A visit to most any technology education laboratory or classroom will reveal that computers, software, and multimedia software are rapidly becoming a mainstay in learning about technology and technological literacy. Almost all technology labs have at least several computers dedicated to specialized software or hardware such as Computer-aided…

The purpose of this study was to compare the reading achievement growth of fifth grade students following a year of participation in the Accelerated Reader program with the reading achievement growth of fifth grade students who did not participate in the Accelerated Reader program. The Terra Nova standardized achievement test was used as the…

The authors provide a version of a double-auction market simulation designed for classes too large for most computer labs to accommodate in one sitting. Instead, students play the game from remote computers, wherever they may be and at any time during a given time period specified by the instructor. When the window of time expires, students can…

Educational policies proposed with and without the aid of Decision Support Systems (DSS) were compared. 120 teachers responded to a questionnaire describing two hypothetical incidents and presenting a series of options with respect to homogeneous and heterogeneous grouping of pupils according to achievement level. After selection of preferred…

The dilemma is one that most public librarians know well. The interlibrary loan (ILL) service over the past seven years had increased by almost 72 percent--with no end to the upward spiral in sight. Borrowing had increased 23 percent, but lending to other libraries had seen the largest growth: 106 percent. ILL staffing hadn't increased and…

This article will give music educators some practical tools and information for helping students with visual impairments enjoy the ensemble experience. The author has used these tools as music director at the California School for the Blind (CSB) and as a musician who is visually impaired. All observations and techniques mentioned here come out of…

Can second-grade students construct an understanding of sophisticated science processes and explore physics concepts while creating their own inventions? Yes! Students accomplished this and much more through a month-long project in which they used Legos and Robolab, the Lego computer programing software, to create their own inventions. One…

Two design experiments were conducted to improve the word recognition performance of students at risk of school failure. In Study 1, an Internet-based software from the TELE-Web project was used to remediate the word recognition performance of 4 students at risk of retention and reading disabilities in first grade. In Study 2, the Internet-based…

As part of an ongoing research program, the authors investigated the use of single-voiced narration and multi-voiced characterizations/monologues in a formative evaluation study of an instructional lesson on information processing. That lesson employed a design based on the use of content-related metaphors and a metaphorical graphical user…

Creating inquiry- and standards-based science curricula that meet wide-ranging learner needs and preferences requires strategic planning and organization. The common practice of retrofitting or modifying existing instructional and curriculum materials to accommodate individual learner needs too often overshadows the concept of designing universal…

We have developed an introductory bioinformatics exercise for sophomore biology and biochemistry students that reinforces the understanding of the structure of a gene and the principles and events involved in its expression. In addition, the activity illustrates the severe effect mutations in a gene sequence can have on the protein product.…

This paper compares two protocols for web-based instruction using simulations in an introductory physics class. The Inquiry protocol allowed students to control input parameters while the Worked Example protocol did not. Students in the Worked Example group performed significantly higher on a common assessment. The ramifications of this study are…

We report on a computational chemistry course for undergraduate students that successfully incorporated a research project on the design of new contrast agents for magnetic resonance imaging and shift reagents for in vivo NMR. Course outcomes were positive: students were quite motivated during the whole year--they learned what was required of…

This article begins with a recapitulation of some well-known technology trends that make current platforms so exciting. Leveraging this technology into highly desirable forms of learning is then briefly discussed. This is followed by an examination of an IT-oriented education research agenda prepared by a consortium called the Learning Federation…

Differential item functioning (DIF) is an important consideration in assessing the validity of test scores (Camilli & Shepard, 1994). A variety of statistical procedures have been developed to assess DIF in tests of dichotomous (Hills, 1989; Millsap & Everson, 1993) and polytomous (Penfield & Lam, 2000; Potenza & Dorans, 1995) items. Some of these…