Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 37-10, Section: A, page: 6327. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1976.

Spatial ability has been the subject of mathematics education research because of the implications it has in the areas of problem solving, student cognition, and success in learning mathematics. This study investigated two questions related to student spatial ability: (1) What are the differences in reasoning between students with high spatial abilities and those with low spatial abilities, and what differences in these reasoning processes can be inferred using student interactions with a three-dimensional computer graphics program? (2) What are the differences in spatial strategies of the students as they engage in the three-dimensional graphing activities? / The subjects were third year college students in a teacher education program, and were enrolled in a mathematics teacher education course at the time. They were observed during lessons in three-dimensional graphing using a program, named Jellyfish Logo, which was created by myself. They attempted tasks such as representation of a rectangular solid, a tetrahedron, and a triangular prism. In addition to these representations they completed a series of lessons designed to test both their spatial and their problem solving abilities. These lessons included area and volume estimations and the location of both two- and three-dimensional objects in space. / There were several observable results from this study. One of these was that there is, in an environment such as this, a forced integration of verbal/symbolic and graphic representations. It was necessary for the subject to have verbal/symbolic skills in order to construct the desired graphic representations. Another result of this study is that there is a direct relationship between the amount of anticipation/reflection and student success in completing a task. The results of this study indicate that it is imperative that educators emphasize the importance of anticipation and reflection in problem solving. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 53-03, Section: A, page: 0747. / Major Professor: Janice Flake. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1992.

A study was conducted to determine how to design computer-based tools to support the design and improvement of educational systems, and whether the application of such tools could be beneficial to educators. The literature review included an analysis of: the history of educational systems, various approaches to Educational Systems Design (ESD), and the history of computer-integrated manufacturing. A model for a computer-integrated education (CIE) system was derived. Design requirements for the key component of CIE, a computer-based ESD Tool, were derived. A prototype of the ESD Tool was developed in Microsoft's Visual BASIC$\sp{\rm TM}$ during a four-round, iterative, design-experiment that included: data collection from educator informants, decisions about the design of the prototype, and development or refinement of the prototype. / The informants identified several important issues for implementation and acceptance of the ESD Tool, made numerous design suggestions, identified political issues for the ESD Tool, and identified tasks for which the ESD Tool could be helpful to educational planners, administrators, and researchers. The results support the conclusion that computer-based tools could be useful in the design and improvement of educational systems, as evidenced by the successful prototype of the ESD Tool, and responses of the informants during the study. To better substantiate this conclusion, issues are identified for further research and development of the ESD Tool and the CIE model. Reflections on the meaning of the results and the utility of the design-experiment methodology are included. Eighteen screens from three versions of the ESD Tool are depicted. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 56-07, Section: A, page: 2649. / Major Professor: David Salisbury. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1995.

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of various external orienting tasks on learning, learner attitudes, and en-route behaviors in the use of an educational hypertext system. Thirty-one sophomore students enrolled in three honors sections of an introductory military history course at the United States Air Force Academy served as subjects in this study. During three 50 minute class periods, the participants used a hypertext database containing approximately 200 articles on airpower in World War I. Each section was given one of three orienting tasks--one in which they were asked to browse the database to learn about airpower in World War I (browsing condition), a second in which they were required to answer factual questions about the material in the database (searching condition), or a third in which they were required to answer conceptual questions (connecting condition). Results indicated that the connecters performed the best on conceptual understanding of the material, followed by the searchers with the browsers performing the worst. Connecters also reported the highest levels of database utility for completing their task and the posttest. These findings demonstrate positive effects for both learning and attitudes when students are given a conceptual orienting task in the use of a hypertext system. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 56-07, Section: A, page: 2648. / Major Professor: Michael J. Hannafin. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1995.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, Dept. of Curriculum and Instruction, 2006. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 67-03, Section: A, page: 0904. Adviser: Genevieve Williamson. "Title from dissertation home page (viewed March 16, 2007)."

Thesis (Ed.D.)--Indiana University, 2007. / Title from dissertation home page (viewed Sept. 24, 2008). Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 69-01, Section: A, page: 0191.

