Evaluators of software for education must make a series of decisions about which issues have a direct impact on their choice of software. Instructional context analysis is the first step, including identifying the learners, the instructor, the learning environment, and technical needs and limitations. The next step is instructional goal analysis;…

Testbanking provides teachers with an effective, low-cost, time-saving opportunity to improve the testing aspect of their classes. Testbanking, which involves the use of a testbank program and a computer, allows teachers to develop and generate tests and test-forms with a minimum of effort. Teachers who test using true and false, multiple choice,…

Contains ratings of two software packages for Apple II computers: "Acid-Base Titrations, CHM311A" and "Chemical Principles for the Introductory Laboratory, CHM 384A." Both are aimed at high school and college chemistry and are rated on ease of use, subject matter content, pedagogic value, and student reaction. (CW)

The education of students in the techniques of critical appraisal of drug studies has been identified as a deficiency in many health sciences curricula. Errors in research design and inconsistencies in the reporting of study results persist in professional pharmacy and medical journals. Thus, thorough and accurate review and interpretation of…

Reviews four organic chemistry computer programs and three books. Software includes: (1) NMR Simulator 7--for IBM or Macintosh, (2) Nucleic Acid Structure and Synthesis--for IBM, (3) Molecular Design Editor--for Apple II, and (4) Synthetic Adventure--for Apple II and IBM. Book topics include physical chemistry, polymer pioneers, and the basics of…

Reviews three software packages: (1) "The Weather Machine Courseware Kit" for grades 7-12; (2) "Exploring Measurement, Time, and Money--Level I," for primary level mathematics; and (3) "Professor DOS with SmartGuide for DOS" providing an extensive tutorial covering DOS 2.1 to 4.0. Discusses the strengths and…

When integrated appropriately into the curriculum, technology can support the achievement of specific learning outcomes. To help newcomers to technology, the paper lists professional journals, technology organizations, and quality software and multimedia catalogs and presents a list of strategies teachers can use to evaluate whether technology can…

Discusses formative evaluation of courseware and describes a study of undergraduates that compared the effects of two methods of formative evaluation on the revision of a computer-assisted instruction (CAI) program written in HyperCard. Use of the one-to-one method and the small group method of evaluation are explained, and posttest scores are…

Examines and compares five available computer programs intended for self-instruction in Italian, focusing on their attention to learning strategies and personalized learning pace. Content, format, and other features of each are noted. General issues discussed include overall organization, cultural content, sequencing, exercise types, and ancillary…

The increased use of constructed-response items, like essays, creates a need for tools to score these responses automatically in part or as a whole. This study explores one approach to analyzing essay-length natural language constructed-responses. A decision model for scoring essays was developed and evaluated. The decision model uses…

The central objective of factor analysis is to explain the greatest amount of variance in a data set with the smallest number of factors. Higher-order analysis is an invaluable tool that offers the benefit of parsimony provided by first-order analysis with the opportunity to make data-based generalizations beyond the first-order. Higher-order…

The monthly newsletter of the National AppleWorks Users Group (NAUG), "The AppleWorks Forum," serves as a clearinghouse for user-discovered applications and work-arounds. This article presents 10 of the most popular suggested applications for the program, including the development and use of word processing templates, the installation of…

The advancement of microcomputer technology has reached the point where color monitors and color computer software are fast becoming the norm in our information society. Color is another channel for communication, and can be used for enhancement of both aesthetic characteristics and productivity. The advantage to the use of color for communication…

The paper examines the applications of microcomputers to recreation programing for blind persons. The accessibility of microcomputers to this population is discussed, and the advantages as well as disadvantages of speech synthesis equipment are noted. Information is presented on the modification of hardware for Radio Shack and Apple computers.…

The number of educational software packages on today's market is growing steadily. A large percentage of them are found to be of poor quality in terms of instructional and/or technical design. Arguing that a microcomputer in the classroom is only as effective as the software used with it, the first part of this digest provides an overview of the…