Describes "Glass-box Interpreter" a low-level program visualization tool called Bradman designed to provide a conceptual model of C program execution for novice programmers and makes visible aspects of the programming process normally hidden from the user. Presents an experiment that tests the efficacy of Bradman, and provides…

Contends that teachers must help students overcome their dislike of history by utilizing strategies that focus on children's interest in stories as a means for encouraging their students to connect with history. Discusses dramatization, children's literature, and storytelling, and provides a bibliography of children's literature. (CMK)

Describes the differences between normal and sequential lineups and their effects on eyewitnesses to crime. After a staged crime in a college lab, students were shown photographs in either normal lineup style or sequential style. 35% of eyewitnesses shown all photographs at the same time mistakenly picked an innocent person. Only 18% shown…

Discusses the evaluation of search engines and uses neural networks in stochastic simulation of the number of rejected Web pages per search query. Topics include the iterative radial basis functions (RBF) neural network; precision; response time; coverage; Boolean logic; regression models; crawling algorithms; and implications for search engine…

Introduces the concepts of online and offline sampling and highlights the role of online sampling in agent-based models of learning and development. Compares the strengths of each approach for modeling particular developmental phenomena and research questions. Describes a recent agent-based model of infant causal perception. Discusses limitations…

Examines a preservice teacher education program designed to address multicultural understanding and awareness in school curriculum by developing students' knowledge and experience of others' attitudes and values. The author introduces the Heelotia cross-cultural simulation, describes its use and student opinions of the experience, and discusses…

Several existing group-based statistics to detect improbable item score patterns are discussed, along with the cut scores proposed in the literature to classify an item score pattern as aberrant. A simulation study and an empirical study are used to compare the statistics and their use and to investigate the practical use of cut scores. (SLD)

Compared reality therapy and person-centered therapy practiced by an African American counselor and a European American counselor. Results from African American Job Corps participants who viewed videotapes depicting simulated counseling sessions show a statistically significant difference between the therapies and between the counselors. Higher…

This article describes a learning activity, the Texas History Walk, in which third- and seventh-grade gifted students learn about life in the 1870s on the Texas frontier. The younger students interact with the actors, seventh graders role-playing characters of the 1870s. Benefits of the activity include its interdisciplinary nature, the cross-age…

Describes the "Running for Elected Office" simulation that enables undergraduates to gain knowledge of the campaign process. Students assume the roles of candidates, staffers, or journalists undertaking a ten-week campaign. Discusses the general structure of weekly events, special events, student evaluation of the simulation, problems, and the…

Reports on a study that examined which of the available simulators could be used by the U.S. Army Armor School (Fort Knox, Kentucky) for instructional purposes and determined actual usage of large-scale simulation networking (SIMNET) by examining usage logs maintained by SIMNET operators. The appendices list Armor School courses and simulators.…

Develops a new model for a process that generates Lotka's Law. Topics include measuring scientific productivity through the number of publications; rate of production; career duration; randomness; Poisson distribution; computer simulations; goodness-of-fit; theoretical support for the model; and future research. (Author/LRW)

Reports the results of research on effects of detailed feedback on problem solving within a computer-based simulation. Participants were 54 undergraduate students. Results indicated highest performance was associated with feedback based on an expert model supplemented with provided textual commentary, suggesting that under some circumstances…

Discusses a comprehensive approach to teaching business Chinese online that is beng developed in the language learning laboratory at the University of Illinois. The courseware consists of two complementary parts: a business Chinese workbook and a business Chinese simulation. (Author/VWL)

Contends that a problem with using discussion in the classroom is that only a few students participate actively. Provides four strategies teachers can use to involve all of their students in a discussion and to encourage the development of their students' understanding of historical issues and problems. Includes a handout. (CMK)