Three basic notions--version, session and command language--are discussed which are essential for a user of the Rapidly Extensible Language (REL) system. The first is defined as a language--data base package consisting of a language, data and definitions. A session is stipulated to be the period during which the user operates at a terminal, and…

A description is provided of a computer system designed to aid in the analysis of student programing work. The first section of the report consists of an overview and user's guide. In it, the system input is described in terms of a "dribble file" which records all student inputs generated; also an introduction is given to the aids…

Two sequences of courses at the University of South Carolina offer liberal arts students an introduction to computers and to the relationship between technology and the humanities. These provide training in rigorous thinking and new means of probing the record of human experience. The lower level sequence consists of a general computer…

A general description is provided of the "geometric dictionary," a graphic display aid, used by the Computer-Assisted Instruction Laboratory at the Pennsylvania State University. The purpose of the description is to enable the reader to duplicate and use the dictionary on any cathode ray tube terminal of the IBM 1500 system. The major…

Discusses programer job training programs, designed to give the knowledge, skills, and effective job experience required for placement in entry level business programing jobs, to chronically unemployed, low-income adults who lack marketable skills, but demonstrate the intelligence, competence, motivation, and temperament required to do…

A class project in a systems programing course at the University of Michigan sought to produce a system realistic enough to warrant production use, the underlying assumption being that the reality of the project would motivate students and provide them with valuable experience. Eighteen experienced students in the Computerized Registration…

A course in computer programing is being developed as a vehicle for research in tutorial modes of computer-assisted instruction. Methods for monitoring and aiding the student as he works on interesting programing problems are employed. The problems are individually selected via an optimization scheme based on a model of the student's ability and…

Ways of making the natural language of unsophisticated computer users meaningful to the computer are discussed. The discussion is set within the context of the Rapidly Extensible Language (REL) System, a question answering system with underlying relational data bases. Major topics covered include individuals and predicates, the problem of verbs,…

The potentialities of specialized languages, in comparison to those of other types of specialized systems, are discussed. The point is made that these languages have been invented by information processing professionals in order to assist the problem-solving activities of computer users by providing them with appropriate interfaces to the…

This interview with the teacher of a computer course for elementary and junior high schools contains discussions of problems and rewards of such a course. The course is offered as an after school activity. (MP)

Details a cooperative program that has allowed gifted and talented students in grades four to six from two rural public elementary schools in Connecticut to use computers. Notes that the joint effort between public and private agencies provides special instruction at minimal cost. (MP)

The Purdue School of Engineering and Technology (Indianapolis, Indiana) sponsored a career exploration program for physically handicapped high school students. Each group of students spent three mornings in one of four engineering and technology areas. In the computer section, half the time was spent in the classroom discussing such topics as what…

A system of computer-assisted data analysis (CADA) was developed at the University of Iowa to handle the mechanical, arithmetical and computational tasks associated with Bayesian statistical analysis. The original programs were subsequently expanded and a CADA monitor constructed to aid their use; a search was then undertaken to find a means of…

An after-school program in which fifth and sixth graders were taught how to use the BASIC programming language using computer terminals is described. (MN)

A computer curriculum including literacy and programing skills is viewed as an example of a program which can easily provide both acceleration of the rate of learning and enrichment through development of higher-level thinking skills. A program used with fifth through eighth grade children in Tempe, Arizona is described. (MP)