Until the early 1970s, ecologists generally assumed that erratic fluctuations observed in natural populations were a product of stochastic noise. It is now known that extremely complex dynamics can arise from basic deterministic processes. This field of study is generally called chaos theory. Here, a computer program, SLAC (Stability, Limits, And…

The present research examined the relationship between within-occupational congruence and satisfaction, and attempted to integrate hypotheses and findings of prior studies with the conceptual implications of occupational specialty congruence. Correspondence between vocational interests within occupations and specialty choice has shown higher…

By postulating that the random utilities associated with the choice options follow a multivariate normal distribution, Thurstonian models (Thurstone, 1927) provide a straightforward representation of paired comparison data. The use of Monte Carlo Expectation-Maximization (MCEM) algorithms and limited information approaches have been proposed to…

This article, written by a systems librarian at the Monroeville Public Library, discusses a major issue affecting all computer users, security. It indicates that while, staying up-to-date on the latest security issues has become essential for all computer users, it's more critical for network managers who are responsible for securing computer…

Interactive feedback, the most common feedback method for oral performance, cannot be used in activities that do not allow for instructor-student interaction, such as speeches and presentations, where feedback should occur after the performance. The conventional ways of providing post-performance or delayed feedback, however, are neither efficient…

This paper advocates the main ideas of the interactive model of representation of Mark Bickhard and the assimilation/accommodation framework of Jean Piaget, through a rhythm recognition demonstration program. Although completely unsupervised, the program progressively learns to recognize more and more complex rhythms struck on the user's keyboard.…

Winsteps (Rasch Measurement Software and Publications, 2003), as its name implies, is a psychometric program created specifically to compute the step function (Wright & Masters, 1982) for exams carrying partial-credit items. Despite the clarity of the Rasch model (Bond & Fox, 2001) and the availability of rich features in the program, such as the…

The purpose of this article was to extend the research pertaining to the idea of a statistically significant exact replication (SSER) method published recently in the Mid-Western Educational Researcher. The current study continues the idea of SSER and provides researchers with a software program that will calculate easily the SSER value when there…

Software engineering is popularly misconceived as being an upmarket term for programming. In a way, this is akin to characterizing instructional design as the process of creating PowerPoint slides. In both these areas, the construction of systems, whether they are learning or computer systems, is only one part of a systematic process. The most…

In this article, the author addresses the key steps of scanning and illustrates the process with screen shots taken from a Macintosh G4 Powerbook computer running OSX and Adobe Photoshop 7.0. After reviewing scanning procedures, the author describes how to use Photoshop 7.0 to manipulate a scanned image. This activity gives students a good general…

Purchasing software license and service agreements can be daunting for any district. Greg Lindner, director of information and technology services for the Elk Grove Unified School District in California, and Steve Midgley, program manager at the Stupski Foundation, provided several tips on contract negotiation. This article presents the tips…

The web has the potential to offer an environment that can support standardized medical education to students dispersed in time or place and, in the process, respond to reduced availability of patients for practice. This exploratory article describes how we evaluated critical thinking in an online collaborative Problem-based Learning (PBL)…

This paper presents an exploratory study about the development of a structural and measurement model for the technological acceptance (TAM) of a web-based educational tool. The aim consists of measuring not only the use of this tool, but also the external variables with a significant influence in its use for planning future improvements. The tool,…

In the recent past, the proliferation of digitally available content heralded the beginning of serious problems for the business models of publishers. The ease with which content can be accessed, copied and distributed disrupts the control of those whose role has been to manage and profit from the intellectual property rights of content producers.…

At most universities throughout the world Computer Aided Design is taught using commercial programs more suitable for business and industry than for teaching. This led us to write our own design program (GIcad) starting from the best-known standards on the market, but always avoiding unnecessary commands in the first steps of the learning process.…