Studies have shown that when learning occurs in an environment that uses animated pedagogical agents and personalized instruction, the learner learns the material more deeply and can recall it easier when compared to learning without an agent. Thus, an effective learning system creates personalized contexts for each learner. The "one size fits…

This dissertation studies information extraction (IE), the problem of extracting structured information from unstructured data. Example IE tasks include extracting person names from news articles, product information from e-commerce Web pages, street addresses from emails, and names of emerging music bands from blogs. IE is all increasingly…

The last twenty-five years has brought increased recognition of the educational rights of individuals with mental retardation and with it, increased programming in the Jewish community to meet their needs. Through the use of hermeneutics, this paper seeks to contribute to the knowledge and understanding of the "halakhic" status and needs of…

Student self-report measures have been reported in numerous studies to assert that the use of case studies in college psychology courses can help students to better understand the relevance of course topics; however, few studies have directly measured the impact of case studies on students' learning. The present study differs from previous studies…

Hypertextbooks for Computer Science contents present an interesting approach to better support learners and integrate algorithm animations into the learning materials. We have developed a prototype for integrating a selection of the functionality of such a hypertextbook into the established Moodle LCMS. This article describes the goals and…

Student attrition and low graduation rates are critical problems in computer science education. Disappointing graduation rates and declining student interest have caught the attention of business leaders, researchers and universities. With weak graduation rates and little interest in scientific computing, many are concerned about the USA's ability…

This study analyzed gender differences in self-regulated learning components, motivational beliefs and achievement in self-regulated online learning environment. Sample of the study consisted of 145 participants from an online programming course which is based on synchronous and asynchronous communication methods over the Internet. Motivated…

Drawing on the experience of development and use of a virtual learning environment (VLE) at a public Mexican university, this article explores the tension between the most common definitions and attributes of learning object (LO) in the mainstream literature, and the teacher's practices around the creation and incorporation of LOs in the VLE. This…

In modern learning environments, the lecturer or educational designer is often confronted with multi-national student cohorts, requiring special consideration regarding language, cultural norms and taboos, religion, and ethics. Through a somewhat provocative example we demonstrate that taking such factors into account can be essential to avoid…

Reading literacy has been a major problem for American students for the past several years. Educators have struggled to find a solution to this problem that will help students while at the same time maintain their interest in the subject matter. Educational video games and other e-learning technologies have made their way into classrooms and homes…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the perceived impact of physical recreation transition programming on individuals with cognitive disabilities and generate strategies for improved transition. Interviews were completed with 17 young adults who were one to three years post graduation. Interviews determined graduate's perception of their…

This paper draws upon the experience of an interdisciplinary research group in engaging undergraduate university students in the design and development of semantic web technologies. A flexible approach to participatory design challenged conventional distinctions between "designer" and "user" and allowed students to play a role…

From 2004-2007, the University of Memphis carried out the NSF-funded Tri-P-LETS (Three P Learning Environment for Teachers and Students) project to improve local high-school computer science curricula. The project reached a total of 58 classrooms in eleven high schools emphasizing problem solving skills, programming concepts as opposed to syntax,…

Traditional teaching styles practiced at universities do not generally suit all students' learning styles. For a variety of reasons, students do not always engage in learning in the courses in which they are enrolled. New methods to create and deliver educational material are available, but these do not always improve learning outcomes.…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to compare the effect of different representations while teaching basic algorithmic concepts to novice programmers. Design/methodology/approach: A learning activity was designed and mediated with two conceptually different learning environments, each one used by a different group. The first group used the…