A qualitative study examined perceptions of HIV testing and strategies to enhance HIV testing among HIV-negative African American heterosexual young adults (ages 18-25 years). Twenty-six focus groups (13 male groups, 13 female groups) were conducted in two low-income communities (urban and rural). All sessions were audio-recorded and transcribed.…

We report on a study investigating the relationship between cognitive ability grouping, reflective inquiry scaffolding, and students' collaborative explanations of an ecosystem disturbance which took place when a number of flamingo birds died in a salt lake because of nearby intensive human activities. Twenty-six pairs of students from two intact…

The study documents the extent to which high school teachers reflect on their need to revise and extend their mathematical and practicing knowledge. In this context, teachers worked on a set of tasks as a part of an inquiring community that promoted the use of different computational tools in problem solving approaches. Results indicated that the…

This paper describes an integration of different Relational Database Management System (RDBMS) of two Course Management Systems (CMS) called Sakai and the Common Factory for Inspiration and Value in Education (CFIVE). First, when the service of CMS is provided campus-wide, the problems of user support, CMS operation and customization of CMS are…

Similar to other institutions, the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) has determined that a relationship may exist between student performance as defined by grades, and activity in the campus' online course management system (CMS). Specifically, since Fall 2007, UMBC's "Most Active Blackboard Courses" reports show students…

An argument map visually represents the structure of an argument, outlining its informal logical connections and informing judgments as to its worthiness. Argument mapping can be augmented with dedicated software that aids the mapping process. Empirical evidence suggests that semester-length subjects using argument mapping along with dedicated…

"Accelerated Math" software creates individualized assignments aligned with state standards and national guidelines, scores student work, and generates reports on student progress. The software can be used in conjunction with the existing math curriculum to add practice components and potentially aid teachers in differentiating…

Mobile Learning (M-Learning) is an approach to E-Learning that utilizes mobile devices. Learning Management System (LMS) should enable M-Learning. Unfortunately, M-Learning is not the same at each educational institution. Assessment is one of the learning activities that can be achieved electronically and via mobile device. Mobile assessment…

Many software development firms are now adopting the agile software development method. This method involves the customer at every level of software development, thus reducing the impact of change in the requirement at a later stage. In this article, the principles of the agile method for software development are explored and there is a focus on…

Descriptive statistics and appropriate visual representations of scores are important for all test developers, whether they are experienced testers working on large-scale projects, or novices working on small-scale local tests. Many teachers put in charge of testing projects do not know "why" they are important, however, and are utterly convinced…

Open source software has become a catchword in libraryland. Yet many remain unclear about open source's benefits--or even what it is. So what is open source software (OSS)? It's software that is free in every sense of the word: free to download, free to use, and free to view or modify. Most OSS is distributed on the Web and one doesn't need to…

If a person is on a presentation and he/she does not know how to go back to a previous PowerPoint slide, his/her credibility will be clouded and the audience will become frustrated. More sophisticated presenters use handheld remotes to control the basic navigation of slides. Even in this case, keyboard shortcuts can be an added benefit. For those…

An item model serves as an explicit representation of the variables in an assessment task. An item model includes the "stem", "options", and "auxiliary information". The "stem" is the part of an item which formulates context, content, and/or the question the examinee is required to answer. The "options" contain the alternative answers with one…

Individualized feedback is an important factor in fostering learning. However, it is often not seen in schools because providing it places considerable additional workload on teachers. One way to solve this problem is to employ critiquing systems. These systems, however, require significant development effort before they can be put into use. In…

More than ever, teachers are using digital video to enhance their lessons. In fact, the number of schools using video streaming increased from 30 percent to 45 percent between 2004 and 2006, according to Market Data Retrieval. Why the popularity? For starters, video-streaming products are easy to use. They allow teachers to punctuate lessons with…