Ideas about computers in education are usually limited to transactions of a conversational form between students and machines. Computers, however, can do many other things and it is only inertia and prejudice, not lack of ideas, which stand in the way of broadening the range of computer applications in schools. Several examples, over half of which…

Describes a study designed to determine if college students' success in writing computer programs is related to level of cognitive development as described by Piaget, verbal ability, and mathematics reasoning. Regression analysis showed that level of cognitive development, when combined with verbal reasoning, is linearly predictive of programming…

Computer graphics was selected as the means of teaching students to use the computer as a tool to enhance their comprehension of scientific and technical principles. Discusses strategies used and provides examples of student-generated graphics in mathematics, chemistry, physics, and engineering mechanics. (JN)

Describes nine-week computer literacy course offered to seventh graders of the Freeport, Illinois, School District, which teaches students how to operate a computer, input a program, process the program, and identify output. Sample activities involving predicting output, and modifying and writing a program are appended. (EJS)

Some aspects of use of the LOGO programing language are discussed. The ideas focus on the creation of geometric patterns, particularly as viewed from the perspective of a beginner with this language. The material is designed to stimulate individual experimentation and exploration. (MP)

Describes study of undergraduate students that measured four types of attitudes toward computers: (1) computer anxiety; (2) computer confidence; (3) computer liking; and (4) perception of computer usefulness. Independent variables used in the study include gender; keyboard familiarity; prior computer experience; and knowledge of programing, word…

Discusses results of a survey of Virginia's public high schools that was conducted to determine the progress that had been made in integrating computers into the classroom based on the 1984 guidelines released by the Virginia Department of Education. Difficulties with hardware and software, teacher characteristics, and teacher training are…

Presents eight points to emphasize when teaching the concept of place value. Contends that converting numbers from one base to another helps students understand the concept of place value and the importance of context in establishing meaning. Provides a BASIC computer program to make conversions. (MDH)

Teaching of computer programming in elementary and secondary schools has become a very popular activity. The purpose of this paper is to review and analyze the empirical research on the benefits of learning computer programming on students' cognition abilities. The paper focuses on the question: Do the skills of computer programming transfer to…

A meta-analysis was performed to synthesize existing data concerning the effects of computer programing on cognitive outcomes of students. Sixty-five studies were located from three sources, and their quantitative data were transformed into a common scale--Effect Size (ES). The analysis showed that 58 (89%) of the study-weighted ESs were positive…

This paper discusses computers and their potential role in education. The term "byte" is first explained, to emphasize the idea that the use of computers should be implemented one "byte" or step at a time. The reasons for this approach are then outlined. Potential applications in computer usage in educational administration are suggested, computer…

This computer education curriculum is designed specifically for Connecticut's Regional Vocational Technical Schools' grade 9 computer education course. Each of the 24 lessons is expected to cover at least one class period of 50 minutes. Introductory materials include a listing of course goals and objectives, an outline of sequence and scope via…

The LOGO activities of a group of 16 sixth-grade students, representing a full spectrum of ability, are documented with a view of developing ways of capturing the learning possibilities of such an environment. The first group of eight subjects completed 25 closely observed hours, extending over seven weeks, in a LOGO classroom situated in a…

This report details the Scientific Programming Course that is a part of "Project SOUL." The course is intended for underprivileged high school juniors and seniors having an interest in mathematics or science and aspirations to attend college. The report is divided into three sections. In section I, the administration and operation of the…

This manual for supervisory instructors documents the goals, methods, and operation of the BASIC Instructional Program (BIP), an interactive problem-solving laboratory that teaches elementary programming in the BASIC language. The first two sections describe features of BIP that may be of interest to the supervisor, especially the individualized…