Computer-assisted instruction, while familiar to most teachers, has failed to become an effective self-motivating instructional tool. Developments in artificial intelligence, however, have provided new and better tools for exploring human knowledge acquisition and utilization. Expert system technology represents one of the most promising of these…

Technical, interpersonal, and managerial skills are necessary in order to assume the responsibilities of a computer supervisor. Technical skills refer to computer proficiency and include an in-depth awareness of the methods and procedures needed to implement various facets of computer education in school settings, such as knowledge of computer…

This manual provides background materials for Project CIRCLE (Curriculum by Industry Review-Computers Link to Education), a competency-based curriculum developed to provide trainers or educators teaching short-term or long-term programs with a complete field-tested curriculum in microcomputer applications. Prefatory materials and acknowledgements…

This paper compares two alternative computer architectures that have been proposed to provide the control mechanism that enables an intelligent tutoring system to decide what instructional action to perform next, i.e., discourse management networks and blackboards. The claim that an intelligent tutoring system controlled by a blackboard…

Arguing that goal knowledge is as important to intelligent machine activity as it is to human activity, and that it also must be well understood and explicitly represented in an instructional system if that system is to be successful in fostering learning, this report presents an architecture for intelligent tutors that explicitly represents…

Arguing that the production system for computer courseware has a strong impact on quality courseware development, this report offers an introduction into the relationships between instructional system design and software engineering, and investigates courseware quality as a means of identifying quality enhancement factors that can make the…

This description of the use of "probeware," i.e., hardware which connects to a microcomputer and works with the software to measure factors such as temperature, light, or motion in science laboratory experiments, uses as an example an experiment which would involve the measurement of pendulum motion using the "Precision Timer…

This review of the literature begins by exploring the development of computer literacy as a discipline since its introduction in colleges and universities around 1965 and in economically privileged high schools around 1970. The impact of a conference sponsored by the National Science Foundation and Human Resources Research Organization in 1980 on…

Intended to teach instructors how to use the NovaNET computer system or the PLATO system to deliver instruction, this manual provides instructions for using both NovaNET, which supercedes PLATO, and the crouter software package, which is a general purpose tool for managing instruction on the NovaNET computer. This self-instructional manual is…

Two keywords "input" and "get," in the BASIC programming language provide a metaphor of the processes of response and intervention in a dialogue situation. Computer teaching activities can be programmed using one or both of these commands. There are at least five main types: the quiz or overt teaching program, the text processsing program, the…

A double perspective is offered on computer-assisted instruction (CAI): (1) a definition is provided, the role of a computerized component in an ESL curriculum is examined, and the potential of computerized learning in the ESL field is explored; and (2) the CAI program at Strayer College in Washington, D. C. is described. The definition proposed…

Each of the more than 200 educational software programs developed by both commercial and public domain sources which are described is intended for use with one of the four microcomputers most frequently used for instructional purposes--Atari, Apple, PET, and TRS-80. These descriptions are offered as a service for those who are just beginning to…

This paper presents examples of effective uses of microcomputers to support basic statistics instruction. All programs are written in Applesoft BASIC for Apple II Plus microcomputers and compatible equipment. They have been field tested in statistics courses at the University of Maryland. Microcomputers can be used with color monitors for…

The paper describes a microcomputer simulation program developed to train preservice special education teachers in the use of basic behavior modification skills. The program was written in SuperPILOT on an Apple IIe using a BCD interface card and a Panasonic NV 8200 video tape recorder. Production suggestions are offered. The incorporation of…

A study is reported in which 7 children (2 girls and 5 boys, 11 to 12 years of age) with a year of LOGO Programming experience were asked to think aloud about how a LOGO procedure would work, and then to predict by hand-simulation of the programs, what the graphics turtle "pen" would draw when the program was executed. While all children…