If design research involving technology-based tools is going to impact educational settings, the design process must be extended beyond the tool itself to encompass a broader range of factors such as the classroom social structures (e.g., beliefs about learning and knowledge, learning activities and participant structures, configurations of both…

Business communication courses are ideal for teaching visual communication principles and techniques. Many assignments lend themselves to graphic enrichment, such as flyers, handouts, slide shows, Web sites, and newsletters. Microsoft Publisher and Microsoft PowerPoint are excellent tools for these assignments, with Publisher being best for…

This paper evaluates four tools for creating World Wide Web pages that interface with Microsoft Access databases: DB Gateway, Internet Database Assistant (IDBA), Microsoft Internet Database Connector (IDC), and Cold Fusion. The system requirements and features of each tool are discussed. A sample application, "The Virtual Help Desk"…

These papers describe efforts toward the systematic improvement of a software environment called SOLO (Eisenstadt, 1978), which has been used with cognitive psychology students at the Open University in Great Britain and is geared towards the manipulation of assertional databases. The first paper, by Eisenstadt, Laubsch, and Kahney, provides an…

The manual is intended to help school districts comply with federal mandates for physical accessibility and least restrictive settings for handicapped elementary school children. A general introduction to the accessibility concept in chapter 1 considers the historical background, the role of the physical environment, and existing federal…

An alternative research methodology is presented which focuses on the aims and values of education while attending to the learner as an elaborate, dynamic, everchanging total system. A summary covers the reactive, preactive, proactive, and spiralling learner systems, each of which meet the definitional system requirement of being dynamic, having a…

A fundamental change in attitudes toward lighting can produce considerable reductions in the amount of electricity required to operate educational and other facilities. (Author)

There are four elements in every meeting: the program, the communicators, administrative work, and the facility. Facility design should respond to the findings of environmental psychology. Environment is a primary force in helping the meeting attendee to reprogram into a problem solving and learning mode. (MW)

Seven experts describe the elements that make college housing a success. (Author)

Raleigh County (West Virginia) Vocational Technical Center is strongly committed to the importance of total student development as well as to the responsibility of vocational instruction. These commitments are clearly reflected in the architectural planning for the new educational center. (Author/MW)

This study asked participants to rate models of computer-generated text on the perceived ease with which it could be read and studied. These ratings were submitted to a Q-mode factor analysis to identify the underlying criteria used when the reader/perceiver formed a judgment related to the "study-ability" of the text model. Subjects…

This seminar and workbook are designed to aid librarians in planning and designing attractive and efficient libraries in light of the changing technologies of the 1980s. It is based on the premise that the electronic revolution of the 1980s will cause substantial changes in the work force, work processes, and the nature of physical layouts of…

Climbing walls can be designed to satisfy the needs of both untrained and experienced climbers offering these people a place to learn their craft as well as a place for them to keep their skills honed during off seasons. Users of the artificial wall can be classified into special groups, such as "Youth at Risk," who are engaged in…

These guidelines describe both the role and preparation of a Program of Requirements (POR) in the planning and design of capital improvements projects. The purpose of POR is to define very clearly facility needs and objectives to the designer. The POR consists of five parts: (l) the title page; (2) part A, a summary of the project and general…

These room designs are intended as samples to be used in planning business classrooms. Rooms and furniture are drawn to scale. One page illustrates the various pieces of furniture, with dimensions, that are used in the designs. The number on each piece of furniture identifies it in the room designs. Each room design is 32 feet by 43 feet or 1,376…