There has been a rapid increase in the use of technology in university classrooms. Many university classrooms and laboratories include an overhead projection unit, computer, and connections for laptops. More recently, tablet PCs have been investigated as another way to effectively engage students in a classroom environment. This study summarizes…

In this study we report on issues related to the use of color as a third dimension on graphical representations provided to students. We find that a majority of the students sampled have a preconceived color map regarding temperature, with blue indicating low temperatures and red indicating high temperatures. Attempts to transfer this particular…

This paper aims to address the need of increasing student achievement in mathematics using a visual programming language such as Scratch. This visual programming language facilitates creating an environment where students in K-12 education can develop mathematical simulations while learning a visual programming language at the same time.…

Introduction: The purpose of this study is to compare characteristics and features of user supplied tags and search query terms for images on the "Flickr" Website in terms of categories of pictorial meanings and level of term specificity. Method: This study focuses on comparisons between tags and search queries using Shatford's categorization…

This article reports on the first stage of a study that uses Young People as Researchers methodology to investigate the phenomenon of middle-year student disengagement. The study obtains student perspectives on the meanings of engagement and disengagement using a variety of innovative research methods. The first stage of the study focused on a…

From filmstrips to documentaries to Hollywood movies, social studies teachers have a long tradition of using video in the classroom. In fact, some of the earliest films made were purposefully adapted for social studies instruction as photoplays depicting pivotal events in U.S. history. A key difference between digital video and its predecessors is…

Science is frequently a visual endeavor, dependent on direct or indirect observations. Teachers have long employed motion pictures in the science classroom to allow students to make indirect observations, but the capabilities of digital video offer opportunities to engage students in active science learning. Not only can watching a digital video…

College students estimated the weight of adult women from either photographs or a live presentation by a set of models and estimated the calories in 1 of 2 actual meals. The 2 meals had the same items, but 1 had larger portion sizes than the other. The results suggest: (a) Judgments are biased toward transforming the example in question to the…

Purpose: The purpose of this research is to examine stories of and by employees as they implemented a transformative organizational change, involving outsourcing, off-shoring, and the make-over induced by technology. Design/methodology/approach: Three types of data were analyzed--organizational documents, responses to oral and written questions,…

The capabilities of modern photocopy machines have advanced beyond the simple duplication of documents. In addition to the standard functions of copying, collating, and stapling, such machines can be a part of telecommunication networks and provide printing, scanning, faxing, and e-mailing functions. No longer just copy machines, these devices are…

Our study critically examines social and environmental messages in a range of visual sites educating about rainforest environments. We focus primarily on the Rainforest Cafe, an international series of rainforest-themed edutainment restaurant/stores, whose inherent contradictions between consumption and conservation are quite disturbing when…

The use of multimedia graphic organizer software and how it influenced the prewriting process for primary school children were evaluated. An analysis of writing samples generated by second-grade students with diverse writing abilities was carried out. Students were given two opportunities to participate in prewriting activities--one without and…

The authors investigated business faculty members' degree of Power-Point (PPT) use across different functional areas in a business program and their use of specific PPT features. The authors also examined students' perceptions of PPT's effectiveness across different business courses (e.g., accounting, economics, management, business law,…

Three-dimensional visualization is helpful in understanding soils, and three dimensional (3-D) tools are gaining popularity in teaching earth sciences. Those tools are still somewhat underused in soil science, yet soil properties such as texture, color, and organic carbon content vary both vertically and horizontally across the landscape. These…

It can reasonably be said that the discussion board is the "heart" of an online course. The discussion board can and should help the learner to make meaning of the content or topic and to find relevance to their lives. When this "engagement" does not occur, the individual does not benefit from the discussion, and it becomes…