This article describes an evolution of training programs to use first-person interaction in virtual reality (VR) situations to teach safety skills to children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD). Multiple VR programs for children aged 2 to 9 were built and tested between 1992 and 2007. Based on these…

"Teaching in the Knowledge Society: New Skills and Instruments for Teachers" covers a pedagogical survey of the changes induced by information and communication technology (ICT) in today's society and education. It critically analyzes facts, instruments, solutions, and strategies while suggesting interpretations and hypotheses to develop a new way…

"Beyond Tracking" responds to the a sobering assessment of American high schools by delineating and promoting an innovative and well-defined notion of multiple pathways. The book's authors clearly distinguish their use of the term "multiple pathways" from any updated version of the tracking system that marked so many American high schools during…

This article describes a university-sponsored experiential-based simulation, the NANO SCENARIO, to increase the public's awareness and affect attitudes on the societal implications of nanoscience and nanotechnology by bringing together diverse stakeholders' perspectives in a participatory learning environment. Nanotechnology has the potential for…

Our essential premise in this article is that immersive learning is not new and that, as a practical matter, it is useful to view the relatively new virtual world platforms through that lens. By doing so, the premise continues, developers of learning experiences for these spaces will have a large theoretical base upon which to draw, as well as…

Items with the highest discrimination parameter values in a logistic item response theory (IRT) model do not necessarily give maximum information. This paper shows which discrimination parameter values (as a function of the guessing parameter and the distance between person ability and item difficulty) give maximum information for the…

This paper describes an election simulation developed at Rutgers University (New Jersey) using Multimedia Toolbook. Toolbook has features which enable an information flow to be presented which mimics the flow of a campaign, using both text and video. Subjects are presented with textual information that flows across the screen, representing the…

A multimedia-style computer application is detailed that facilitates students' role playing in a simulated business situation. The incorporation of video footage lends a "face" to a theoretical client with which the student must interact to bring about the successful resolution of a potential "calamity." The process of video…

A field study with 178 candidates for a police promotional examination was conducted to investigate the effects of "untranslated" behavioral checklists on certain psychometric properties of an assessment center. The untranslated checklist used all behavioral responses elicited by the assessment center exercises, not just those that met a…

School-effectiveness research is constrained by ambiguous factors of effectiveness and a lack of theory. This paper presents findings of a study that used simulation to improve school-effectiveness theory. Simulation is also used to explore the direct effects of schools on individual learning. After introducing simulation models, the paper…

The contrasting groups method is one of many possible methods for setting passing scores. The most commonly used method is probably that developed by W. H. Angoff (1971), but it has been suggested that the Angoff method may not be appropriate for many standard setting applications in education. The contrasting groups method is explored as an…

This book presents simulation activities for significant events in U.S. history from 1787-1868. Intended for student involvement, the simulations require student research and practice in order to carry out the designated roles. The simulation and role play serve to involve the students actively in their learning, using both the affective and…

This paper describes a simulation in which students pretend to follow a favorite baseball team on the road and travel to major league baseball cities in North America. Students use the encyclopedia to answer questions about each city they "visit" and then report on what they have learned by designing a postcard to send back to the class.…

Computerized adaptive testing (CAT), while well-grounded in psychometric theory, has had few large-scale applications for high-stakes, secure tests in the past. This is now changing as the cost of computing has declined rapidly. As is always true where theory is translated into practice, many practical issues arise. This paper discusses a number…

In this study some alternative item selection criteria for adaptive testing are proposed. These criteria take into account the uncertainty of the ability estimates. A general weighted information criterion is suggested of which the usual maximum information criterion and the suggested alternative criteria are special cases. A simulation study was…