Tim O'Shea

Effective sounds in complex systems: the ARKOLA simulation

We designed an ecology of auditory icons which worked together to convey information about a complex, demanding simulation task, and observed users collaborating on it with and without sound. Our observations suggest that audio cues can provide useful information about processes and problems, and support the perceptual integration of a number of separate processes into one complex one. In addition, they can smooth the transition between division of labour and collaboration by providing a new dimension of reference. These results suggest that auditory icons can play a significant role in future multiprocessing and collaborative systems.

The black box inside the glass box

Simplicity and visibility are two important characteristics of programming languages for novices. Novices start programming with very little idea of the properties of the notional machine implied by the language they are learning. To help them learn these properties, the notional machine should be simple. That is, it should consist of a small number of parts that interact in ways that can be easily understood, possibly by analogy to other mechanisms with which the novice is more familiar. A notional machine is the idealized model of the computer implied by the constructs of the programming language. Visibility is concerned with methods for viewing selected parts and processes of this notional machine in action. We introduce the term “commentary” which is the systems dynamic characterization of the notional machine, expressed in either text or pictures on the users terminal. We examine the simplicity and visibility of three systems, each designed to provide programming experience to different populations of novices.

New Directions in Educational Technology

This book is based on the workshop that kickstarted the NATO Science Committee Special Programme on Advanced Educational Technology. The book covers all the major themes in the area ranging from fundamental theoreticalwork to empirical studies of state-of-the-art technological innovations. Topics covered include: instructional systems and instructional theory, a design science of education, task-specific theories of learning, computers in teaching and learning, new directions in educational technology, the coevolution of technology and the educational environment, intelligent tutoring systems that teach knowledge rather than skills, hypertext for learning, technology for distance education, tools for scientific thinking, constructing student knowledge in science, technology in the context of the English school system, research in advanced educational technology, tutors for programming,problem solving and explanation in intelligent tutoring systems, mental models and understanding, and a Microworld-based approach to science education.

Errors in children's subtraction

Many of the errors that occur in childrens subtraction are due to the use of incorrect strategies rather than to the incorrect recall of number facts. A production system is presented for performing written subtraction which is consistent with an earlier analysis of the nature of such a cognitive skill. Most of the incorrect strategies used by schoolchildren can be accounted for in a principled way by simple changes in the production system, such as the omission of individual rules or the inclusion of rules appropriate to other arithmetical tasks. The production system model is evaluated against a corpus of over 1500 subtraction problems done by 10-year olds and is shown to account for about two-thirds of the (nonnumber fact) errors. It also provides an alternative, simpler interpretation of the subtraction errors analysed by Brown and Burton (1978) . Some implications for teaching are discussed.

Computer attitudes in an English secondary school

Abstract Recent research has shown that there are consistent differences between males and females and between students and teachers in their attitudes towards computers. Specifically they reveal that there are likely to be gender differences with male students having more favourable attitudes towards computers than female students but that those differences are unlikely to be mirrored in the school teaching staff. Research has also shown that students are likely to have more favourable attitudes to computers than the staff. The present paper is an attempt to find out to what extent these findings apply to the staff and first year students in an English secondary school. Both groups were given a computer attitude questionnaire based on previously published scales [1–3]. The results are in line with the findings of previous research and are discussed in terms of their likely impact on an ongoing study into the introduction of high access to computers in the school.

Using concept sorting and concept mapping in business and public administration, and in education: an overview

Summary On the basis of a wide‐ranging literature search, this paper reviews and compares the use of concept sorting and concept mapping in business and public administration, and in education. Usage in education is distinguished by stress on the nature of relationships between concepts and the variety of uses to which concept mapping is applied. In contrast, usage in business and public administration is concentrated on group decision‐making and planning. In education concept sorting and mapping are used for assessment and evaluation, for enhancing of learning, as well as for decision‐making and planning. Use of concept maps in education is further distinguished by stress on the processes involved, on the nature of the relationships between concepts, and is subject to more critical evaluation and, in some measure, is grounded in learning theory.

Design of a computer‐augmented curriculum for mechanics

This paper describes the design and development of a set of teaching materials for the teaching of a topic on mechanics (as part of the research carried out for the ‘Conceptual Change in Science’ project). The ‘curriculum’ comprises a series of interactive computer simulations of force and motion, a number of closely related practical activities and associated written materials. The aim of the materials was to promote change in learners’ understandings of physical phenomena, by first making them aware of the limitations of their current conceptions, and then by enabling learners to develop and use a conceptual framework which both fits with their experience and is internally consistent.

A classroom intervention using a computer‐augmented curriculum for mechanics

A set of teaching materials was developed for the teaching of mechanics, as part of the research carried out for the ‘Conceptual Change in Science’ project. These incorporated a series of interactive computer simulations, associated written materials and a number of practical activities; their aim was to promote change in learners’ conceptual understandings of natural physical phenomena. The materials were described in the preceding issue of this journal (Hennessy et al. 1993). This paper presents the results of an empirical evaluation undertaken over a seven‐week period with a class of 29 12‐ to 13‐year‐olds. The intervention was found to promote conceptual change, in that the children displayed more sophisticated reasoning at immediate and delayed post‐tests than their counterparts in comparison classes. Specifically, explanations asserting that motion implies a force in the same direction and those excluding friction as a force opposing motion were significantly less prevalent. An interesting phenomeno...

The design of a rule-based CAI tutorial

Abstract Rule-based systems are a development associated with recent research in artificial intelligence (AI). These systems express their decision-making criteria as sets of production rules, which are declarative statements relating various system states to program actions. For computer-assisted instruction (CAI) programs, system states are defined in terms of a task analysis and student model, and actions take the form of the different teaching operations that the program can perform. These components are related by a set of means-ends guidance rules that determine what the program will do next for any given state. The paper presents the design of a CAI course employing a rule-based tutorial strategy. This design has not undergone the test of full implementation; the paper presents a conceptual design rather than a programming blueprint. One of the unique features of the course design described here is that it deals with the domain of computer graphics. The precise subject of the course is ReGIS, the Remote Graphics Instruction Set on Digital Equipment Corporation GIGI and VT125 terminals. The paper describes the course components and their inter-relationships, discusses how program control might be expressed in the form of production rules, and presents a program that demonstrates one facet of the intended course: the ability to parse student input in such a way that rules can be used to update a dynamic student model.

Learner Perceptions of Realism and Magic in Computer Simulations.

The authors discuss a key issue affecting the educational potential of interactive computer simulations—their possible lack of credibility. They explore the circumstances under which students are able to separate‘magical’features from those which map easily and directly onto the real world, and the relationship between their perceptions of events on and off the computer. They put forward some means of overcoming disbelief through manipulating the degree of reality inherent in simulations and offer suggestions for how future research might address these issues.