A study was carried out at Pennsylvania State University to examine the effects of both textual and computer animated orienting activities--i.e., mediators through which new information is presented to the learner--and practice on the application and problem solving skills of elementary school students. It was hypothesized that students provided…

Factors that distinguish the United States higher education system and its performance are considered, with attention to new developments, propsects for change, undergraduate education, and professional schools (especially law, business, and medicine). The way universities change the methods and content of their teaching in response to new…

A summary is provided of the activities and outcomes of Irvine Valley College's (IVC's) CompuEnglish Project, a program designed to introduce word processing skills in Freshman Composition classes and assess improvements in student writing. First, introductory material describes efforts in computer-based composition undertaken at other schools,…

Executive summaries are provided of a variety of projects undertaken by the Maricopa Community Colleges related to the use of technology, and to the staff and students in the district. Reports are presented for the following activities and plans: (1) Maricopa Community Colleges/Digital Equipment Corporation/Information Associates Partnership, a…

This guide is intended to assist industrial arts/technology education teachers in helping students in grades K-12 understand the impact of computers and computer technology in the world. Discussed in the introductory sections are the ways in which computers have changed the face of business, industry, and education and training; the scope and…

Developed to aid intermediate-level teachers and principals in initiating and developing computer literacy programs for their students, this document is a guide for the development of a one-semester course--Introduction to Computing--for the seventh and eighth grades. The course is designed to provide opportunities for students to develop computer…

Arguing that curriculum developers need to seek a better understanding of existing classroom orders before advising reform through new technology, this paper presents a review of research on the effects of microcomputers on the stabilities of classroom practice and describes a pilot study currently underway at Queens University in Ontario to…

This report presents the results of a survey conducted among all primary and secondary schools in Leicestershire (England) in 1985 to examine the role of microcomputers in schools, and the extent to which their introduction had led to a shift in teaching emphasis toward providing more skill-based curricula (i.e., study skills for life) rather than…

Many reading teachers, cognizant of the creative opportunities for skill development allowed by new reading-writing software, are choosing to use microcomputers in their classrooms full-time. Adventure story creation programs capitalize on reading-writing integration by allowing children, with appropriate assistance, to create their own…

Designed to assist those involved with planning, organizing, and implementing computer use in schools, this checklist can be applied to: (1) assess the present state of instructional computer use in the district; (2) assist with the development of plans or guidelines for computer use; (3) support a start-up phase; and (4) monitor the…

In 1980, Wichita State University received a grant to introduce microcomputers as interactive teaching tools in large science classrooms. Through this grant, 18 faculty in 11 departments developed software modules illustrating concepts that are often difficult to teach by usual lecture methods. To determine whether the use of microcomputers in…

This report focuses on research and development activities related to the 1983-85 Instructional Microcomputer Project for Arkansas Classrooms (IMPAC), under the supervision of the Arkansas Commission on Microcomputer Instruction. The report includes five major sections: (1) research findings that relate to achievement levels in mathematics,…

This study investigated the effects of medium of instruction, task difficulty, and gender on continuing motivation. A total of 139 fifth and sixth graders with previous computer experience completed an initial learning task in one of the two media formats (computer or paper/pencil) and under either a hard or easy difficulty level. Students' choice…

Interactive video, a combination of computer-assisted instruction and video technology, is an important new development in instructional media. Because interactive video has its roots in individualized instruction, it is particulary useful in personalizing instruction by allowing students to proceed at their own pace (one of the tenets of…

This collection of abstracts is part of a continuing series providing information on recent doctoral dissertations. The 28 titles deal with a variety of topics, including the following: (1) the usefulness of peer-shared reading information in primary-grade reading groups; (2) development and evaluation of a sustained silent reading program in…