Digital educational games (DEGs) possess the potential of providing an appealing and intrinsically motivating learning context. Usually this potential is either taken for granted or examined through questionnaires or interviews in the course of evaluation studies. However, an "adaptive" game would increase the probability of a DEG being…

Audit trail analysis can provide valuable insights to researchers and evaluators interested in comparing and contrasting designers' expectations of use and students' actual patterns of use of educational technology environments (ETEs). Sequence analysis techniques are particularly effective but have been neglected to some extent because of real…

In an effective e-learning game, the learner's enjoyment acts as a catalyst to encourage his/her learning initiative. Therefore, the availability of a scale that effectively measures the enjoyment offered by e-learning games assist the game designer to understanding the strength and flaw of the game efficiently from the learner's points of view.…

Presents an overview of this special journal issue which discusses the evaluation of computers in education, based on a workshop held in Scotland in January 1990. Evaluative methods in general are discussed, distinctions between evaluation and measurement are described, types of evaluation are explained, and the use of measuring instruments in…

Describes the design and application of the Resource Questionnaire, an instrument developed at the University of Glasgow (Scotland) to gather information on the learning resources used by students, particularly computer-assisted learning. Topics include amount of time to use resources; usefulness of resources; ease of access; and preliminary…

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…

Computerized and paper-pencil formative evaluation strategies were compared. The computerized strategy permitted student self-pacing of learning and unlimited trials to mastery. The paper-pencil strategy was teacher-paced, and one-trial was permitted. Students taking computerized formative exams performed significantly better on both knowledge and…

Five methods--final examination, attitude questionnaire, naturalistic observation, interview, and archival data analysis--of evaluating computer-assisted and computer-managed instruction are considered. The use of multiple methods has distinct advantages over the use of only one method. (Author/IRT)

The focus of this conference was on aspects of change in education and testing. Two papers concern the special role of evaluation in new conceptions of instruction and learning. The first involves individually prescribed instruction in elementary school, and second, professional education. Both in the paper on computer-based instruction and in the…

Diagnostic Cognitive Assessment (DCA) is an alternative dynamic assessment. It aims at measuring cognitive processes for effective learning support and coaching. DCA is embedded in a digital coaching system (DCS) as an executive director. It contains three sub-models: Expert Knowledge Model, Inference Model, and Student Model. While the Expert…

Five categories of answer-processing for computerized drill programs in foreign languages are described: nonevaluation, right-wrong evaluation, pattern markup, error anticipation, and parsing. Each strategy is explained in terms of its operation, advantages and disadvantages, ease of use for authoring courseware, and capability to support…

This paper presents an exploratory study about the development of a structural and measurement model for the technological acceptance (TAM) of a web-based educational tool. The aim consists of measuring not only the use of this tool, but also the external variables with a significant influence in its use for planning future improvements. The tool,…

Without rigorous evaluation during the development cycle of computer assisted instruction programs, diagnosis and revision of the courseware is likely to be haphazard and inefficient, and the probability of the course being a success is greatly reduced. This article provides guidance for developers of computer assisted instructional software in…

This paper describes the design of an instrument to help identify teachers' level of information and communications technologies (ICT) uptake. The instrument takes the form of a typology matrix comprising four stages in ICT uptake across a continuum describing teachers' levels of dependence. Identification of teachers' positions in the typology…

A review of four areas in which the computer has influenced the theory and practice of achievement testing: a) test scoring and item analysis, b) item sampling, c) item generation, and d) the sequencing of items resulting in various types of adaptive testing. Also, reference is made to the impact of computer assisted achievement testing upon the…