Describes Prolog programing language and provides an overview of articles in this special issue and a forthcoming one that focus on improving the use of Prolog in elementary and secondary schools as well as colleges. Topics discussed include problems related to teaching and learning Prolog, and students and their misconceptions about Prolog. (38…

A Macintosh-based project that uses HyperCard to create computer-assisted lessons for composition classes is described. Ways that students have improved their writing skills are discussed, along with ways that the software has changed teaching techniques. (LB)

Students of all ages can apply what they have learned about symmetry by creating quilts on the computer using LOGO. The paper explains how to complete a computer quilting project. (SM)

Describes computer conferencing as a particularly useful alternative to traditional approaches to teaching college composition. Gives a basic outline of how an instructor might utilize computer networks to set up a composition course. (HB)

The Apple Classrooms of Tomorrow (ACOT) project is a flexible consortium of researchers, educators, students, and parents who have worked collaboratively to create and study innovative learning environments since 1985. ACOT classrooms are true multimedia environments where students move from competitive work patterns toward collaborative ones. (10…

This paper describes a computer-based spelling program grounded in programed instructional techniques and using constructed-response matching-to-sample procedures. Following use of the program, two mentally retarded men successfully spelled previously misspelled words. (JDD)

Presents several student responses to viewing a can-crushing demonstration in which a soda can containing a small amount of water was heated on a hot-plate to boil the water, removed from the heat, and sealed by inverting over a container of cold water. Students were given a quiz, made predictions, and explained what happened on a molecular level.…

Studied the literature about computer assisted instruction (CAI) in medical education by searching the Medline and ERIC databases. Medical CAI appears to be an increasingly popular topic of research and publication, but such studies tend to be published in journals with smaller circulations and are more likely to be demonstration articles than…

A study compared 48 cardiac patients who used an interactive multimedia computer-assisted patient education program and 48 taught by tutorial. The computer-assisted instructional method resulted in significantly better knowledge about exercise and self-management of chronic diseases. (Contains 29 references.) (JOW)

This article summarizes published research on vocabulary instruction involving students with learning disabilities. Nineteen vocabulary studies that comprised 27 investigations were located. Study interventions gleaned from the review included keyword or mnemonic approaches, cognitive strategy instruction (e.g., semantic features analysis), direct…

Efforts to improve the educational process must focus on those most responsible for implementing it: the teachers. It is with them in mind that we propose a face-to-face computer-supported collaborative learning system that uses wirelessly networked hand-held computers to create an environment for helping students assimilate and transfer…

There are many perceived benefits of using technology, such as computer algebra systems, in undergraduate mathematics courses. However, attaining these benefits sometimes proves elusive. Some of the key variables are the teaching approach and the student instrumentation of the technology. This paper considers the instrumentation of computer-based…

The Educational Object Economy (EOE) emerged from research on end-user authoring tools for multimedia software and, by 1997, developed into a library of over 2000 freely available interactive simulations for learning. The organization's original goals and its ongoing interest in alternative methods of software authoring led to continuing…

The building of models to explain data and make predictions constitutes an important goal in molecular biology research. To give students the opportunity to practice such model building, two digital cases had previously been developed in which students are guided to build a model step by step. In this article, the development and initial…

For the last three years the author of this paper has been teaching mathematics to a group of students at Year 9 level who have rarely had success in mathematics, particularly in the area of algebra. Most of these students struggle with algebraic concepts and processes and generally have poor retention of any acquired knowledge. For the two years…