To complement and strengthen its educational leadership program, East Tennessee State University, along with Brigham Young University, Florida State University, and Virginia Tech, formed a liaison with NASSP to help expand and refine administrative skills in decision making, leadership, sensitivity, problem solving, communication, judgment, and…

Describes a plan to assess 27 administrator candidates, drawing on a partnership between the Southwest Virginia Regional Assessment Center Leadership Academy and Virginia Tech's principal preparation program. Participants completed a reduced-item inbasket exercise, participated in leaderless-group and fact-finding exercises, and submitted a…

Facilitators can be and often are unaware of damage that may be caused by participation in interactive learning events (simulations, role-plays, games, etc.). This is sometimes due to a confusion about what sort of event is taking place. Two hypothetical situations and one real incident are provided and analyzed. Lessons are drawn and…

Describes Design Builder, interactive multimedia software that was developed to enable undergraduate engineers to experience working in a concurrent environment without direct and specialized teaching-staff support, and to provide an interactive and intelligent simulation environment from which users may develop a culture that introduces…

Speculates on why such little progress has been made regarding the effective application of educational simulation/games and suggests that the field's eclectic foundation has been good for its development but bad for its rigorous assessment. Antecedents for meaningful research and generating a body of literature are outlined. (Author/LRW)

Discusses computer simulation and analyzes evidence concerning the effectiveness of simulation by examining the relationship between two forms of simulations, pure and hybrid; and two modes of instruction, presentation and practice. Presents results of a meta-analysis of 19 studies on simulation effects, including effect size for academic…

Explains how games can be used to stimulate interest and aid conceptual understanding. Focuses on working with Year Six children and simulation exercises designed to support understanding of feeding relationships and food chains. (DDR)

Highlights the theoretical differences between the approaches of R. Likert (1932) and L. Thurstone (1928) to attitude measurement. Uses real and simulated data on attitudes toward abortion to illustrate that attitude researchers should pay more attention to the empirical-response characteristics of items on a Likert attitude questionnaire. (SLD)

Describes a one-semester economics course in which students assume the role of key figures in the development of economic thought, ranging from the mercantilists through the early neoclassicists. Structures class discussion thematically rather than chronologically, so characters are conversationally engaged in each class. (DSK)

Argues that role playing may engage students more effectively than lectures, but the risk of role play is that students often wander from the intended central themes. Presents part of a scripted role play from an environmental-economics course to illustrate how scripting offers a solution to this problem. (DSK)

Utilizes MBA students' biographical data and reactions to simulated position ads for community college business faculty positions to identify predictors of applicant decisions. Reveals four significant predictors of participants' ratings of simulated positions: applicant's current job satisfaction, spouse's contribution to household income,…

Compares traditional mathematical models with computer simulations. Shows the strengths and flexibility of algorithmic computational simulations through a program designed to investigate and extend understanding in one of the most enduring questions in social choice research. Discusses solutions to this problem from each approach--analytic and…

Discusses general principles relating to the design, use, and assessment of social studies simulations that have been learned through practical experience. Defines, addresses the educational benefits of, outlines steps in creating and managing, and offers suggestions for, evaluating simulations. (DSK)

Examines misconceptions about simulations for performance technology concerning what they reflect, varieties, uses (instruction, awareness, performance assessment, team building, transfer, research, therapy), levels of fidelity, design approaches, formats (graphic models; card, race, and cyclical games; interactive fiction; production simulations;…

Examines advantages and disadvantages of multimedia simulation in nursing education. Provides an example of a modular design with an integrated intelligent agent and knowledge base for teaching clinical decision making. Concludes that this approach overcomes some of the problems of intelligent tutoring systems. Contains 40 references. (SK)