Addresses the problem of benchmarking image browsers. Existence of different search paradigms for image browsers makes it difficult to compare them. Currently, the only admissible evaluation method involves conducting large-scale user studies. An automatic image browser benchmark is proposed that uses structured text annotation of the image…

Discusses the effectiveness of offering science laboratories via distance education. Explains current delivery technologies, including computer simulations, videos, and laboratory kits sent to students; pros and cons of distance labs; the use of spreadsheets; and possibilities for new science education models. (LRW)

This article describes how researchers work with military to create the next generation of training technology. This article also describes the features of Flatworld, a virtual military training technology. Flatworld is one of many projects under development at the Institute for Creative Technologies, a research group that is supported primarily…

For many students macroeconomics is very abstract; it is difficult for them to imagine that the theories are fundamentally about the coordination of human decisions. The author developed a simulation game called Steer the Economy that creates the possibility for students to make the decisions of the firms that are implicit in macroeconomic models.…

In this study, we explore an alternate mode for teaching and learning the dynamic, three-dimensional (3D) relationships that are central to understanding astronomical concepts. To this end, we implemented an innovative undergraduate course in which we used inexpensive computer modeling tools. As the second of a two-paper series, this report…

In this study we investigated the design of assignments by students as a knowledge-generating activity. Students were required to design assignments for 'other students' in a computer simulation environment about electrical circuits. Assignments consisted of a question, alternatives, and feedback on those alternatives. In this way, subjects were…

In the novel noun generalization task, 2 1/2-year-old children display generalized expectations about how solid and nonsolid things are named, extending names for never-before-encountered solids by shape and for never-before-encountered nonsolids by material. This distinction between solids and nonsolids has been interpreted in terms of an…

Simulations currently play a key role in facilitating competency training for incident commanders of the emergency services. The article briefly reviews current practice in incident command training and considers the effectiveness of simulation usage and practice for crisis management more generally.

The purpose of this research was to explore how adult users interact and learn during an interactive computer-based simulation supplemented with brief multimedia explanations of the content. A total of 52 college students interacted with a computer-based simulation of Newton's laws of motion in which they had control over the motion of a simple…

This paper describes a neural model of speech acquisition and production that accounts for a wide range of acoustic, kinematic, and neuroimaging data concerning the control of speech movements. The model is a neural network whose components correspond to regions of the cerebral cortex and cerebellum, including premotor, motor, auditory, and…

A socially optimized learning approach, which integrates diverse theoretical perspectives, places men who have sex with men (MSM) in an interactive virtual environment designed to simulate the emotional, interpersonal, and contextual narrative of an actual sexual encounter while challenging and changing MSM's more automatic patterns of risky…

Anatomy curriculum has changed dramatically around the world since the 1960s. These changes include the reduction of course hours, the abandonment of cadaver dissection, the use of problem-based learning, application of other teaching modalities such as prosected specimens, models, radiographic images, computer simulations, and the introduction of…

Videotape and computer simulation are sophisticated technological applications that have great potential to enhance group work practice. Computer simulation has been harnessed for entertainment and business purposes but has not been adequately utilized for teaching social skills. This article describes strategies for integrating video and computer…

Using task-based exercises that required web searches and online activities, this course introduced non-traditional students to the sights and sounds of the German culture and language and simultaneously to computer technology. Through partner work that required negotiation of the net as well as of the language, these adult beginning German…

This paper describes the use of interactive, Physlet[R]-based curricular material designed to help students learn concepts of thermodynamics with a particular focus on the use of kinetic theory models. These exercises help students visualize ideal gas particle dynamics and engine cycles, make concrete connections between mechanics and…