The kids in today's classrooms spend lots of time playing video games, surfing the net, listening to iPods, and text messaging on cell phones. Known as Digital Kids and the Net Generation, they have grown up surrounded by digital media of all types (Tapscott 1999). Because they are already knowledgeable, why not use digital technologies to capture…

Because of the increased popularity of computerized adaptive testing (CAT), many admissions tests, as well as certification and licensure examinations, have been transformed from their paper-and-pencil versions to computerized adaptive versions. A major difference between paper-and-pencil tests and CAT from an examinee's point of view is that in…

Immersive Education is a multimillion-dollar project devoted to build virtual-reality software exclusively for education within commercial and nonprofit fantasy spaces like Second Life. The project combines interactive three-dimensional graphics, Web cameras, Internet-based telephony, and other digital media. Some critics have complained that…

A person fit test based on the Lagrange multiplier test is presented for three item response theory models for polytomous items: the generalized partial credit model, the sequential model, and the graded response model. The test can also be used in the framework of multidimensional ability parameters. It is shown that the Lagrange multiplier…

An exercise is presented in which the kinetics of the irreversible "reaction" of pennies in the heads-up state to pennies in the tails-up state is simulated by a hands-on, Monte Carlo approach. In addition, the exercise incorporates a second simulation in which the irreversible "reaction" of dice with a red face uppermost to a blue face uppermost…

The underlying statistical models for multiple regression analysis are typically attributed to two types of modeling: fixed and random. The procedures for calculating power and sample size under the fixed regression models are well known. However, the literature on random regression models is limited and has been confined to the case of all…

Due to the difficulty in achieving a random assignment, a quasi-experimental or observational study design is frequently used in the behavioral and social sciences. If a nonrandom assignment depends on the covariates, multiple group structural equation modeling, that includes the regression function of the dependent variables on the covariates…

A k-dimensional integer point is called visible if the line segment joining the point and the origin contains no proper integer points. This note proposes an explicit formula that represents the number of visible points on the two-dimensional [1,N]x[1,N] integer domain. Simulations and theoretical work are presented. (Contains 5 figures and 2…

Learning real three-dimensional (3D) anatomy for the first time can be challenging. Two-dimensional drawings and plastic models tend to over-simplify the complexity of anatomy. The approach described uses stereoscopy to create 3D images of the process of cadaver dissection and to demonstrate the underlying anatomy related to the speech mechanisms.…

Grading on the curve is a common practice in higher education. While there are many critics of the practice it still finds wide spread acceptance particularly in science classes. Advocates believe that in large classes student ability is likely to be normally distributed. If test scores are also normally distributed instructors and students tend…

This research has two thrusts of teaching object oriented programming to very young audiences and of increasing student excitement about computing applications with the long-term goal of increasing involvement in technology classes, in the use of computer applications and interest in technology careers. The goal of this work was to provide…

Using Microsoft® Excel, several interactive, computerized learning modules are developed to illustrate the Central Limit Theorem's appropriateness for comparing the difference between the means of any two populations. These modules are used in the classroom to enhance the comprehension of this theorem as well as the concepts that provide the…

This paper undertakes a quantitative analysis of substantial reforms to the system of higher education (HE) finance first announced in 2004 and then revised again in July 2007. The reforms introduced deferred fees for HE, payable by graduates through the tax system in the form of income-contingent repayments on loans subsidised by the government.…

This study highlights the computer-mediated discursive activity of two dyads of first year educational sciences students, each collaboratively exploring several options for increasing the equilibrium size of a fish population in a lake. Our focus is on peers' attempts to come up with justified predictions about the adequacy of several options for…

Virtual reality (VR) has been demonstrated to offer learning benefits over traditional instructional methods in many technical and occupational areas. However, in the framework of Rogers' innovation diffusion theory, adoption of VR in Career and Technical Education and occupational programs appears to be lagging. This study used experimental…