Considers the effects of simulation games on student motivation, concept development, attitudes, values, social skills, and classroom conditions and organization. The conclusion is that simulation is a useful technique which can contribute to the achievement of some of the objectives of geographical education. For journal availability, see SO 505…

This paper aligns with educators and historians who argue that certain aspects of expert historical thinking are excellent tools for democratic citizenship. The paper focuses on specifically contextualized understanding of the past, as opposed to presentist attitudes, which assume the past is just like the present. It presents a framework for…

In studies of change in education and numerous other fields, interest often centers on how differences in the status of individuals at the start of a time period of substantive interest relate to differences in subsequent change. This report presents a fully Bayesian approach to estimating three-level hierarchical models in which latent variable…

The Global University System (GUS) [Utsumi, et al, 2003] is a worldwide initiative to create advanced telecommunications infrastructure for access to educational resources across national and cultural boundaries for global peace. GUS aims to create a worldwide consortium of universities to provide the underdeveloped world with access to 21st…

"Stratagem" is an abstract simulation of international conflict. The player controls a country in a specific historical period and uses its resources to accomplish certain objectives. Victory points are earned by reaching these objectives. The player with the most victory points at the end of the game wins. The game is designed for…

When running out of time on a multiple-choice test such as the Law School Admission Test (LSAT), some test takers are likely to respond rapidly to the remaining unanswered items in an attempt to get some items right by chance. Because these responses will tend to be incorrect, the presence of rapid-guessing behavior could cause these items to…

eLearning has been heralded as a transforming influence on education and corporate training. Despite such rhetoric, the exploitation of eLearning has been slower than anticipated. We examine the future of eLearning by adopting a scenario planning approach. Our conclusions suggest the scenarios have been a valuable starting point in engaging in a…

Score comparability is important to those who take tests and those who use them. One important concept related to test score comparability is that of "equity," which is defined as existing when examinees are indifferent as to which of two alternate forms of a test they would prefer to take. By their nature, computerized adaptive tests…

This study explores the relative merits of a potentially useful item response theory (IRT) linking design: using a single set of anchor items with fixed common item parameters (FCIP) during the calibration process. An empirical study was conducted to investigate the appropriateness of this linking design using 6 groups of students taking 6 forms…

This simulation allows students to learn about the struggle of daily life in Plymouth Colony. Students experience the hardships of life in the New World as they make decisions and face consequences as the Pilgrims did nearly 400 years ago. The unit is divided into nine phases with each phase taking approximately one hour of class time. Students…

A discussion of drama as a method for second language instruction looks at rationale, requirements, techniques, and classroom procedures. The first chapter examines the connections between drama and language learning, and proposes that drama can be useful with any teaching style. Issues discussed here include encouragement of pupil talk, support…

This policy brief describes the components of a computer model to compare different financing approaches for universal early care and education programs as developed by the Financing Universal Early Care and Education (ECE) for America's Children Project. The brief also discusses lessons learned from analyzing key features of existing…

This study examined a civil engineering capstone course that embedded a sophisticated simulation-based task within instruction. Students (n=28) were required to conduct a hazardous waste site investigation using simulation software designed specifically for the course (Interactive Site Investigation Software) (ISIS). The software simulated…

Games and digital-based games and simulations are slowly becoming an accepted learning strategy. Public school teachers, college professors, corporate trainers, and military trainers are embracing games as an effective means of motivating learners and teaching complex concepts. Popular games include action games, adventure games,arcade games,…

Structural equation modeling (SEM) attempts to remove the negative influence of measurement error and allows for investigation of relationships at the level of the underlying constructs of interest. SEM has been regarded as a "large sample" technique since its inception. Recent developments in SEM, some of which are currently available…