Describes the McKenna Information Center's application of BRS/SEARCH, information retrieval software, as part of its services to Kennmetal Inc., its parent company. Features and uses of the software, including commands, custom searching, menu-driven interfaces, preparing reports, and designing databases are covered. Nine examples of software…

Examples of subroutines that generate both symbolic and graphic solutions to differential equations are presented for the two computer algebra systems, MAPLE and Mathematica. Included are the listings for the Mathematica procedures developed for use in this article. (JJK)

Compared the grade level difficulty obtained from seven readability formulas to student reading levels from two national standardized tests to determine which formulas best determined the readability of computer-based text. Found that the Flesch-Kincaid, FOG, and ARI formulas provided the best estimate of reading grade level of computer-based text…

Describes Accelerated Reader (AR), a computer software program that promotes reading; discusses AR hardware requirements; explains how it is used for book selection and testing in schools; assesses the program's strengths and weaknesses; and describes how Grant and Madison Elementary Schools (Muscatine, Iowa) have used the program effectively.…

Assessed 32 kindergartners' prior knowledge of left and right, then exposed experimental group to software program "Jellybean Hunt" from Edmark Corporation's "Trudy's Time and Place House." Found that students exposed to the software significantly increased their scores on the posttest measure of their understanding of the…

Urges teachers of gifted students to allow students unstructured recreational computer time in the classroom to encourage student exploration and discovery, to promote creativity, to develop problem-solving skills, and to allow time to revisit programs and complete their own tasks. Different types of educational computer programs are referenced.…

Reviews a commercial software package that was originally developed for English but can be adapted for use in Japanese. The approach here is the adaptation of a generic program to a specific instructional context, with the attendant benefits and limitations. (Author/JL)

Examines issues and decision-making involved in restricting Internet access in libraries, for the most part favoring filtering devices. Questions to consider when selecting a filtering program are provided. Some of the better filtering programs are described, and Web addresses are included for each. Security risks associated with Java and…

Outlines the types of educational software available for science teaching and how it can help both teachers and learners of science. Presents a summary of the possible benefits of using information technology in science education as put forward in various research reports and views of practicing teachers on the factors affecting the usefulness of…

Identifies critical questions with respect to the evaluation process in the design, development and use of courseware. Argues that certain fundamental difficulties in quantifying and judging effectiveness and learning outcomes might lead one to abandon formal evaluation; awareness of those difficulties is important for developers and teachers…

Provides a conceptual framework for evaluating Automated Instructional Design (AID) and Computer-Assisted Instruction (CAI) systems. Evaluation systems including personal, pedagogical, product-oriented, user-oriented, and context-oriented methods are discussed. Figures representing components of the evaluation process are presented. (Contains 25…

Undergraduate students used an intelligent collaborative learning system with the Jigsaw method of cooperative learning, and were monitored by the group leader as they developed algorithmic projects. The system components and operation are described. Students thought that the system, although slow, was easy to use and useful for collaborative…

Development and piloting of an interactive multimedia package, designed for incorporation into introductory accounting education at James Cook University (Australia) are described. The module includes four sessions, equivalent to one semester's curriculum. The materials were tested with students, faculty, and practitioners to determine their…

Describes the demonstration of DYASIM, a program that performs various statistical computations to assess the degree of similarity of dyadic data, in classroom settings to illustrate the conceptual difficulties associated with measuring dyadic similarity. Presents the demonstration within the context of the similarity-complimentarity debate on…

Examines Listserv, a package for distributing email to a group of subscribers for the purpose of discussion. Notes the popularity of listservs among teachers and scholars in computers and composition. Suggests few users are aware of constraints the software places on the rhetorical situation. Explains how a Listserv is configured, decisions list…