The use of computers in the classroom has been touted as an important innovation in education. This article features some recently developed software for use in teaching psychology and different approaches to classroom computer use. Uses of software packages for psychological research designs are included as are applications and limitations of…

This report describes the development of the Instructional Support System (ISS), a large-scale, computer-based training system that supports both computer-assisted instruction and computer-managed instruction. Written in the Ada programming language, the ISS software package is designed to be machine independent. It is also grouped into functional…

This paper reviews the existing multidimensional item response theory (IRT) models and demonstrates how one of the models can be applied to estimation of abilities from a test measuring more than one dimension. The purposes of this paper were threefold. First, the fundamental concepts required when considering multidimensional models for the…

This paper describes an experiment in using the "scenario," a concept parallel to that of the case study, as a research tool for obtaining information about possible sex discrimination in personnel decisions by high school principals in South Australia. A review of the literature indicated that in spite of legislation aimed at…

Traditionally, the errors-in-variables problem is concerned with the point estimation of the slope of the true scores regression line when the regressor is measured with error, and when no specification error is present. In this paper, the errors-in-variables problem is extended to include specification error. Least squares procedures provide a…

The focus of this booklet is on the use of simulations in secondary school writing classes. After guiding the teacher through five key questions that need to be addressed in the planning and carrying through of each simulation, the booklet presents four simulations. Varying from simple to complex demands, the booklet's simulations include the…

This report summarizes an investigation of the attitudes of elementary students, teachers, and parents toward the use of educational computer games and simulations in a teaching/learning situation. Following a statement of the project purpose and a literature review, the courseware selection process is described. (This process resulted in use of…

The future of educational research with the videodisc is discussed in relation to: (1) recent and planned hardware developments, and (2) research areas where videodisc technology may be appropriate. Examples of some of the different configurations possible among videodisc players, microcomputers, touch screens, and printers are provided. The…

Research efforts to model speech perception in terms of a processing system in which knowledge and processing are distributed over large numbers of highly interactive--but computationally primative--elements are described in this report. After discussing the properties of speech that demand a parallel interactive processing system, the report…

Instructional design considerations involved in using level four videodisc systems when designing simulations are explored. Discussion of the hardware and software system characteristics notes that computer based training offers the features of text, graphics, color, animation, and highlighting techniques, while a videodisc player offers all of…

An increasing number of non-statistical software packages are being written as supplementary instructional materials provided free or at low cost for economics principles textbooks. This paper reviews the software programs currently available as ancillary material to several major texts and compares what is available as a group against what should…

An experimental tool is described for the investigation of the human control behavior for slow responding dynamic systems. The Program for Research on Operator Control in an Experimental Simulated Setting (PROCESS) is a simulation of a dynamic water-alcohol distillation system that can be used in research on operator training. In particular,…

This study investigated the effects on group performance of both the promotion origin of new leaders (from within the group or brought in from the outside) and the reassignment of the former leader (either remaining with or leaving the group). Using the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) moon survival exercise, same-sex groups of…

These instructional materials involve secondary students in simulating a criminal trial concerning teenage drinking. Included are all materials necessary for participation in the 1984 California Mock Trial Competition. Part I of the document describes a hypothetical situation involving a high school senior who faces state felony charges for…

Past research has shown that those in a subordinate (learner) role are more sensitive to how their leaders (teachers) feel about them than are leaders sensitive to their followers. This study was conducted to further investigate this phenomenon by assigning subjects to be either a boss or an employee. Subjects (N=120) interacted in pairs.…