The office block program, utilizing a two- or three-hour time block, bridges the gap between high school students' classroom training experiences and their initial office jobs. Some of the instructional strategies include group and individualized instruction, integrated exercises, and simulation, including the model office. (MW)

This paper addresses the numerous ways that computers may be used to enhance the teaching of accounting and business topics. It focuses on the pedagogical use of spreadsheet software to improve the conceptual coverage of accounting principles and practice, increase student understanding by involvement in the solution process, and reduce the amount…

This final report reviews a program of theoretical and empirical research focusing on the ability determinants of individual differences in skill acquisition. An integrative framework for information processing and cognitive ability determinants of skills is presented, along with principles for ability-skill relations. Three major patterns of…

This proposed alternative instruction model is based on the teach-practice-apply (TPA) paradigm. This paradigm provides a structure facilitating change, while ensuring the enhancement of instructional effectiveness. Suggestions are provided that secondary teachers can use in their classrooms. The steps inherent in the use of each teaching strategy…

The Random Normal Scores Test (RNST) has been suggested as a powerful alternative to the use of the parametric analysis of variance (ANOVA) test when the underlying population is non-normally distributed. The major support for this suggestion rests on asymptotic theory. An empirical analysis of the RNST performed under the F and Chi-square…

Computerized adaptive testing procedures (CATPs) based on the graded response method (GRM) of F. Samejima (1969) and the partial credit model (PCM) of G. Masters (1982) were developed and compared. Both programs used maximum likelihood estimation of ability, and item selection was conducted on the basis of information. Two simulated data sets, one…

Factors affecting a lower-bound estimate of internal consistency reliability, Cronbach's coefficient alpha, are explored. Theoretically, coefficient alpha is an estimate of the correlation between two tests drawn at random from a pool of items like the items in the test under consideration. As a practical matter, coefficient alpha can be an index…

Terborg and Ilgen (1975) used attribution theory, equity theory, and sex-role stereotyping to explain the results of an investigation of occupational sex discrimination which found that male management student subjects differentiated in a stereotypical way between men and women in initial and second-year salaries and task assignments. A…

Design of computer circuits used to be a pencil and paper task followed by laboratory tests, but logic circuit design can now be done in half the time as the engineer accesses a program which simulates the behavior of real digital circuits, and does all the wiring and testing on his computer screen. A simulated laboratory in digital logic has been…

This document explains the use of Eliza, a widely known computer program that reacts to the user by simulating the responses of a psychotherapist, as a teaching aid in undergraduate clinical psychology courses. The methods for conducting the exercise, for integrating it into the course syllabus, and for evaluating its impact on students are…

Human behavior shows a variety of serially ordered action sequences. This paper presents a theory of serial order which describes how sequences of actions might be learned and performed. In this theory, parallel interactions across time (coarticulation) and parallel interactions across space (dual-task interference) are viewed as two aspects of a…

This document presents a discussion of the development of a set of software tools to assist in the construction of interfaces to simulations and real-time systems. Presuppositions to the approach to interface design that was used are surveyed, the tools are described, and the conclusions drawn from these experiences in graphical interface design…

This document consists of an interim report and a final report which describe the second and third phases of a project designed to determine the utility and utilization of sophisticated hardware and software capabilities known as advanced instructional features (AIFs). Used with an aircrew training device (ATD), AIFs permit a simulator instructor…

The manual is intended to help elementargy grade students to develop greater awareness and acceptance of individuals with disabilities. Activities are divided into specific disabilities (arranged from least to most difficult to understand): (1) blindness, (2) deafness, (3) physical disabilities, (4) mental retardation, and (5) learning…

This paper addresses the problem of probabilistic reasoning as it applies to Truth Maintenance Systems (TMS). A computer-based Belief Maintenance System (BMS) has been constructed which manages a current set of probabilistic beliefs in much the same way that a TMS manages a set of true/false beliefs. It may be thought of as a generalization of a…