Examines the use of query reformulation and particularly the use of relevance feedback by users of the Excite Web search engine. Discusses results that show limited use of query reformulation and relevance feedback; identifies the most common pattern of searching; and discusses implications for Web search system design. (Contains 16 references.)…

The purpose of this research is to simulate the manual process of assigning descriptors to magazine articles by machine, to investigate how successful automated assignment of descriptors to a heterogeneous text collection is when a text classifier is trained based upon a small set of manually classified example texts, and to test performance of…

Proposes a mechanism that carefully integrates human and machine efforts to explore Web users' search interests. The approach consists of a four-step process: extraction of core terms; construction of subject taxonomy; automatic subject categorization of query terms; and observation of users' search interests. Research findings are proved valuable…

This paper presents a characterization of computer-based interactions by which learners can explore and investigate visual mathematical representations (VMRs). VMRs (e.g., geometric structures, graphs, and diagrams) refer to graphical representations that visually encode properties and relationships of mathematical structures and concepts.…

Anticipating a possible future method of multimedia newspaper design and delivery, a study examined the interface among people, modality (paper, computer, multimedia), and three types of news story (news, sports, entertainment). Subjects, 55 undergraduate students enrolled in journalism classes and 20 university library employees considered as…

This paper argues that an important design principle for building expert systems is to represent all control knowledge abstractly and separately from the domain knowledge upon which it operates. Abstract control knowledge is defined as the specifications of when and how a program is to carry out its operations, such as pursuing a goal, focusing,…

The Fishbein and Ajzen model of attitude-behavior consistency was applied to 56 undergraduates learning to use a microcomputer. Two levels of context for this act were compared: the students' beliefs about themselves, and their beliefs about people in general. The results indicated that students' beliefs were good predictors of their behavioral…

A number of variables may affect the ability of students to perceive, and learn from, instructional materials. The objectives of the study presented here were to determine the projected color that provided the best visual acuity for the viewer, and the necessary minimum exposure time for achieving maximum visual acuity. Fifty…

This paper describes a Prolog execution model which serves as the uniform basis of textbook material, video-based teaching material, and an advanced graphical user interface for Prolog programmers. The model, based upon an augmented AND/OR tree representation of Prolog programs, uses an enriched "status box" in place of the traditional…

Prevailing research influenced by cognitive psychology has dealt mainly with the cognitive aspects of the human-­computer interaction (HCI). The advent of computers in schools should prompt educational researchers to scrutinize the affective and social aspects of student-­computer interactions since they play an important role in learning. A…

With emphasis on currently operating and planned systems that assist users in accessing available network services, this report identifies the techniques used in network access devices. By examining these devices, the trend toward improving the interface between the user and the computer is brought more clearly into focus and up to date. One…

The computer is perhaps the most sophisticated tool mankind has yet developed but it has often been misused with man made to serve the tool rather than vice versa. This paper attempts to examine the genesis of this chaos, contrast the present situation with the ideal, and present a reasonable alternative. A humanized data service in education is…

People use a variety of plausible, but uncertain inferences to answer questions about which their knowledge is incomplete. Such inferential thinking and reasoning is being incorporated into the SCHOLAR computer-assisted instruction (CAI) system. Socratic tutorial techniques in CAI systems such as SCHOLAR are described, and examples of their…

The evolution of a self-contained test scoring terminal is presented. The rationale for the design is presented along with an evolutionary description of the requirements for the system. The sequence of software and hardware tools, which were developed in order to build the device, are also described in this report. The resulting device, which…

Presents a model for information retrieval evaluation based on the notion of total relevance, a function derived from the traditional summation of relevance ratings over the documents in a collection. The model makes explicit the perceptual underpinnings of relevance assessments while allowing for consideration of interdocument dependencies. (37…