Medical students face challenging but important topics they must learn in short periods of time, such as autonomic pharmacology. Autonomic pharmacology is difficult in that it requires students to synthesize detailed anatomy, physiology, clinical reasoning, and pharmacology. The subject poses a challenge to learn as it is often introduced early in…

As oil is the fuel of the industrial society, software is the fuel of our current information society. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there will be more demand for computing jobs in the future. By 2024, more than one million computing jobs will be available. Statistics show that there is more demand for computing jobs than there is a…

Nowadays, Web-based learning systems have become popular because they can provide multiple tools, among which hierarchical maps are widely used to support teaching and learning. However, traditional hierarchical maps may let learners easily get lost within large information space. This study proposes an animated hierarchical map to address this…

This study applied storytelling in the English as a foreign language (EFL) classroom in order to promote speaking skills. Students were asked to practice speaking EFL through producing individual and interactive stories with a Web-based multimedia system. We aimed to investigate an effectiveness of applying individual and interactive storytelling…

Animated agents have the potential to increase engagement and learning during online training by acting as personalized tutors. However, little is known about the conditions that make these agents most effective. In this study, 183 e-learners completed a Microsoft Excel training course. Approximately half were assigned an agent with predetermined…

This article summarizes a quantitative study of the effects of animated agents in web-based instruction (WBI) on mathematics achievement and attitudes toward mathematics in postsecondary education. Eighty-one college students who were enrolled in a core mathematic course at a doctoral/research-extensive university in central Alabama participated…

This study examined the impact of animation interactivity on novices' learning of introductory statistics. The interactive animation program used in this study was created with Adobe Flash following Mayer's multimedia design principles as well as Kristof and Satran's interactivity theory. This study was guided by three main questions: 1) Is there…

As graphically driven, animated, interactive applications offer educators new opportunities for shaping course content, new avenues for research arise as well. Along with these developments comes a need to study the effectiveness of the individual tools at our disposal as well as various methods for integrating those tools in a classroom setting.…

Mobile computing facilities may provide many assets to the educational process. Mobile technology provides software access from anywhere and at any time, as well as computer equipment independence. The need for time and place independence is even greater for medical instructors and medical students. Medical instructors are usually doctors that…

This article describes an exploratory study of two Web-based learning environments designed to teach helping skills to human service students. Participants used either an interactive pedagogical agent environment or read a helper-client script. Environments were compared and learning gains were assessed in each of the environments, along with user…

For the thirty-sixth year, the Research and Theory Division of the Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT) is sponsoring the publication of these Proceedings. Papers published in this volume were presented at the annual AECT Convention in Anaheim, California. The Proceedings of AECT's Convention are published in two…

For the twenty-eighth year, the Research and Theory Division of the Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT) is sponsoring the publication of these Proceedings. Papers published in this volume were presented at the National AECT Convention in Orlando, Florida. The Proceedings of AECT's Convention are published in two…