How can the structure of a management system be reviewed? What specific data should be collected and what procedures should be followed? The specific data collection methodology consists of three steps: (1) description of process outputs, procedures, and inputs; (2) evaluation of effectiveness, needs, and priorities for change in the process; and…

Computers have a great number of potential uses at the small college. A survey of the role of software in the effective use of computers is described. Hardware characteristics, spreadsheets, purchasing or developing software, and software information are discussed. (Author/MLW)

Describes the design and operation of two macros written in the programming language of Microsoft's EXCEL for educational research applications. The first macro determines the frequency of responses to a Likert-type questionnaire or multiple-choice test; the second performs a one-way analysis of variance test. (Author/LRW)

A survey of computer scientists was conducted to identify factors that affect software complexity. A total of 160 items were selected from the literature to include in a questionnaire sent to 425 individuals who were employees of computer-related businesses in Lawrence and Kansas City. The items were grouped into nine categories called system…

Discusses the results of an ongoing research study to measure college students' microcomputer literacy before taking a microcomputer course. A brief review of the literature on computer literacy is provided, a comparative analysis of results is given, and a microcomputer literacy index is described that measures literacy and ranks students.…

A computer program for solving the conditional likelihood equations arising in the Rasch model for questionnaires is described. The estimation method and the computational problems involved are described in a previous research report by Andersen, but a summary of those results are given in two sections of this paper. A working example is also…

Describes an instructional methodology developed and implemented at Sunderland Polytechnic that uses formal computer program design methods to teach computer programing in computer science and data processing courses. Jackson Structured Programming is explained, and the results of an evaluation by both teaching staff and students are presented.…

Presents results of a survey of British secondary school students which was conducted to obtain information about microcomputer use both in school and at home. Highlights include gender differences, students' attitudes toward computers, experience with computers, assessment of programming ability, and characteristics of competent programmers. (LRW)

Responding to the Texas Education Agency's (TEA) "Essential Computing Competencies for Educators" (1983), the teacher's education program at Texas A&M University developed several computer literacy courses for its students. An evaluation was conducted of the first of these courses, "Microcomputer Literacy for Educators," to…

Discussion of instructional design models focuses on a study concerned with developing effective instruction in heuristic-based problem solving for computer programing. Highlights include distinctions between algorithms and heuristics; pretests and posttests; revised instructional design procedures; student attitudes; task analysis; and…

This study examined the creative uses of computers in elementary schools and their impact on student's confidence and self-esteem, student-student interaction, student-teacher interaction, male and female students, classroom management, the role of the teacher, special education, teacher training, teachers not involved in the study, and curricular…

Describes a study that was conducted to investigate the influence of home computer ownership and use on the achievement of second- and fifth-grade students in a programing curriculum. The use of LOGO and BASIC programing curricula is discussed, and results are compared to those from an earlier study. (20 references) (LRW)