College students learned how to design the roots, stem, and leaves of plants to survive in five different virtual reality environments through an agent-based multimedia educational game. For each student, the agent used personalized speech (e.g., including I and you) or nonpersonalized speech (e.g., 3rd-person monologue), and the game was…

Eighteen undergraduates participated in two consecutive microcomputer simulation sessions, receiving specific information about classroom management between sessions. Among results were a significant increase in mean number of appropriate management responses made to computer-generated student talkouts and a significant decrease in amount of time…

Discusses Simulated State University (SSU), an experimental learning exercise designed to integrate technology and provide a safe forum for students in a second-year internship seminar to act as entry-level professionals. Provides suggestions for implementing SSU in both counseling and student affairs preparation programs. (Author/MKA)

The increased availability of computational modeling software has created opportunities for students to engage in scientific inquiry through constructing computer-based models of scientific phenomena. However, despite the growing trend of integrating technology into science curricula, educators need to understand what aspects of these technologies…

The relationship between educational theories, game design and game development are used to develop models for the creation of complex learning environments. The Game Object Model (GOM), that marries educational theory and game design, forms the basis for the development of the Persona Outlining Model (POM) and the Game Achievement Model (GAM).…

Achieving enrollment goals continues to be a major administrative concern in higher education. Enrollment management can be assisted through the use of computerized planning and forecast models. Although commercially available Markov transition type curve fitting models have been developed and used, a microcomputer-based decision planning model…

Recent theoretical developments in cognitive psychology imply both a need and a possibility for methodological development. In particular, the theory of problem solving proposed by Allen Newell and Herbert A. Simon (1972) provides the rationale for a new empirical method for the processing of think-aloud protocols--trace analysis. A detailed…

In computer-based simulations meant to support learning, students must bring a wide range of relevant knowledge, skills, and abilities to bear jointly as they solve meaningful problems in a learning domain. To function efficiently as an assessment, a simulation system must also be able to evoke and interpret observable evidence about targeted…

A small-scale simulation investigated the impact of making essay topics available to test takers before the test. Results with 11 college students reveal little effect of the prepublished topic. Implications for teacher licensure examinations are discussed with reference to the Praxis Series: Professional Assessments for Beginning Teachers being…

The computer administered alcohol education program, Alcohol 101, is a popular tool for colleges attempting to foster more responsible drinking in college students. The effectiveness of this program in changing attitudes was assessed by measuring the attitudes of students who completed the program as one of the consequences of disciplinary action…

This paper contains the results of a study on the importance of discovery learning using computer simulations. The purpose of the study was to identify what constitutes discovery learning and to assess the effects of instructional support measures. College students were observed working with an assignment and a computer simulation in the domain of…

Software designed to promote the use of open-ended investigations in science education was evaluated in a study of whether using case-based simulation enhances students' understanding of ethical issues and data interpretation in science. The software was a DNA gel electrophoresis simulation that enabled students to conduct simulated genetic tests.…

Efficiency, precision, and concurrent validity of results from adaptive and fixed-item music listening tests were studied using: (1) 2,200 simulated examinees; (2) 204 live examinees; and (3) 172 live examinees. Results support the usefulness of adaptive tests for measuring skills that require aurally produced items. (SLD)

Two sets of real sorting data from 50 college students are used to compare results of multidimensional scaling of raw co-occurrence frequencies or dissimilarity measures (D) and profile distances (delta) to determine which yields a better representation of the underlying structure of 2 sets of stimuli. Slight differences are discussed. (SLD)

This document on contingent student assistance repayment plans in Ontario universities contains a paper on policy options for repayment plans and the manual for a simulation model for testing policy options. The policy options paper begins by describing the contingent repayment concept in which the test for receiving a public subsidy is shifted…