Studies have shown that when learning occurs in an environment that uses animated pedagogical agents and personalized instruction, the learner learns the material more deeply and can recall it easier when compared to learning without an agent. Thus, an effective learning system creates personalized contexts for each learner. The "one size fits…

Programming is recognized as being challenging for teachers to teach and difficult for students to learn. For decades, computer science educators have looked at innovative approaches by creating pedagogical software tools that attempt to facilitate both the teaching of and the learning of programming. This dissertation investigates the motivations…

Today's students are faced with the challenge of utilizing technology to support not only their personal lives, but also their academic careers. "Technology Implementation and Teacher Education: Reflective Models" provides teachers with the resources needed to address this challenge and develop new methodologies for addressing technology in…

A study was conducted to propose a research-based model for a longitudinal data research system that addressed recommendations from a synthesis of literature related to: (1) needs reported by the U.S. Department of Education, (2) the twelve mandatory elements that define federally approved state longitudinal data systems (SLDS), (3) the…

In this article, a prototype Greek text to Greek Sign Language (GSL) conversion system is presented. The system is integrated into an educational platform that addresses the needs of teaching GSL grammar and was developed within the SYNENNOESE project (Efthimiou "et al." 2004a. Developing an e-learning platform for the Greek sign…

This article describes a holistic approach to designing an introductory, object-oriented programming course. The design is grounded in constructivism and pedagogy of phenomenography. We use constructive alignment as the framework to align assessments, learning, and teaching with planned learning outcomes. We plan learning and teaching activities,…

The selection of a programming language for introductory courses has long been an informal process involving faculty evaluation, discussion, and consensus. As the number of faculty, students, and language options grows, this process becomes increasingly unwieldy. As it stands, the process currently lacks structure and replicability. Establishing a…

This study investigates differences between collaboration methods in two summer enrichment classes for students entering the sixth grade. In one treatment, students used pair programming. In the other treatment, students engaged in frequent collaboration, but worked on their own computer. Students in the two treatments did not differ significantly…

The purpose of this study was to examine the thoughts and observations of six preservice teacher candidates serving in the field as one-on-one literacy tutors with high needs elementary students in grades K-3. Conducted as a case study, reflective observations by the participants focused on three specific course content areas of a literacy class:…

Growth and development have a profound effect on physical fitness, response to exercise, and exercise programming in children. This article reviews the essential pediatric exercise physiology concepts relevant to physical education programs for K-6 children. Indices of physical fitness such as cardiorespiratory endurance, muscular strength, and…

The majority of computer science education research to date has focused on purely cognitive student outcomes. Understanding the "motivational" states experienced by students may enhance our understanding of the computer science learning process, and may reveal important instructional interventions that could benefit student engagement and…

The author investigated the effectiveness of Web-based courses on technical learning. The regression results show that the delivery format (Web-based or traditional classroom courses) has no significant effect on student performance. However, although gender is a significant predictor in traditional classroom courses, its effect disappears in…

This paper describes the use of simple 4DOS batch files to automate the creation and maintenance of an infrastructure to assist students in creating and maintaining HTML World Wide Web pages. Background is provided on Web pages, DOS, 4DOS, and batch files. The assumptions made in creating the infrastructure are summarized, and program statements…

Presents the design and implementation of a reliable multipeer protocol (RMPP), which is written in Java and is suitable for applications in the area of distributed virtual environments (DVEs). Discusses motivation, protocol classification, design goals and the error recovery algorithm and lists implementation issues. Presents two possible…

Based on a computer-science course, this article outlines an alternative ordering of programming concepts that aims to develop a reuse habit before other styles of programming are developed. Although the discussion is based on transition from Modula-2 to C++, the issues raised apply to transition from any procedural to any object-oriented…