Purpose: The aim of this paper is to study the use of FIS Response Analysis for Critical Thinking Assessment (FRACTA) method to assess critical thinking in STEM problem solving. The use of FIS (facts, ideas and solutions) chart as a tool to elicit student critical thinking responses and the method of scoring the responses are investigated. Method:…

Intelligent tutoring and personalization are considered as the two most important factors in the research of learning systems and environments. An effective tool that can be used to improve problem-solving ability is an Intelligent Tutoring System which is capable of mimicking a human tutor's actions in implementing a one-to-one personalized and…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to compare the effect of different representations while teaching basic algorithmic concepts to novice programmers. Design/methodology/approach: A learning activity was designed and mediated with two conceptually different learning environments, each one used by a different group. The first group used the…

Describes two studies conducted in the United Kingdom that tested the effectiveness of flowcharts versus contingency statements for solving complex problems, one with secondary school students and one with senior citizens. Two measures of effectiveness are considered, speed and accuracy; and the effects of practice upon using the materials are…

Based on 84 questionnaires returned of 160 mailed in 1983 to 41 states and two educational service agencies, this study provides extensive charts on public relations activities in school districts of all sizes and in eight specific areas, including school board policy, news sources, and district/news media relations. (JBM)

This discussion of information structures in written texts describes how linguistic analysis of short published reports leads to the presentation of an algorithm that depicts the problem-solving process in terms of a series of evaluative questions. (Author/CHC)

Two charting strategies to help students organize patients' data are Weed's problem-oriented medical record and Russell's condition diagram. Students at the University of Texas Medical School at San Antonio were divided into study groups. The condition diagram group format may be helpful for students with lower academic achievement. (Author/MLW)

This study compared the efficiency (time) and accuracy of two representations of instructional algorithms--list versus flow chart--for the task of using indexes to search for document numbers in the U.S. Documents Monthly Catalog. Participants were 55 undergraduates and 5 adults at the Virginia Military Institute. Two sets (flow charts and lists)…