Arbitrary, randomly-generated evaluative feedback given learners (such as "good,""great," or "fantastic") is pedagogically unsound. Programers of educational computer software should consider all the psychological effects of the evaluative feedback given in their programs. Programing alternatives that allow the…

Describes a method for integrating basic instruction on computer programing in mathematics courses for earth science, chemistry, and pharmaceutical chemistry students to provide them with a knowledge of the real possibilities of computing media. (CHC)

The programing language described was designed to remedy the weaknesses of BASIC by adding structured constructs and other desirable improvements, while retaining the major features and overall spirit of BASIC. COMAL 80 (COMmon ALgorithmic language), developed in Denmark, is proposed as an introductory programing language for schools. (Five…

Reports results of two studies that compared the introduction of procedural (exemplified by Pascal) and declarative (exemplified by Prolog) programing languages to Italian secondary school students. Discussion covers learning approaches and problems, mental models, programing techniques, programing environments, and educational applications. (27…

This collection contains three papers addressing the instructional aspects of intelligent tutoring systems (ITS): (1) "Some Experiences with Two Intelligent Tutoring Systems for Teaching Computer Programming: Proust and the LISP-Tutor" (van den Berg, Merrienboer, and Maaswinkel); (2) "Some Issues on the Construction of Cooperative…

For institutions of higher education in Canada, the use of computer-assisted-instruction is miniscule. Instead, students of the sciences are shown how to program computers while students of the arts are shown how to use computers within their disciplines. Experiences in computing at the University of Waterloo are described. (JN)

Discusses software metrics and describes a study of graduate students in Hong Kong that evaluated the relevance of using software metrics as a means of assessing students' performance in programing. The use of four basic metrics to measure programing skill, complexity, programing style, and programing efficiency using Pascal is examined. (13…

Written in ADA language, SAIDA, a Help System for Data Implementation, is an experimental teaching and learning environment which uses artificial intelligence techniques to teach a computer science course on abstract data representations. The application domain is teaching advanced programming concepts which have not received much attention from…

Two studies examined the effectiveness of self-instruction training via a specially developed computer program to modify the impulsive problem-solving behavior of 16 deaf and 10 learning disabled (aphasic) adolescents attending two special residential schools in Canada. In the control condition, students learned the Apple LOGO computing language…

Describes study of Dutch high school students that compared instructional strategies in a computer programing course. Completion strategy, which emphasized the modification and extension of existing programs, was compared with generation strategy, which emphasized the design and coding of new programs. Future research is suggested based on results…

Discusses the uses of microcomputers in British elementary mathematics education. Describes the impact of electronics, teacher use of software, student use of software, and programing activities. Lists several mathematics software sources. (YP)

This paper describes the development of a software program which incorporates interactive graphics techniques into a teaching and research environment at the Department of Chemical Engineering, Technion, Israel, and the experience of transferring the software from mainframe to personal computer (PC) operating systems at the California Institute of…

TAIGA (Twente Advanced Interactive Graphic Authoring system) is a system which can be used to develop instructional software. It is written in MS-PASCAL, and runs on computers that support MS-DOS. Designed to support the production of structured software, TAIGA has a hierarchical structure of three layers, each with a specific function, and each…

This report describes an in-depth analysis of the errors made by users of SOLO, a programming language written for Open University students studying cognitive psychology. The study was designed to (1) determine the effectiveness of SOLO's current error-handling routines by evaluating how often SOLO produced "sensible" messages or…

A learning module on the applications of microcomputers in instruction, which was developed for preservice and inservice teacher education at Queen's University at Kingston, was implemented within an existing introductory educational media course. An instructional development model (Dick and Carey, 1978) was used to identify instructional goals;…