The advancement of computer technology used for research is creating the need to change the way classes are taught in higher education. "Bringing Research Tools into the Classroom" has become a major focus of the work of the Office of Educational Innovation and Technology (OEIT) for the Dean of Undergraduate Education (DUE) at the…

Student retention in Computer Science is becoming a serious concern among Educators in many colleges and universities. Most institutions currently face a significant drop in enrollment in Computer Science. A number of different tools and strategies have emerged to address this problem (e.g., BlueJ, Karel Robot, etc.). Although these tools help to…

Less than one half of one percent of all processors manufactured today end up in computers. The rest are embedded in other devices such as automobiles, airplanes, trains, satellites, and nearly every modern electronic device. Developing software for embedded systems requires a greater knowledge of hardware than developing for a typical desktop…

After becoming a podcasting convert, the author talked with other students at colleges and universities across North America about their iPod and MP3 use, their familiarity with podcasting, and how they see podcasting as part of the classroom. As more and more colleges and universities jump on board the podcasting bandwagon, it's vital that…

The Federal Communications Commission is currently considering modifying or eliminating existing media ownership rules. Children's advocates are concerned that any changes to these rules could negatively affect the already limited amount and types of programming available for children. Children Now conducted the first study to examine the…

It is not surprising that the interactivity affects radio and its applications. Besides, after radio began its first broadcasting, new inventions affected its development two ways: 1) the first one was the technological developments of sciences. For instance, the invention of transistors made it possible to create very small radio machines, and…

In a fundamental computer-programming course, such as CSE101, questions about how to evaluate an arithmetic expression are frequently used to check if our students know the rules of precedence. The author uses two of our final examination questions to show that more knowledge of computer science is needed to answer them correctly. Furthermore,…

A popular design in large-scale educational assessments is the balanced incomplete block design. The design assumes that the item pool is split into a set of blocks of items that are assigned to assessment booklets. This paper shows how the technique of 0-1 linear programming can be used to calculate a balanced incomplete block design. Several…

This digest provides an overview of XML (Extensible Markup Language), a markup language used to construct World Wide Web pages. Topics addressed include: (1) definition of a markup language, including comparison of XML with SGML (Standard Generalized Markup Language) and HTML (HyperText Markup Language); (2) how XML works, including sample tags,…

Following a content analysis, 85 children's programs were assigned a pacing index derived from the following criteria: (1) frequency of camera cuts; (2) frequency of related scene changes; (3) frequency of unrelated scene changes; (4) frequency of auditory changes; (5) percentage of active motion; (6) percentage of active talking; and (7)…

Examines factors that may influence future ties between television networks and their affiliate stations. Surveys by mail affiliate general managers for the three commercial networks, asking programming questions and questions about level of loyalty to the networks. Finds that organization factors appear to be more essential in network-affiliate…

Describes Document Style Semantics and Specification Language (DSSSL), an international standard for the formatting and processing of SGML documents. Outlines DSSSL structure as the key to enabling interchange of formatting information in a standardized non-proprietary format, the processing model, areas of standardization, and DSSSL language.…

Finds that stations in smaller television markets devoted less time to news than those in larger markets, and imported a greater proportion of their news content; imported news supplants strictly local news in these markets; and smaller-market stations imported a greater proportion of sensational/human interest news than they originated locally.…

Discusses the need for people with object-oriented (OO) skills, explains benefits of OO in software development, and addresses some of the difficulties in teaching OO. Topics include the evolution of programming languages; differences between OO and traditional approaches; differences from data modeling; and Unified Modeling Language (UML) and…

Describes how to modify old QBASIC programs to run in visual Basic. (NB)