This guide to the development of effective documentation for users of computer software begins by identifying five types of documentation, i.e., training manuals, user guides, tutorials, on-screen help comments, and troubleshooting manuals. Six steps in the development process are then outlined and briefly described: (1) planning and preparation;…

Designed to aid teachers, school administrators, and parents in selecting excellent education software for grades K-12, this guide reports the results of over 7,800 evaluations of educational software programs and lists the 250 selected as the newest education software winners. In addition to these programs, this 1986 edition has added software…

Focusing on how to use a microcomputer as a terminal for searching online databases, this digest addresses the following topics: (1) hardware and software requirements; (2) configuring the software; and (3) basic requirements for specific microcomputers. Special features in communications software which allow microcomputer users to do database…

This detailed description of a microcomputer version of PROUST (Program Understander for Students), a knowledge-based system that finds nonsyntactic bugs in Pascal programs written by novice programmers, presents the inner workings of Micro-PROUST, which was written in Golden LISP for the IBM-PC (512K). The contents include: (1) a reprint of an…

Holdings of the National Center for Higher Education Management Systems (NCHEMS) and fiscal year (FY) 1982 data acquisitions and software enhancements are discussed. NCHEMS holds many years of data from surveys conducted by the National Center for Education Statistics, the National Science Foundation, the Bureau of the Census, and the Department…

This overview of interactive videodisc technology is designed to assist educators in finding the appropriate equipment and software for any specific application. The handbook may also serve as a starting point for many educators who know nothing of the technology and assist them in deciding whether this technology is worth pursuing as an…

This manual is a "how to" training device for formatting blank floppy disks in the AppleWorks program using an Apple IIe or Apple IIGS Computer with Duodisk or two disk drives. The manual provides step-by-step directions, and includes 11 figures depicting the computer screen at the various stages of the formatting sequence. (EW)

This publication is a collection of eight articles and ten software reviews written by the author for "Micro Missive" since 1984. "Micro Missive" is a quarterly newsletter that has regularly informed International Reading Association members of new developments in computer-based instruction and reading/language arts through articles, software…

In his early exposition of path analysis, Duncan (1966) noted that the method "provides a calculus for indirect effects." Despite the interest in indirect causal effects, most users treat them as if they are population parameters and do not test whether they are statistically significant. Sobel (1982) has recently derived the asymptotic…

An algorithm is presented for the best least-squares fitting correlation matrix approximating a given missing value or improper correlation matrix. The proposed algorithm is based on a solution for C. I. Mosier's oblique Procrustes rotation problem offered by J. M. F. ten Berge and K. Nevels (1977). It is shown that the minimization problem…

Homogeneity analysis, or multiple correspondence analysis, is usually applied to k separate variables. In this paper, it is applied to sets of variables by using sums within sets. The resulting technique is referred to as OVERALS. It uses the notion of optimal scaling, with transformations that can be multiple or single. The single transformations…

Military training information is not available from a single, well-structured electronic source. It typically exists in multiple formats created by multiple software products, usually incompatible. The training analyst thus has the job of collecting that which is available and converting it to a format that can be processed by existing software.…

This guide describes the various hardware and software components needed for computer-to-computer communications in nontechnical language and provides guidelines for selecting an appropriate communications package for a microcomputer. Hardware components discussed include both internal and external modems and the advantages and disadvantages of…

The bibliography lists 90 mathematics lessons considered appropriate for mildly handicapped and non-handicapped elementary students using PLATO, a large-scale computer-based education system. Brief introductory remarks describe the rationale for computer assisted instruction, review the development of the PLATO system, and summarize findings of…

Guidelines for the planning and purchase of microcomputer systems are presented in outline form. These guidelines are directed to educators in developmental education, special education, and learning center environments; however, they are applicable to all educators intending to use microcomputers. First, a discussion of hardware considerations is…