The need to educate a competitive workforce is a global problem. In the US, for example, despite billions of dollars spent to improve the educational system, approximately 35% of students never finish high school. The drop rate among some demographic groups is as high as 50-60%. At the college level in the US only 30% of students graduate from…

Learning Analytics can provide powerful tools for teachers in order to support them in the iterative process of improving the effectiveness of their courses and to collaterally enhance their students' performance. In this paper, we present the theoretical background, design, implementation, and evaluation details of eLAT, a Learning Analytics…

Presents a theoretical framework for navigation in information retrieval systems and describes a prototype retrieval system that was developed to investigate navigation. The use of a visual interface in a spatial representation scheme is described, and results of a user-based evaluation of the system are reported. User questionnaires are appended.…

Presents an information systems navigation approach using a combination of functionalities encountered in classification processes, Hypertext systems, and information retrieval systems. The first version of the SYRIUS system is described, with emphasis on the user's graphic interface which integrates these functionalities. (26 references) (EA)

Notecards is a computer environment designed to help people work with ideas by providing a set of tools for a variety of specific activities, which can range from sketching on the back of an envelope to formally representing knowledge. The basic framework of this hypermedia system is a semantic network of electronic notecards connected by…

Discusses methods for the retrieval of help knowledge items using graphical tree structures that conform to the hierarchical nature of the tutorial information being referenced. The implementation of "Study Tree Presenter," a special purpose "hypertext shell" that provides such access is described and several samples of screen…

The MARIE project explores knowledge-based information retrieval of captioned images of the kind found in picture libraries and on the Internet. MARIE's five-part approach exploits the idea that images are easier to understand with context, especially descriptive text near them, but it also does image analysis. Experiments show MARIE prototypes…

Discussion of problems with retrieval of records in library online public access catalogs (OPACs) focuses on an ongoing research project at the Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) that has been trying to improve subject retrieval vocabulary control using natural and thesaural language and on the design of a good graphical user interface.…

"Intermedia" is a hypermedia system which was developed for use in university research and teaching. It provides a framework for object-oriented, direct manipulation editors and applications, and the capability to link together materials created with those applications. Instructors are able to construct exploratory environments for their…

Reports some of the progress made over the years toward exploring information beyond the text domain. Describes the Multimedia Analysis and Retrieval Systems (MARS), developed to increase access to non-textual information. Addresses the following aspects of MARS: (1) visual feature extraction; (2) retrieval models; (3) query reformulation…

Describes a project that addressed the problem of courseware reusability by developing a database structure suitable for organizing multimedia learning material in a given content domain. A prototype system that allows browsing a DBLM (Data Base of Learning Material) on earth science is described, and future plans are discussed. (five references)…

Various methods for retrieving chemical structure information on the World Wide Web are discussed. Although graphical plug-in programs provide more search capabilities, users first have to obtain a copy of the programs. Tripos's WebSketch and ACD Interactive Lab adopt a different approach; using JAVA applets, users create and display a structure…

While the expansion of worldwide hypermedia systems has opened new gateways in the information industry, the result has been material being archived faster than it can be read. Users need to be able to scan information quickly and have more control in information seeking and retrieval. A new area of research is in the development of multimedia…

Discussion of graphical user interfaces for online public access catalogs (OPACs) covers the history of OPACs; OPAC front-end design, including examples from Indiana University and the University of Illinois; and planning and implementation of a user interface. (10 references) (EA)

A computer system, IconiCase, is currently being developed to assist users in the task of classifying and memorizing medical cases. The system uses assemblies of icons, called Concept Graphics (CG), as pointers to medical cases, leading to a form of electronic document delivery in which information is accessed at various levels, with a gradual…