The problem: The increasingly competitive global economy demands literate, educated workers. Both men and women experience the effects of education on employment rates and income. Racial and ethnic minorities, English language learners, and especially those with prison records are most deeply affected by the economic consequences of dropping out…

Students in all areas of computing require knowledge of the computing device including software implementation at the machine level. Several courses in computer science curricula address these low-level details such as computer architecture and assembly languages. For such courses, there are advantages to studying real architectures instead of…

In this article, the author describes a series of projects that James Pusack and the author engaged in together, a number of them to develop CALL authoring tools. With their shared love of technology and dedication to language teaching and learning, they embarked on a long and immensely enjoyable career in CALL during which each project evolved…

Data and information are important components of school improvement. They show how schools are changing and how students are progressing. Providing and interpreting data is one of the critical functions of the Iowa Department of Education. The annual Condition of Education report provides valuable data about students, educators and school…

Intelligent Tutoring Systems (ITSs) that employ a model-tracing methodology have consistently shown their effectiveness. However, what evidently makes these tutors effective, the cognitive model embedded within them, has traditionally been difficult to create, requiring great expertise and time, both of which come at a cost. Furthermore, an…

Spatial visualization skills are vital to many careers and in particular to STEM fields. Materials have been developed at Michigan Technological University and Penn State Erie, The Behrend College to assess and develop spatial skills. The EnViSIONS (Enhancing Visualization Skills-Improving Options aNd Success) project is combining these materials…

Multi-media learning tools were developed to enhance student learning for an introductory agronomy course at Iowa State University. During fall 2002, the new interactive computer program, called Computer Interactive Multimedia Program for Learning Enhancement (CIMPLE) was incorporated into the teaching, learning, and assessment processes of the…

Portfolios are used in teacher education programs to provide evidence of pre-service teachers' professional growth and development. As programs are better able to integrate technology into the teacher preparation curriculum, many educational institutions are implementing electronic versions of portfolios (e-portfolios) on a widespread basis. Uses…

The Iowa Department of Education collects fundamental information on Iowa public schools with respect to various aspects of technology, its implementation and usage. The Technology Survey for the 1997-98 school year was administered to all school districts (377 of 384 districts responded) to collect current baseline information on a central core…

The Department of Mathematics at Iowa State University teaches a freshman-level Discrete Mathematics course with total enrollment of about 1,800 students per year. The traditional format includes large lectures, with about 150 students each, taught by faculty and temporary instructors in two class sessions per week and recitation sections, with…

For the thirty-third year, the Research and Theory Division of the Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT) is sponsoring the publication of these Proceedings. This is Volume #2 of the 33rd "Annual Proceedings of Selected Papers on the Practice of Educational Communications and Technology." This volume includes…