A questionnaire designed to assess experience with activities presumed to require spatial visualization abilities and psychometric tests of these abilities were given to 383 adults of 20 to 83 years of age. Findings suggested that at least some age-related differences in cognitive functioning are independent of the amount of experience with…

Describes the Chemistry Visualization (ChemViz) Project, a Web venture maintained by the University of Illinois National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) that enables high school students to use computational chemistry as a technique for understanding abstract concepts. Discusses the evolution of computational chemistry and provides a…

Investigated a secondary student's development of geometric thought during instruction using dynamic computer software. Clinical interviewing determined his predominant level of thought and highlighted the developmental process of geometric reasoning. Four learning stages were identified in terms of symbol, signal, and implicatory practices. Using…

Investigates the effects of a dynamic instructional environment and visualization on eighth-grade students' construction of reflection and rotation concepts. Also studies the effects of the environment on students' two- and three-dimensional visualization. (Author/CCM)

Discusses important lessons on the mathematics of manufacturing and how curriculum content and teaching can prepare students for working. Features concepts such as the importance of spatial and geometric reasoning, problem solving, numbers and computation, and measurement. (ASK)

Reports on a conference workshop that addressed Visual Information Retrieval Interfaces (VIRIs). Topics include evaluation methods; task dimension for evaluating VIRIs; efforts to fund European development of VIRIs; metrics, including cosine vector; navigation among documents; and interactions with users. (LRW)

Describes "Glass-box Interpreter" a low-level program visualization tool called Bradman designed to provide a conceptual model of C program execution for novice programmers and makes visible aspects of the programming process normally hidden from the user. Presents an experiment that tests the efficacy of Bradman, and provides…

Discusses information retrieval systems and the need to have them adapt to user needs, integrate information in any format, reveal patterns and trends in information, and answer questions. Topics include statistics and probability; natural language processing; intelligent agents; concept mapping; machine-aided indexing; text mining; filtering;…

Discusses the factors that seem to be significant in the development of visualization skills, and examines gender differences in background and visualization ability for students enrolled in United States, German, and Polish technical universities. Findings indicate significant differences in spatial visualization ability between male and female…

A program of hypnotic suggestion, visualization, and relaxation training was used to help improve the teaching self-confidence of 22 university faculty. Comparison of preprogram, postprogram, and six-month follow-up measures of confidence, including both psychometric and anecdotal reports, found the participants' confidence level had been both…

A study examined whether exemplar-specific or prototype representations were primarily used by 28 children (ages 10-12) with mild mental retardation in a categorization task consisting of two groups of make-believe animals whose features were ill-defined. Results indicated the children were able to acquire and use both types of representations.…

A study of 279 females at the University of Qatar that received the Group Embedded Figure Test (GEFT) indicated no interaction between learning style (field independent FID/FD field dependent) and three visual treatment types. Findings indicate the possibility of designing instructional materials to reduce achievement differences between FID and…

Presents graphic means of representing deductive proofs in a sentential system of symbolic logic. Provides students with performance data following a description of the rule set and the working backwards method. Shows that one interface design is superior to others in respect to working backwards. Draws some general conclusions concerning the…

Focuses on projects funded by the National Science Foundation that illustrate the potential of computers and telecommunications to convey higher-order skills and knowledge. Discusses two projects, ScienceWare and Learning though Collaborative Visualization, as examples of knowledge-networking. Describes three other projects that are centered on…

Focuses on how visual images can help students integrate concepts and synthesize information to make a judgment, thereby guiding the learner toward higher order thinking. Uses geography to demonstrate how, by incorporating visual exercises, student perceptions of difficult concepts are enhanced. (CMK)