GearSketch is a learning environment for the gears domain, aimed at students in the final years of primary school. It is designed for use with a touchscreen device and is based on ideas from drawing-based learning and research on cognitive tutors. At the heart of GearSketch is a domain model that is used to transform learners' strokes into…

In recent years, software operating skills, the ability in computer literacy to solve problems using specific software, has become much more important. A great deal of research has also proven that students' software operating skills can be efficiently improved by practicing customized virtual and simulated examinations. However, constructing…

This study hypothesized that increased intensity of graphic information, presented in computer-generated instruction, could be differentially beneficial for students with hyperactivity and inattention by improving their ability to sustain attention and hold information in-mind. To this purpose, 18 2nd-4th grade students, recruited from general…

The purpose of this study was to develop a framework for analyzing and evaluating student-constructed models of physical phenomena and monitoring the progress of these models. Moreover, we aimed to examine whether this framework could capture differences between models created using different computer-based modeling tools; namely, computer-based…

This research aims to explore the role of physical representations in young children's numerical learning then identify the benefits of using a graphical interface in order to understand the potential for developing interactive technologies in this domain. Three studies are reported that examined the effect of using physical representations…

PowerPoint is widely used for a variety of purposes in today's university and public school classrooms. Many children in the elementary grades quickly learn to prepare PowerPoint presentations with ease. Sometimes, however, we believe that PowerPoint presentations are overused and ineffective, especially when one is subjected to viewing several of…

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…

The IRT (Item Response Theory) has been studied and applied in computer-based test for decades. However, almost of all these existing studies evaluated focus merely on test questions with text-based (or static text/graphic) type of presentation form illustrated exclusively. In this paper, we present our study on test questions using both…

Ideas about computers in education are usually limited to transactions of a conversational form between students and machines. Computers, however, can do many other things and it is only inertia and prejudice, not lack of ideas, which stand in the way of broadening the range of computer applications in schools. Several examples, over half of which…

Teachers College of Columbia University (New York) and the Dalton School, an independent school in New York City, have collaborated on the Dalton Technology Project and its "Archaeotype" program which presents students with a graphic simulation of an archeological site. Students simulate digging up the artifacts, use reference sources to…

Two initiatives to introduce technology into the art curriculum of a school district are described. The initiatives gave permission for money to be spent on third-grade and middle-school programs. Both were designed around the existing art curriculum and attempted to take advantage of hardware the district already owned. In the third-grade…