Operating Systems IV is a subject taught to fourth-year information technology learners at Technikon Natal, a tertiary educational institution in KwaZulu Natal (South Africa). During 1998, the need to introduce elements of flexibility in this course was identified. As a result, a virtual classroom was used as a communal resource base and a…

Provides background material on logic programing and presents PROLOG as a high-level artificial intelligence programing language that borrows its basic constructs from logic. Suggests the language is one which will help the educator to achieve various goals, particularly the promotion of problem solving ability. (MVL)

Presents the underlying ideas of the Software Cost Reduction (SCR) approach to requirements specifications. Results of applying this approach to the teaching of programing to high school students indicate that students perform better in writing programs. An appendix provides two examples of how the method is applied to problem solving. (MDH)

Discusses theoretical approaches to teaching and learning in the past 20 years, and their link to computer and communication technology. Presents examples of recent programs to improve science and technology education among junior high and high schools in Israel, which incorporate the use of computers and information systems to diverse degrees and…

Closed laboratories are becoming an increasingly popular approach to teaching introductory computer science courses, as they facilitate structured problem-solving and cooperation. However, most closed laboratories have been designed and implemented without embedded instructional research components for constant evaluation of the laboratories'…

Norms govern the criteria by which students decide what is good and what is not good, and align their learning trajectories accordingly.We found that the high-school students' norm is to produce working, but not necessarily error-free, programs and to argue for their correctness solely on the basis of a few executions. Therefore, they prefer…

A novel approach to improving instruction in an introductory computing course for freshmen non-computer-science majors is to couple it with a logic course as part of a Learning Community. Research has shown that effective Learning Communities can lead to higher academic achievement, better retention rates, diminished faculty isolation, and…

This paper examines the impact the use of the Java programming language has had on the way our students learn to program and the success they achieve. The importance of a properly constructed first course in programming cannot be overstated. A course well experienced will leave students with good programming habits, the ability to learn on their…

In this paper, we explore how students used two resources, the in-class lecture and the online newsgroup, to write computer programs. By focusing on the questions students asked in each setting, we compare these two learning environments. Questions students asked during lecture typically related to the material the instructor was presenting. In…

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University's strategic plan for 2001 stipulated that a credit-based system should be adopted for all of its programs. The Department of Computing provides service teaching in computing to all departments at Hong Kong Polytechnic University, necessitating the standardization of computing instruction. One of the issues that…

This district plan for a computer education program contains objectives for grades K-8, course descriptions for grades 9-12, descriptions of three special programs, and data related to computer inventories and budgets. Accompanying the K-8 objectives, which are listed separately for each grade level, are activities/procedures and methods of…

A study was made to investigate the uses of the computer in the field of learning disabilities and to improve the education and training of prospective learning disabilities specialists. This was accomplished by applying the ideas, concepts, methods, and procedures of the computer sciences to the curriculum of a program that prepares special…

This 344-item annotated bibliography presents overview of science teaching in following categories: science education; primary school science; integrated science teaching; teaching of biology, chemistry, physics, earth/space science; laboratory work; computer technology; out-of-school science; science and society; science education at…

Because of the widespread use of microcomputers in Bulgaria, informatics education for all college students is considered both possible and necessary. Uses of microcomputers in various disciplines are described, including those in mathematics/mechanics, the experimental sciences, and humanities. Brief comments on computer-assisted-learning and…

Describes a pilot project in Philadelphia which introduced seventh- and eighth-grade minority students to computers as a means of building their self-confidence and encouraging them to pursue careers in engineering and computer science. Includes partial course outline, evaluation methods, and tips for success. (DC)