Not that many years back, portals were nothing more than splash pages from which users could click on links to navigate a school's web-based resources. Today, however, they are much more: single sign-on gateways that easily enable users to do everything from pay tuition and view transcripts, to purchase parking permits, and sell used books. Still,…

In this article, the author provides technology-based techniques for prewriting invention and drafting that offer students new ways to look at and think about writing topics and tasks. Rather than creating electronic versions of existing paper-and-pencil invention strategies, the author suggests strategies using commonly owned and used computer…

The "quantum efficiency" (QE) is an important property of a light detector. This quantity can be determined in the undergraduate physics laboratory. The experimentally determined QE of a silicon photodiode appeared to be in reasonable agreement with expected values. The experiment confirms the quantum properties of light and seems to be a useful…

Web-based sites such as WebCT/Blackboard are useful for faculty and generally appreciated by students. This article describes the results in a hybrid course of the addition of specialized Web-based software. The intent was to enhance student skills in analysis and critique. Highly structured assignments were graded with Waypoint software,…

Teachable agent is a type of pedagogical agent which instantiates Learning-by-Teaching theory through simulating a "naive" learner in order to motivate students to teach it. This paper discusses the limitation of existing teachable agents and incorporates intrinsic motivation to the agent model to enable teachable agents with initiative…

This article reports on the outcomes from the "e-scape Primary Scientific and Technological Understanding Assessment Project" (2009-2010), which aimed to support primary teachers in developing valid portfolio-based tasks to assess pupils' scientific and technological enquiry skills at age 11. This was part of the wider…

This deliverable reports the technical and research development performed until M36 (January 2009) within tasks T5.2 and T5.4 of WP5 in the KP-Lab project, per the latest Description of Work (DoW) 3.2 [DoW3.2]. The described components are included in the KP-Lab Semantic Web Knowledge Middleware (SWKM) Prototype Release 3.0 software that takes…

In almost all the civil engineering programs in the United States, a student is required to take at least one design course in either steel or reinforced concrete. One of the topics covered in an introductory steel design course is the design of connections. Steel connections play important roles in the integrity of a structure, and many…

A number of educational researchers have developed pedagogical approaches that involve the teacher in discovering and helping to correct misconceptions that students bring to their study of their subject matter. During the last decade, several computer systems have been developed to support teaching and learning using this kind of approach. A…

This paper reports on the implementation of a self-directed learning process in a circuit theory course, incorporating dynamic training elements which were designed on the basis of a cybernetic model of cognitive process management. These elements are centrally linked in a dynamic learning frame, created on the monitor screen, which displays the…

An emerging trend in physical education curriculum has been sparked by the influx of a relatively new technology to the market referred to as Active Gaming or Exergaming. Exergaming has become a new buzzword identified by Popular Science as one of the ten new terms predicted to enter mainstream vocabulary in the next few years. Defined as video…

At schools special learning and programming environments are often used in the field of algorithms. Particularly with regard to computer science lessons in secondary education, they are supposed to help novices to learn the basics of programming. In several parts of Germany (e.g., Bavaria) these fundamentals are taught as early as in the seventh…

In this paper we present a system for automatic correction of errors made by learners of English. The system has two novel aspects. First, machine-learned classifiers trained on large amounts of native data and a very large language model are combined to optimize the precision of suggested corrections. Second, the user can access real-life web…

In order to make optimal educational use of social spaces offered by thousands of international communities in the second generation web applications termed Web 2 or Social Web, ICT competences as well as social skills are needed for both teachers and learners. The paper outlines differences in competence structures of Net Natives (who came of age…

Appropriate educational technologies have the potential to make physics' concepts more accessible through visualization, modeling and multiple representations. Students are engaged in more powerful scientific activities and they are able to perform investigations that would not be possible without the use of technology. This paper presents…