Recent experiments on the ski simulator produced ambiguous results and raised unanswered questions concerning the true nature of "novice" behavior and the occurrence of behavioral changes during learning. The aim of the present experiment was to analyze the evolving behavior of three beginners during six practice sessions on a ski simulator. The…

The new National Maritime College of Ireland is regarded as the country's most exciting and innovative development in maritime training and education and is the first tertiary institution to be built and operated under the government's Public Private Partnership (PPP) model of procurement. The project is the outcome of a partnership between Cork…

In the present study, a procedure that has been used to select dichotomous items in computerized adaptive testing was applied to polytomous items. This procedure was designed to select the item with maximum weighted information. In a simulation study, the item information function was integrated over a fixed interval of ability values and the item…

The motion of a magnet through a coil is analysed through a model of magnetic monopoles. The magnetic flux of a monopole passing through a loop is explained and also its rate of change. By a superposition of voltages produced by the monopoles on the coils the shape of the voltage versus time graph is explained. Also examined is the interaction of…

The understanding and a liking towards mathematics can be very effectively developed in students by allowing them to find out the solutions for any basic problem or simulations, which are basically mathematical reenactments of nearly or completely hypothetical situations. The nontransitive relation of Efron's dice or the assignment of numbers in a…

Classic matching theory, which is based on Herrnstein's (1961) original matching equation and includes the well-known quantitative law of effect, is almost certainly false. The theory is logically inconsistent with known experimental findings, and experiments have shown that its central constant-"k" assumption is not tenable. Modern matching…

There are several major challenges for instructional designers seeking to design learning games. These include the lack of access, the cost of rapidly advancing/expensive technology tools that make developing games uneconomical, the institutional time constraints limiting game use, and the concerns that schools lack sufficiently robust computer…

This study investigated the effects of cognitive readiness in a Navy simulated environment, the simulation being the Multi-Mission Team Trainer. The research question that drove this study was: will simulations increase cognitive readiness? One of the tasks of Navy sailors is to deal with unpredictable events. Unpredictability in the military is…

The purpose of the study was to investigate the effects of inquiry-based computer simulation with heterogeneous-ability cooperative learning (HACL) and inquiry-based computer simulation with friendship cooperative learning (FCL) on (a) scientific reasoning (SR) and (b) conceptual understanding (CU) among Form Four students in Malaysian Smart…

Societal changes demand educators to apply new pedagogical approaches. Many educational stakeholders feel that serious games could play a key role in fulfilling this demand, and they lick their chops when looking at the booming industry of leisure games. However, current toolkits for developing leisure games show severe shortcomings when applied…

Educational software games aim at increasing the students' motivation and engagement while they learn. However, if software games are targeted to school classrooms they have to be usable and likeable by all students. Usability of virtual reality games may be a problem because these games tend to have complex user interfaces so that they are more…

This study compared the effectiveness of two instructional methods--problem-based instruction within a face-to-face context and computer-mediated participatory simulation--in increasing students' content knowledge and application gains in the area of information problem-solving. The instructional methods were implemented over a four-week period. A…

This article describes a mathematical biology workshop given to secondary school teachers of the Danville area in Virginia, USA. The goal of the workshop was to enable teams of teachers with biology and mathematics expertise to incorporate lesson plans in mathematical modelling into the curriculum. The biological focus of the activities is the…

Schools today function in an environment of complicated rules and regulations. Training preservice teachers in educational law is not only necessary; it is important work. Professors and administrators were surveyed on the methods, materials, and strategies that they employed to teach education law to preservice teachers. The predominant teaching…

One way of better understanding Net-Generation learners is to examine the texts they create on online social networking, blogging, and image sites as well as in virtual worlds. Mark Mabrito and Rebecca Medley explore the nature of Net-Generation texts as a reflection of the cognitive differences between this generation's students and their older…