The Aging Game, a simulation activity, has been used successfully with medical students in the development of empathetic attitudes toward older adults. To date, the Aging Game has not been used extensively with allied health students. It has been viewed as too costly, time-consuming and labor-intensive. The purpose of this study was to examine the…

Schools of education struggle to provide future teachers with opportunities to engage in and practice parent-teacher conferences. This manuscript addresses the diffusion of a signature pedagogy from medical education to teacher education, specifically highlighting the design and implementation considerations surrounding simulated parent-teacher…

The relationship between working memory, intelligence and problem-solving is explored. Wittmann and Suss [Wittmann, W.W., & Suss, H.M. (1999). Investigating the paths between working memory, intelligence, knowledge, and complex problem-solving performances via Brunswik symmetry. In P.L. Ackerman, R.D. Roberts (Ed.), "Learning and individual…

Data analysis plays a prominent role in various facets of modern life: Schools evaluate and revise programs on the basis of test scores; policymakers make decisions on the basis of information gleaned from polling data; supermarkets stock shelves on the basis of data collected at checkout lanes. Data analysis provides teachers with new tools and…

Recent work has shown that multidimensionally scoring responses from different tests can provide better ability estimates. For educational assessment data, applications of this approach have been limited to binary scores. Of the different variants, the de la Torre and Patz model is considered more general because implementing the scoring procedure…

Similar manifestations of functional decline in ageing and Alzheimer's disease obscure differences in the underlying cognitive mechanisms of impairment. We sought to examine the contributions of top-down attentional and bottom-up perceptual factors to visual self-movement processing in ageing and Alzheimer's disease. We administered a novel…

In this article, the author provides an overview of Second Life[trademark], or simply SL, which was developed at Linden Lab, a San Francisco-based corporation. SL is an online society within a threee-dimensional virtual world entirely built and owned by its residents, where they can explore, build, socialize and participate in their own economy.…

An article this author wrote about avatar harassment and assault in Second Life (SL) inspired a considerable response after it was published. Perhaps the most notable reply was from Linden Lab, the company that created the virtual-reality world. In his initial essay ("The Chronicle of Higher Education," September 14, 2007; "The Education Digest,"…

For those with a vested interest in online technologies for learning, the knowledge and skills that constitute successful participation in massively multiplayer online games (MMOs) places these games squarely among the most promising new digital technologies to date. In this article, the author broadly outlines the qualitative results of a two and…

To function effectively as a learning environment, a simulation system must present learners with situations in which they use relevant knowledge, skills, and abilities. To function effectively as an assessment, such a system must additionally be able to evoke and interpret observable evidence about targeted knowledge in a manner that is…

Gives examples, descriptions, and uses for various types of simulation systems, including the Flowtran, Process, Aspen Plus, Design II, GPSS, Simula, and Simscript. Explains similarities in simulators, terminology, and a batch chemical process. Tables and diagrams are included. (RT)

Reports on a process which allows active study of mutating the characteristics of a population of organisms. States that the program, written in C, should run on a MS/DOS system with 640K; CGA is required for graphics output. Describes implementation procedures and two examples using the program. (RT)

Traces the evolution of the Curry Teaching Simulations and their impact on preservice and experienced teachers during the past 16 years. Highlights include versatility in software; navigation; pedagogical assumptions, including transfer of learning; and research on training skills and on teaching patterns. (Author/LRW)

Describes an activity to solve an applied problem using a random-number-based simulation. Provides objectives, prerequisites, directions, extensions, answers, a computer program, and worksheets for the activity. Six references are listed. (YP)

Provides a brief overview of the history, research, and theory related to play. Research from education, psychology, and anthropology suggests that play is a powerful mediator for lifelong learning, and the design of hybrid learning environments is suggested based on the constructivist concept of microworlds and supported with games and…