The number of students entering engineering schools in Australian universities has increased tremendously over the last few years because of the Australian Federal Government's policy of increasing the participation rates of Higher School Certificate students and students from low social economic status backgrounds in the tertiary sector. They now…

In the last two decades, there has been a proliferation of Web-based course-management systems designed to facilitate postsecondary teaching (for example, WebCT, Blackboard, Desire2Learn, Moodle). In general, these systems provide analogs for delivering lectures, holding class discussions, giving quizzes and examinations (typically multiple…

Learning environments aim to deliver efficacious instruction, but rarely take into consideration the motivational factors involved in the learning process. However, motivational aspects like engagement play an important role in effective learning-engaged learners gain more. E-Learning systems could be improved by tracking students' disengagement…

This article presents key steps in the design and analysis of a computer based problem-solving assessment featuring interactive tasks. The purpose of the assessment is to support targeted instruction for students by diagnosing strengths and weaknesses at different stages of problem-solving. The first focus of this article is the task piloting…

With rapid advances in the development of information technology, information access has become central to life in the 21st century. In recent years, the development of useful learning-assistance systems has become a popular topic in literature. Learners can benefit from guidance provided by a tool that assists learning when a student has trouble…

Adaptive Educational Hypermedia Systems provide personalized educational content to learners. However most of them do not support the functionality of Learning Management Systems (LMS) and the reusability of their courses is hard work. On the other hand some LMS support SCORM specifications but do not provide adaptive features. This article…

To correctly evaluate learners' knowledge, it is important to administer tests composed of good quality question items. By the term "quality" we intend the potential of an item in effectively discriminating between skilled and untrained students and in obtaining tutor's desired difficulty level. This article presents a rule-based e-testing system…

Effective literacy teachers share a variety of instructional traits such as the ability to kidwatch, pedagogically reflect, and make informed decisions based on ill-structured and complex data. Teacher educators face the challenge of helping preservice teachers develop such traits so as to prepare them to be successful literacy teachers. One…

This paper discusses modalities of meaningful use of multimedia sources in Computer Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) theory and the design of CSCL software tools. A discussion about main similarities and differences between the concepts of networking, coordination, cooperation, and collaboration is presented at the beginning. These concepts…

Colleges and universities have increasingly invested in specialized software and hardware designed to enhance and facilitate the instructional process for faculty and students. One type of technological assistance is commonly known as course management software (CMS). Once learned, these CMS packages can greatly enhance and enrich the classroom…

Writing researchers have developed various methods for investigating the writing process since the 1970s. The early 1980s saw the occurrence of the real-time computer-aided study of the writing process that relies on the protocols generated by recording the computer screen activities as writers compose using the word processor. This article…

Course management systems (CMSs) are software systems designed to manage course content and course activities. These tools integrate technological and pedagogical features into a web-based system that allows instructors, even those who are unfamiliar with web-based technologies, to design, deliver, and manage an online course. However, CMSs have…

The article describes how computer-managed learning (CML) for both on-campus and off-campus students was successfully introduced into a tertiary educational institution in conjunction with an organizational development (OD) strategy. (Author)

Discusses the results of a comparative study of elementary school students based on Cognitive Evaluation Theory that provides evidence that the use of computer-managed instructional feedback can have a positive effect on student motivation and achievement. Use of the Children's Academic Intrinsic Motivation Inventory is explained. (Author/LRW)

This article provides criteria for evaluating computer hardware and software, describes six physical fitness software programs adaptable to the physical education setting, and suggests new ideas for future use of computers in physical education. (IAH)