The use of media in persuasive messages was investigated in five studies addressing: (1) the effectiveness of realistic media in such messages; (2) interaction of field dependence/independence or hemisphericity with media type in persuasive message delivery; and (3) whether mediated messages should be designed differently for learners with…

Since 1978, the University of Victoria has offered courses to students in British Columbia, using an interactive satellite delivery system. During that time both the system and the course design have become more sophisticated. Principles underlying program design include focusing on the learner and communication with learners, and basing televised…

This symposium includes the following papers: "Software for the Classroom: Issues in the Design of Effective Software Tools" (D. Midian Kurland); "Computers for Composing" (Janet H. Kane); "LOGO Programming and Problem Solving" (Roy D. Pea); "The Computer as Sandcastle" (Jeanne Bamberger); "Learning…

Presents a decision model for planning learner feedback in distance education courses with emphasis on college-level teaching. Knowledge components in information processing models of learning are described, task analysis for learning from text is discussed in terms of comprehension, and criteria for designing learner feedback are examined. (LRW)

This description of an interactive instructional computer program in sentence combining for upper elementary and middle school students begins by summarizing the content of the program, which focuses on the instructional technique in which students are given two or more short simple sentences to combine into one longer, complex and/or compound…

This report is a collection of 11 recent papers by the Human-Machine Interaction Group at the University of California, San Diego. The following papers are included: (1) "Stages and Levels in Human-Machine Interaction," Donald A. Norman; (2) "The Nature of Expertise in UNIX," Stephen W. Draper; (3) "Users in the Real…

This nine-paper collection from a June 1983 Open University (OU) campus workshop in Milton Keynes, England, describes an interactive video project developed for an OU undergraduate course, T252, Introduction to Engineering Materials, and discusses varied aspects of interactive videodisc program development. The following papers are included:…

The instructional effectiveness of using an IBM personal computer with an Electrohome Character projector and a flat screen to display instructional material was analyzed with 89 students enrolled in a course on management information systems at McGill University. The lesson used was an introduction to VisiCalc, an applications software package,…

A media attribute approach was used in a study which hypothesized that compositional syntactic placement may bridge the processing link between the learner's cognitive capacity and the demands of a simple concept attainment task. Compositional syntactic placement refers to the relative horizontal position of the primary symbol or object within a…

This analysis of trends in computer-based instruction (CBI) during the past decade briefly describes evaluation criteria from 1974 and discusses changes in attitudes toward CBI (costs, instructional effectiveness); system selection criteria (graphics, input devices, quantity and quality of software); the CBI marketplace (including transportability…

The MUMEDALA (MUlti-Media Authoring LAnguage) system is an authoring facility that is designed to enable the creation and control of a sophisticated interactive learning environment. This paper presents an overview of the system, its design features, and progress being made towards its realization. Twenty-three references are included. (Author/MBR)

This paper examines the search and selection strategies of teachers when retrieving information on computer assisted learning programs from an online database. A literature review covers cognitive factors in human computer interactions, database query and manipulation, cognitive style, and information searching. Several experiments are reported…

Discusses ways that supercomputers are being used in the manufacturing industry, including the design and production of airplanes and automobiles. Describes problems that need to be solved in the next few years for supercomputers to assume a major role in industry. (TW)

Individual papers discussing various facets of human relationships with interactive computer systems present an analysis of direct manipulation interfaces; discuss notion of conceptual models shared by system and user and propose a design methodology for delivering models to users; and address the intelligibility of systems and importance of…

This monograph is a guide to effective presentation of report data and information from institutional research. The work focuses on several types of presentation: the written report (alternative ways for presenting information, appearance, and the audience); graphic displays or charts (to present words or data in an organized or symbolic fashion;…