Describes virtual reality (VR) technology and VR research on education and training. Focuses on immersion as the key added value of VR, analyzes cognitive variables connected to immersion, how it is generated in synthetic environments and its benefits. Discusses value of tracked, immersive visual displays over nonimmersive simulations. Contains 78…

Reports on the use of simulators to provide students with field trips of the future. This technology offers convincing, real-world, first-hand experiences in a small space within a few minutes. Simulators have found their way into museums and science centers around the nation, although they are still too expensive for most school districts. (SM)

Educators who are prepared to make use of CSCL can find themselves restricted in their space for maneuvering regarding educational innovation. As a supportive context can be very important for them, the study presented here describes and analyzes a related case of a Community of Practice (CoP) among tutors contributing to the development and…

In this article, the author describes how teachers, students, and other community members collaborated in the planning and preparation of World Bazaar, a project aimed to immerse elementary students into modern and ancient cultures through reading, writing, researching, using maps, and seeing videos. On the day of the World Bazaar, the courtyard…

The design of a re-usable instructional algorithm for computer based instruction (CBI) is described. The prototype is implemented on IBM PC compatibles running the Windows(TM) graphical environment, using the prototyping tool ToolBook(TM). The algorithm is designed to reduce development and life cycle costs for CBI by providing an authoring…

Meaningful educational activities and cognitive tools might improve students' active involvements in the teaching-learning process and encourage their reflections on the concepts and relations to be investigated. It is claimed that usage of manipulatives not only increase students' conceptual understanding and problem solving skills but also…

Francis Bacon began defining scientific methodology in the early 17th century, and secondary school science classes began to implement science labs in the mid-19th century. By the early 20th century, leading educators were suggesting that science labs be used to develop scientific thinking habits in young students, and at the beginning of the 21st…

Computers are highly sophisticated information-processing tools. They must not become ends in themselves. Computer technology must not be substituted for direct encounters with other humans, for active participation in the free enterprise system, or for cultivating competencies necessary for citizenship. (PP)

This article discusses the feasibility of and the skills needed for teaching basic economic concepts such as supply and demand in an informal learning situation, in this case the simulation of an economic system based on barter. (CJ)

In this article we describe the implementation of an emerging virtual learning environment to teach GIS and spatial sciences to distance education graduate students. We discuss the benefits and constraints of our mixed architecture with the main focus on the innovative hybrid architecture of the virtual GIS computer laboratory. Criteria that were…

Forensics can serve as the perfect vehicle for science exploration and learning. As part of a professional development workshop, teachers participated in various forensic activities. This article describes an archaeological dig simulation that provides the catalyst for an inquiry-based activity. In this activity, teachers make crime scene…

Braking to avoid a collision can be controlled by keeping the deceleration required to stop (i.e., ideal deceleration) in the "safe" region below maximum deceleration, but maximum deceleration is not optically specified and can vary as conditions change. When brake strength was manipulated between participants using a simulated braking task, the…

This work presents a unique education resource for both process engineering students and the industry workforce. The learning environment is based around spherical imagery of real operating plants coupled with interactive embedded activities and content. This Virtual Reality (VR) learning tool has been developed by applying aspects of relevant…

A logical, performer-based approach to teaching psychomotor skills is described. Four phases of surgical psychomotor skills training are identified, using an example from a dental preclinical training curriculum: (1) dental students are acquainted with the postural and positional parameters of balanced psychomotor performances; (2) students learn…

This discussion of whether management games should be used for managerial performance appraisal addresses definitions, features, and purposes of management games; performance appraisal process; and problems with use of management games for appraisal. It is concluded that using management games in education is not compatible with using them for…