This reinforcement activity has been used by students from the elementary school level to the graduate school level who possess intermediate level ability in programming Logo. The activity, which consists of writing Logo programs that animate an object, can have several positive effects as it: (1) helps develop problem-solving skills; (2)…

The paper reports observations from a 2-year investigation of teaching/learning processes as they occurred during microcomputer instruction in three special education schools. Factors in the learner and/or learning environment are analyzed for their effects on the development of problem solving strategies. Part 1 reports observations of behavior…

This paper provides guidelines and programming commands for using LogoWriter activity cards in game-writing as a way to develop student programming skills. Suggestions are made for the specific activity cards to use, and solutions are provided for some of the problems that were most frequently encountered by the author's students as they worked on…

The "Think It Through" videodisc and computer program is designed to develop independent thinking skills in intermediate-age hearing impaired students. The program combines a videodisc (visual storage medium) and a microcomputer to present interactive problem solving tasks. (CL)

The changing nature of educational technology in our society provides elementary school teachers and other educators with numerous challenges and problems for the elementary school curriculum. One such challenge is to teach students how to solve problems and utilize the general education they acquire to arrive at realistic solutions. Elementary…

Expert systems are computer programs that solve selected problems by modelling domain-specific behaviors of human experts. These computer programs typically consist of an input/output system that feeds data into the computer and retrieves advice, an inference system using the reasoning and heuristic processes of human experts, and a knowledge…

An analysis of computer literacy curricula around the middle of the 1980s shows a remarkable overall shift away from teaching computing to teaching applications, information handling, and problem-solving. Computer use is no longer viewed as a goal in itself, but is introduced as a powerful means of fulfilling information needs and of facilitating…

This study focuses on the effectiveness of "Solutions Unlimited," a computer software program developed to teach problem solving to middle level students. Fifty-one fourth, fifth, and sixth graders (21 girls and 30 boys) attending a private school in a small mid-west community were the subjects for this experiment; none had received…

The purpose of the study was to survey self-regulation while responding to the addition facts. First graders' performance on microcomputer practice exercises was observed and recorded. Subjects could choose an analytic mode of operation using a symbolic or a finger strategy; or, they could choose a geometric mode of operation using a pictorial or…

The effectiveness of specfic dimensions of adult mediation on preschoolers' self-regulation of a model-consultation strategy was evaluated in a microcomputer-based problem-solving task. Two trained tutors taught 61 children who were pretested and randomly assigned to one of four treatments devised to test two factors of mediation: access and…

The aim of this project was to develop computer programs that will provide training in the use of a strategy for solving word problems in everyday mathematics. The strategy includes (1) classifying the problem by type, according to problem characteristics such as symbols, diagrams, relevant formulas, and arithmetic operations; (2) identifying the…

The research reported in this paper was designed to investigate the hypothesis that computer programming may support the teaching and learning of problem solving, but that to do so, problem solving must be explicitly taught. Three studies involved students in several grades: 4th, 6th, 8th, 11th, and 12th. Findings collectively show that five…

The results of four research studies conducted with subjects ranging in age and ability from elementary to graduate school students demonstrate that Logo programming environments can be instrumental in the development of five particular problem solving strategies: (1) subgoals formation; (2) forward chaining; (3) systematic trial and error; (4)…

Research offers important suggestions concerning science curriculum design, and real-time data collection technology offers great opportunities. This paper discusses how recent increases in understanding the nature of the learner and the process of instruction combined with recent advances in technology might lead to improved science instruction.…

Several directions for potential research efforts in the field of computer-based education (CBE) are discussed. (For the purposes of this paper, CBE is defined as any use of computers to promote learning with no intended inference as to the specific nature or organization of the educational application under discussion.) Efforts should be directed…