The purpose of this paper is to provide a comprehensive review of how technology has been used to enhance or replace field experiences in preservice teacher preparation programs, and discuss the benefits and limitations of traditional and technology-enhanced/virtual field experience approaches. In this paper, three types of technology-enhanced…

The following paper presents two stages of an action research project involving two oral proficiency courses held in the virtual world Second Life. Course 1 was conducted during the Autumn of 2007. Based on the experiences of this course, we redesigned many aspects of it in order to improve student activity in terms of oral participation and gave…

This study examined how middle school students constructed their understanding of the mitosis and meiosis processes at a molecular level through multimedia learning materials presented in different interaction and sensory modality modes. A two (interaction modes: animation/simulation) by two (sensory modality modes: narration/on-screen text)…

Betty's Brain is a computer-based learning environment that capitalizes on the social aspects of learning. In Betty's Brain, students instruct a character called a Teachable Agent (TA) which can reason based on how it is taught. Two studies demonstrate the "protege effect": students make greater effort to learn for their TAs than they do…

This study is a third in a series of studies that examined students' information seeking and problem solving behaviors while interacting with one of two types of web-based representations of an ill-structured instructional design case: hierarchical (tree-like) and heterarchical (network-like). A Java program was used to track students' hypermedia…

The number of games, simulations, and multi-user virtual environments designed to promote learning, engagement with subject matter, or intended to contextualize learning has been steadily increasing over the past decade. While the use of these digital designs in educational settings has begun to show promise for improving learning, motivation, and…

Gaming and social networking define the millennial student. This research focuses on an evolving collaboration between 2 faculty members of different disciplines who merged Web 2.0 and game scenarios to infuse research techniques as integral components of math/computer science courses. Blogs and wikis facilitated student-faculty interaction beyond…

This book is provided as a guide, encouragement and handbook for faculty to introduce digital media in language they can understand and provide strategies and activities they can quickly assimilate into their teaching. The authors are excited that more people will be able to benefit from the powerful help and guidance contained in this book. This…

Through repeated practice under conditions similar to those in real-world settings, simulator training prepares an individual to maintain effective performance under stressful work conditions. Interfaces offering high fidelity and immersion can more closely reproduce real-world experiences and are generally believed to result in better learning…

Cross-validation, an economical method for assessing whether sample results will generalize, is discussed in this paper. Cross-validation is an invariance technique that uses two subsets of the data sample to derive discriminant function coefficients. The two sets of coefficients are then used with each data subset to derive discriminant function…

Describes the development of two interactive computer simulations which were fully integrated with other course materials. The simulations illustrate the effects of various real and monetary "demand shocks" on aggregate income, interest rates, and components of spending and economic output. Includes an evaluation of the simulations'…

Computer sampling from a multivariate normal spherical population was used to evaluate Type I error rates for a test of P = I based on Fisher's tanh(sup minus 1) variance stabilizing transformation of the correlation coefficient. (Author/TJH)

Reviews "The U.S. Constitution Then and Now," a two-unit program using the integrated database and word processing capabilities of AppleWorks. For grades 7-12, the units simulate the constitutional convention and the principles of free speech and privacy. Concludes that with adequate time, the program can provide a potentially powerful…

Results of the two surveys (combined n = 145) show that historians are using computers for word processing, research, and teaching support. Only a third of the respondents indicated they were using computers in the classroom, however. The most frequently reported classroom uses were student projects, simulations, and tutorials. (JDH)

Favorably reviews "The Other Side," a global conflict resolution simulation available for high school social studies classes. Maintains that this program is well worth the time and effort required to integrate it into the study of modern history and international relations. (JDH)