Teacher education at University of Virginia incorporates computer-based simulations to assist preservice teachers to develop decision making skills. A Clinical Instructor Program identifies, selects and trains inservice teachers to work with preservice teachers in field settings in ways that are likely to encourage reasonable decision making. (IAH)

Satisfactory results for interpersonally incomparable ordinal survey responses can be obtained by assuming that rankings are based upon a set of multivariate normal latent variables that satisfy factor or ideal point models of choice. Two statistical methods based upon those assumptions are described and illustrated via simulations. (TJH)

Describes a simulation game requiring students to role play and complete extensive writing exercises to help them become interested in Willa Cather's "My Antonia" and the pioneer experience of relocation and resettlement. Contains an extensive description of the simulation rules and procedures. (TB)

Discusses the role of education and technology in light of social justice and democratic principles. Topics addressed include technology as a medium for discourse; equal access to information; simulations and virtual reality; social learning; school reform and technology; and critical theory and educational technology. (Contains 13 references.)…

Investigates the problem of finding the expected number of questions necessary to identify 1 out of a set of 30 attribute blocks. Solutions include the use of a tree diagram or a computer simulation. Generalizes the problem for increased numbers of attributes. (MDH)

Describes a simulation-oriented computer microworld named CHANCE used to overcome the limitations of physical materials for experiments in teaching and learning introductory probability. Results of a teaching experiment conducted with four middle school and high school students are discussed. (15 references) (LZ)

Two new methods of estimating the mean population correlation (M) and the standard deviation of population correlations (SD) were suggested and tested by Monte Carlo simulations. Results show no consistent advantage to using the Pearson correlation or Fisher's Z in estimating M or SD; estimates from all methods are similar. (SLD)

A project called Image Processing for Teaching provides real-world experiences for students with deafness or hearing impairments, through computerized image exploration. Students use computer technology to judge the impact of building a dam, study gravity through the flight of a basketball, and understand scientific concepts that previously…

Describes "Story Producer for InteractivE Learning" (SPIEL) a multimedia retrieval system for educational stories, and its integration into an architecture called "Guided Social Simulation" (GuSS), for teaching complex social skills such as management, diplomacy, or selling. Highlights include an example of the use of SPIEL,…

A new item-fit index is proposed that is both a descriptive measure of deviance of single items and an index for statistical inference. This index is based on assumptions of the dichotomous and polytomous Rasch models for items with ordered categories. A simulation study is described. (SLD)

Describes a study that examined the effectiveness of implied boolean searches using personal author surnames plus first and/or last title words to retrieve an entry from a simulated online public access catalog (OPAC). Implications for the design of OPACs are discussed, and further research is suggested. (LRW)

Illustrates how to use computer simulation models in statistics to study the quality of an estimation procedure and concurrently the subtle concepts of randomness and convergence. Special emphasis is given to the use of graphical representations. (MKR)

Develops and evaluates the linkage of the Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery to the mathematics scale of the National Assessment of Educational Progress. The accuracy of the proficiency distribution estimated from the projection was close to the accuracy of the distribution estimated from the large scale assessment. (SLD)

Simulated data were used to investigate the impact of characteristics of threshold values (number, symmetry, and distance between adjacent threshold values) and delta values on the distribution of item information in the successive intervals Rasch model. Implications for computerized adaptive attitude measurement are discussed. (SLD)

Computers may someday replace teachers at essay grading. In recent research, a blind test has demonstrated that a computer can simulate the judgment of a group of human judges on a brand-new set of essays. Moreover, the PEG (Project Essay Grade) program can do a better (and more cost-effective) job than the usual two human readers while providing…