The purpose of this study was to investigate student satisfaction levels with their web-based learning experience. Study sites were three public Doctoral/Research Universities---Extensive. A cross-sectional, web-based survey collected data from students about their perceptions of satisfaction and success in the two months following completion of their spring 2001 courses. Two hundred sixty-nine (269) students enrolled in 40 graduate-level, web-based courses at the three sites were surveyed. Students were divided into two study groups: completers and non-completers. The survey for course completers covered five major topic areas: experience with computers and the Web, course participation, images of self, perceptions of satisfaction and success, and general information. The survey for non-completers covered two topic areas: general information and factors affecting decision to drop from the course. Hierarchical regressions revealed significant relationships between satisfaction and self-efficacy and between self-efficacy and interpersonal control at two sites (p̲ < .05 and p̲ < .001, respectively). Hierarchical regressions also revealed significant relationships between satisfaction and level of communication (p̲ < .01 and p̲ < .05, respectively). When limiting the definition of available technical support to instructor assistance or help from teaching assistants, there appeared to be a significant relationship between available technical support and students' overall success in their courses (p̲ < .05). Students' attitudes about the Web were positively correlated to both their overall satisfaction and success at one site (p̲ < .05) while at the second site attitudes toward the Web were positively correlated only to satisfaction with the course (p̲ < .05). No significant relationships were found between students' participation in collaborative learning activities and satisfaction. The study raises a number of questions related to the relationship of gender to student satisfaction and success and to the relationship of discipline to the structure of the web-based course. Future research can address these relationships to clarify the relationship between students' perceptions of satisfaction and success and the type of learning activities and experiences they encounter in web-based distance courses based on gender and field of study.

Emerging technologies provide impetus for supplements to the way chemistry is taught. Students of the current generation are conditioned to expect high-quality visual images to reinforce other informational media. Multimedia teaching tools can take advantage of this pre-conditioning. The World Wide Web (WWW) provides new opportunities for multimedia distribution. Supplemental materials for chemical education have been developed to take advantage of these emerging technologies. Molecular animations have been developed for use in lecture and for distribution via the WWW. These animations were designed to demonstrate chemistry from a "Big Picture" view. Interactive, exploratory tutorials have also been developed as student study aids. These tutorials promote concept understanding within a hands-on, trial-and-error atmosphere. The WWW has also been utilized as a low-cost avenue for implementation of a laboratory exercise emphasizing the importance of chemical structure and its impact upon chemical reactivity through computational chemistry.

Digital technology was introduced to architectural practice during the last decade. Traditional techniques have developed along with practice for thousands of years. There has been hesitation to adopt this new technology, on the part of academia, due to ideological resistance and limited resources. Practice, out of necessity, adopted computer technology but has not developed its full potential. This thesis investigates reshaping traditional architecture school curriculum to include networked computers and peripherals. This is a process most architecture schools must soon face. Precepts are formulated to assure freedom and autonomy prevail in the transitional confusion. The Curriculum will be transformed to take advantage of what digital means and information technology have to offer while maintaining continuing to support of traditional means. Fusion between traditional and digital means, will foster a climate which will spawn creativity and innovation. A foundation course illustrates an Information Age approach to teaching design communication.

The Internet increasingly influences how we communicate with one another, conduct business, and educate our children. Our ability to connect to the Internet therefore becomes an integral part of our participating in and contributing to society. In this paper I examine equitable access to the telecommunications infrastructure that increasingly is used to transfer information around the country and the world. I focus my discussion on statewide networks and advanced Internet connectivity for publicly funded institutions of higher education. Using an informational questionnaire of all fifty United States and case studies of Mississippi and Washington, I investigate the role of state government in developing statewide networks that equitably serve public education. My findings indicate that more than any other source state government plays a critical role in financing the creation of statewide networks. They also show that the involvement of state government promotes equitable access to advanced networking but typically addresses this issue in terms of geographic location or socioeconomic status, rather than race. My research confirms that the more formalized the government's administrative structure for managing information technology, the more likely it is to fund the establishment of a statewide network. I also find that the presence of high technology corporations positively influences the development of a statewide network not so much because of the active involvement of industry but because the state government will act more entrepreneurially in constructing telecommunications infrastructure to promote industrial investment and economic growth.