The computer simulation game "Curve-Fit" is described. Its overall objective is to fit curves to six different data sets by estimating the parameters of each curve. (MNS)

Discusses constructive ways to use microcomputers as educational aids. Areas considered include software packages with graphics capabilities to help students visualize their work, programs fostering skill development (including problem-solving), microcomputer rentals, use of computers to learn programing languages, and others. (JN)

The current organic synthesis program at Harvard University is called the Logic and Heuristics Applied to Synthetic Analysis (LHASA). Discusses this program in detail, focusing on retrosynthetic analysis approach, LHASA hardware, graphical input/perception, strategy control, transform evaluation, and LHASA enhancement. (JN)

The difficulty many students have in solving complex problems stems not from a lack of mathematical skill but from an inability to visualize the problem. An appropriately-structured computer game may assist students in achieving this visualization and in solving problems better. A heuristic approach in programing one game is provided. (Author/JN)

Six teachers who won microcomputers in a contest sponsored by "Instructor" report on their first year with the new machines. Computer programs and related class activities are discussed. (PP)

Computers have been misused in education for several reasons, including lack of high-quality software and of new content or instructional methodology. Examples of misuse include drill and practice and tutorial programs. Appropriate uses include programming, writing, access to databases, and simulations. Computers should complement, not replace,…

The promise of mainframe computers in the 1970s for management information systems (MIS) is largely unfulfilled, and newer office automation systems and data communication systems are designed to be responsive to MIS needs. The status of these innovations is briefly outlined. (MSE)

Discusses use of computer programs in handling such library tasks as cataloging, inventory, and circulation. Reviews several programs and provides a listing of available library software. These include library catalog programs, circulation/overdues programs, and inventory control. (JN)

Provides instructions for interfacing a pH meter directly to an Apple II microcomputer without an analog-to-digital converter. Includes program listing (with enough remark statements to make it self-documenting) in Integer Basic to display the pH readings. (Author/JN)

Reviews an educationally valuable and reasonably well-designed simulation of volcanic activity in an imaginary land. VOLCANOES creates an excellent context for learning information about volcanoes and for developing skills and practicing methods needed to study behavior of volcanoes. (Author/JN)

Describes how the Stillwater (Minnesota) Independent School District uses microcomputers and an adaptation of a widely available software program to compute, during collective bargaining sessions, the costs to the district of proposed compensation packages for teachers and other employees. (RW)

Use of existing computer software within the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS), offering the mechanism for an automatic management information system, is described. A historical database on students, staff, and costs was developed for eight Australian colleges. The system compiles and tabulates a wide range of reports. (MSE)

Discusses various aspects of what is implied by the term "computer literacy," suggesting that competence with computers comes from using computers as machines, as a clerk doing data entry does; as tools, as a manager doing financial analysis does; and as creative instruments, as a writer or professional programer does. (Author/JN)

Contains short descriptions of computer programs or hardware that simulate laboratory instruments or results of kinetics experiments, including ones that include experiment error, numerical simulation, first-order kinetic mechanisms, a game for decisionmaking, and simulated mass spectrophotometers. (CS)

Describes kinds of results achieved by computer programs in artificial intelligence. Topics discussed include heuristic searches, artificial intelligence/psychology, planning program, backward chaining, learning (focusing on Winograd's blocks to explore learning strategies), concept learning, constraint propagation, language understanding…