This research examined the change in the perceptions of preservice teachers regarding the use of digital minigames to support middle school level social studies learning. The results of a Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Test for matched pairs revealed that participants' (N = 18) perceptions were positively modified by participation in a series of digital…

Reports on a process which allows active study of mutating the characteristics of a population of organisms. States that the program, written in C, should run on a MS/DOS system with 640K; CGA is required for graphics output. Describes implementation procedures and two examples using the program. (RT)

Representations such as drawings, graphs, and computer simulations, are central to learning and doing science. Furthermore, ongoing success in science learning requires students to build on the representations and associated practices that they are presumed to have learned throughout their schooling career. Without these practices, students have…

In this paper, two emerging learning and teaching methods have been studied: collaboration in concert with algorithm visualization. When visualizations have been employed in collaborative learning, collaboration introduces new challenges for the visualization tools. In addition, new theories are needed to guide the development and research of the…

This paper provides qualitative student-centered research from an online Research Methodology course taught partly within the immersive, 3-D environment of Second Life with fifty-eight graduate psychology students for the purpose of suggesting a constructivist-based instruction model for immersive environments. A qualitative method approach was…

This article explores the simulation of four television quiz shows for students in China studying English as a foreign language (EFL). It discusses the adaptation and implementation of television quiz shows and how the students reacted to them.

Virtual reality (VR) has been demonstrated to offer learning benefits over traditional instructional methods in many technical and occupational areas. However, in the framework of Rogers' innovation diffusion theory, adoption of VR in Career and Technical Education and occupational programs appears to be lagging. This study used experimental…

When Maya Saakvitne's parents sent her for a three-day school field trip two years ago at Nature's Classroom, a camp in western Massachusetts, they did not expect her to come home with a tale of her feet falling asleep after counselors asked her to kneel in the hold of a make-believe slave ship and keep her head down even though some of the other…

Learning to question is essential for determining pathways of conservation and development in southwestern Amazonia during a time of rapid global environmental change. Teaching such an approach in graduate science programs in regional universities can be done using play-acting and simulation exercises. Multiple working hypotheses help students…

We present a simulation tool to aid the study of basic pharmacology principles. By taking advantage of the properties of agent-based modeling, the tool facilitates taking a mechanistic approach to learning basic concepts, in contrast to the traditional empirical methods. Pharmacodynamics is a particular aspect of pharmacology that can benefit from…

At RMIT University, students may now elect to study infectious diseases through a course called Outbreak--The Detection and Control of Infectious Disease. Outbreak was designed to simulate in an online class the effective teamwork required to bring resolution to outbreak crises and enable frameworks for future prevention. The appropriateness of…

This paper presents an exploratory study that created a virtual reality environment (VRE) to stimulate motivation and creativity in imaginative writing at primary school level. The main aim of the study was to investigate if an interactive, semi-immersive virtual reality world could increase motivation and stimulate pupils' imagination in the…

Discusses motives behind development of teaching aids to introduce library science students to online searching, range of such aids the College of Librarianship Wales has developed, and describes a microcomputer package which comprises a computer assisted instruction module to familiarize students with DIALOG and an emulation which allows online…

Describes a kangaroo simulation which can be adapted for use with radio tracking activities for other animals. Outlines procedures and information to help implement the activity. Provides a map of Australia, calculations, and sample kangaroo movement data. (RT)