Carl F. Berger

The Importance of Group Size in the Use of Problem-Solving Skills on a Microcomputer

Sixty-six seventh and eighth grade students were tested to find if group size was related to microcomputer problem-solving success and time to solution of problems. Individuals or groups of two, three or five students attempted to solve problems requiring the indirect linking of twenty clues. The microcomputer was used as a data presentation and recall device for students and a data gathering device for the researchers. The number of problems successfully solved significantly differed based on group size with students in groups scoring best. There were no differences in time to solve problems based on group size but practice significantly decreased problem-solving time for all.

The Design of Software Tools for Meaningful Learning by Experience: Flexibility and Feedback

Experience in using commercially available software to teach students about principles of graphical data analysis suggests that several critical design modifications are advisable. In a quasi-experimental study, three different versions of an original graphing program were used by inner-city high school students solving scientific data analysis problems. A version incorporating “coaching” feedback into a highly flexible interface was found to be significantly superior to either an “open” version giving no extrinsic feedback or a “restrictive” one that disabled program options whose use was deemed inappropriate based on the data analysis context. As an illustration of one of the graph-based critical thinking skills developed by the students, results are presented as contrasting pairs of graphs in which one is designed to emphasize, and the other to downplay, the effects/of interface design, gender, and their interactions.

A model for incorporating learning theories into preservice computer training

thought is lost. Papert also proposes that this type of exploration encourages students to evaluate their work in a new way; they begin to look at their attempts in terms of what needs to be done to make them work, as opposed to the fact that they are wrong. It is hoped that these debugging strategies, and many other cognitive skills, will be transferred to other areas. As yet the research does not clearly indicate that such transfer does in fact take place. In response to critics, Papert (1987) answers that controlled experiments in which a single factor in a complex situation is changed while keeping everything else the same may not be the appropriate method for determining the efficacy of this approach to learning. He also argues that technocentric thinking mistakenly puts the emphasis on technology as opposed to people and the cultural context, resulting in the wrong questions being asked (i.e. What can Logo do? vs What can teachers do with Logo). Concerning research methods presently used to investigate Logo, Papert points out that the results vary based on how the effects are measured. When they are narrowly defined, as by Pea and Kurland (1984), the results are negative; when more broadly defined, as by Clements and Gullo (1984), the results are positive. Whether or not adequate techniques exist at this time to examine complex human behavior is a

Evaluating Microcounseling Training

An evaluation research design was developed as an attempt to provide a more satisfactory approach to microcounseling training program evaluation. Trainee performance was measured three times during a counseling practicum, with microcounseling training occurring between the second and third observations. Trainee performance was compared to a predetermined standard for counselor behavior. Results were analyzed for both the differences between observations, and the degree of similarity to the model. Counseling behavior of trainees after microcounseling training was significantly different from their behavior prior to the training. After training they were more like the standard. The trainees performed less like the standard after some counseling experience, but before receiving microcounseling training.

The Computer as Powerful Tool for Understanding Science

Publisher Summary This chapter focuses on three uses of a computer: microcomputer-based laboratories (MBLs), simulations, and Internet or World Wide Web applications. The MBL couples sensors to measure properties such as temperature, light intensity, and pH to digital analyzers that can display immediate representations in tabular, graphic, and other forms. Thus, the MBL allows a student to collect very large amounts of data that are quickly transformed into graphic representations more compatible to pattern analysis by human inspection. Models of human cognition describe a short-term working memory system with certain characteristics that can determine whether information is stored in long-term memory and how it is stored. The dynamic simulation of physical phenomena is an extremely promising use of the computer environment for science education. The Internet is a worldwide network of thousands of smaller networks, all using a common language that computers use to transfer information to one another. The Internet uses phone lines and modems, digital data lines, and communication satellite systems to link computers together, which is sometimes called the Information Superhighway.