Results indicate that experts have a close interaction between metacognitive knowledge, task-specific awareness, and cognitive monitoring that is missing in novices. (SLD)

Describes a system for using the World Wide Web to distribute computational tasks to multiple hosts on the Web that is written in Java programming language. Describes the programs written to carry out the load distribution, the structure of a "distriblet" class, and experiences in using this system. (Author/LRW)

Computer science students need to learn how to write high-quality software. An important methodology for achieving quality is design-by-contract, in which code is developed together with its specification, which is given as class invariants and method pre- and postconditions. This paper describes practical experience in teaching design-by-contract…

Learning Objects Metadata (LOM) aims at describing educational resources in order to allow better reusability and retrieval. In this article we show how additional inference rules allows us to derive additional metadata from existing ones. Additionally, using these rules as integrity constraints helps us to define the constraints on LOM elements,…

In the current teaching activities on curriculum, teachers taught all kinds of computer language at the most of the time. Students also focus on a variety of examinations, but the real time to train students' independent software developing skill is very limited. This has resulted in the students only to copy other people's systems design ideas,…

While the importance of "expressive writing," or informal, self-directed writing, has been well established, teachers underutilize it, particularly in technical writing courses. We introduce the term expressive/exploratory technical writing (XTW), which is the use of informal, self-directed writing to problem-solve in technical fields. We describe…

Mathematical knowledge can be categorized in different ways. One commonly used way is to distinguish between procedural mathematical knowledge and conceptual mathematical knowledge. Procedural knowledge of mathematics refers to formal language, symbols, algorithms, and rules. Conceptual knowledge is essential for meaningful understanding of…

A system with which a CAI courseware author can quickly create instructional courseware in any of a number of computer languages. (Author)

Describes Photo CD Portfolio, an Eastman Kodak product that provides interactive multimedia CD-ROM production capability. The article focuses on the capabilities of the tool's simplest authoring system, Create It, which allows users to work with Photo CD, PICT, or TIFF images, add graphics, text and audio, and create menus with branching. (KRN)

Explores elements of folkloristics that are applicable to the understanding and construction of computer software systems and programs. Discusses a similar tension between structuralism and contextualism in the study of folkways and by examining software pattern languages in comparison with narrative functions. (Author/LRW)

Describes XML (extensible markup language), a new language classification submitted to the World Wide Web Consortium that is defined in terms of both SGML (Standard Generalized Markup Language) and HTML (Hypertext Markup Language), specifically designed for the Internet. Limitations of PDF (Portable Document Format) files for electronic journals…

Robots make a wonderful context for teaching students about many concepts important to technological literacy. They can provide an authentic context and produce high levels of motivation. According to Standards for Technological Literacy: Content for the Study of Technology (STL) (ITEA, 2000, 2002), there are six core concepts that should be…