A survey of students and instructors in the Physiology Department of London University showed that students preferred lectures to acquire information needed to pass examinations. Instructors had positive attitudes toward using computers, but none used the programs written in accordance with their expressed aims of teaching to improve student…

A brief look at a technology to integrate media and objectives by cataloging and retrieving materials by computer. (Author/HB)

Discusses graphical user interfaces used for instructional purposes in educational environments, which promote learning goals, and in support environments, which promote performance goals. Explains three key principles of perception and gives guidelines for their use, including the figure/ground principle, the hierarchy principle, and the gestalt…

An experiment attempted to study the effects of a computer managed instructional program on the anxiety level of the teacher education students enrolled in a course on educational psychology. (JY)

Offers guidelines for designing computer-based testing which demands high-level cognitive functioning of students using computer-assisted instruction as a learning mode. Examples of conceptual, principle, and procedural learning evaluation approaches, strengths and weaknesses within the formats described, and suggestions for improving the…

Questions the effects of training on the confidence people have in their ability to perform newly-learned tasks. Factors that affect confidence and measurement of confidence are discussed, and examples are given of ways in which training might intentionally try to increase confidence. (MBR)

Discusses instructional design and describes the development of a support system for course design called AGD (French acronym for Didactic Engineering Workbench). Highlights include categories of computer tools that support course design, including computer-assisted instruction, instructional design expert systems, and job aids; knowledge modeling…

Expands on constructivist theories that were discussed in an earlier issue. Highlights include cognitive flexible theory; multiple knowledge representations; prespecification of knowledge; teaching content versus skill; and cognitive flexibility hypertexts (CFHs), including the kinds of knowledge domains for which they should be used and the…

Presents ideas and issues to consider when thinking about the opportunities and choices involved in using learning technologies. Discusses technology impact issues, teaching applications, and institutional issues. Lists characteristics that make technology/technology use "feel elegant." Also addresses key teaching tasks. (AEF)

Questions the use of computers in children's education, focusing on the depth of processing involved in the management of information received through mass media and the relation between the person and the environment and the effects of mediated experience. Suggests we need to question when we should use computers for which goals and objectives.…

Delineates the differences between simulators and training devices, and discusses the possibility of inadequate training when simulators are used as training devices. Guidelines for appropriate training device development using a behavioral learning approach are presented. (13 references) (CLB)

Describes the development of educational computer software called scenario software that was designed to incorporate advances in cognitive, affective, and physiological research. Instructional methods are outlined; the need to change from didactic methods to discovery learning is explained; and scenario software design features are discussed. (24…

A brief review of shortcomings of commercially available computer assisted instruction (CAI) programs, is followed by a description of Wordsworth II, a sophisticated interactive CAI program written at Michigan Technological University for teaching English composition. Criteria met by each of the program's eight process-based modules are discussed…

Defines thematic teaching, also known as interdisciplinary or authentic instruction, as representing cross-disciplinary programs which integrate cognitive, affective, and psychomotor outcomes. Highlights include integrating thematic teaching into elementary school classrooms, cognitive and social learning theories, motivation, cooperative…