This research study explores use of Internet resources for learning English as a foreign language (EFL) in Taiwanese high school EFL education. The overall objectives of this research are to examine qualitatively 40 high school students' performance, attitudes, and learning strategies using an experimental Internet-integrated learning mode; to consider its potential impact on current EFL education in Taiwan; and to gain insight into the feasibility of integrating the Internet into Taiwanese high school EFL standard curriculum. Subjects were engaged in thematic, purposeful, collaborative Internet-integrated learning activities where English is used for data searching, group discussion, and individual presentation, as well as for acquiring knowledge of other subject matter. E-mail messages, mailing lists, interviews, questionnaires and subjects' writing samples were collected and analyzed. Students' performances were recorded through fieldnotes, audiotaping, and videotaping. Results indicate that the Internet-integrated learning environment sufficiently scaffolded subjects in information processing and knowledge construction of the target language via exploration, discovery, and meaning-negotiated interactions. Results are discussed in terms of meeting the demands of information and human resources required for effective EFL learning and reshaping the role of instructor as guide and co-learner. Also discussed is how the Internet-integrated mode facilitates interdisciplinary, collaborative and learner-centered EFL learning and incorporates students' and teachers' interests and expertise. Finally, recommendations are offered for future research studies, including possibly developing a compatible assessment system and establishing an EFL instruction web station to convince and support teachers interested in conducting authentic, cross-cultural, and learner-centered EFL instruction with the aid of rich and dynamic multimedia resources on the Internet.

The purpose of this study is to investigate how faculty make use of Internet resources and how students respond to use of these resources in a variety of undergraduate science and mathematics courses. Much more has been published on the use of Internet resources in traditional undergraduate curricula from the perspective of faculty as teachers and researchers than from the perspective of students as learners. This qualitative case study is a balanced approach that surveys mathematics and science professors and students at the same university. Both teacher and learner perspectives about on-line resource usage are scrutinized for the extent to which such resources augment content and delivery of traditional university undergraduate mathematics and science courses. Faculty and students were interviewed and asked about their perceptions of Internet as a tool for teaching and learning. Responses focused on the Internet as it affords information, communication, and collaboration. Students expressed distrust for Web publications, citing the information glut and sense of security with “approved” library resources. Personal and course Web pages were much more important to faculty than to students, who did not see themselves as producers but rather as consumers of information prepared by faculty and other experts in their fields. All students expressed the importance of the university's role in advising incoming students to take computing-related courses in their first year to prepare them for courses that have on-line components. When asked if they would consider delivering their courses asynchronously on-line, all of the faculty members interviewed declined. Consensus was that Internet/Web resources found their place in augmenting rather than replacing traditional courses. Most students interviewed responded that they would try an on-line course for the experience but that they would be inclined to take a general education course rather than a course in their major, not wanting to risk a low grade. Students and faculty alike continue to work with new applications for Internet groupware messaging such as asynchronous discussion groups and electronic bulletin boards that will be incorporated into traditional university courses.

This study is concerned with the systems approach in distance education. As a modality of instruction, distance education has grown in importance rapidly in the last thirty years. Most theories in the field have been solidified and are part of a sophisticated body of literature addressing learning issues, technologies, administration of programs, instructional design, and models. Systemic thinking has been proposed as a way to operate in distance education to obtain good results in the practice of distance education. Because most theories and models of distance education have been developed in industrialized nations, this dissertation looks at the systems approach in the context of a Latin American university. Some of its postulates are examined to determine if success areas at the Virtual University are the result of systemic practices. The larger context of this dissertation is the analysis of a distance education model within a university in the developing world. The Virtual University of the Instituto Tecnologico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey (ITESM) in Mexico serves as a case study for this work. In eight years, the unit has grown dramatically offering several graduate degrees, undergraduate courses, and continuing education programs in 26 national campuses and in other locations of North, Central, and South America. Its success and problem areas are worthy of analysis looking at a distance education model developed in the US. Through the use of surveys, review of literature, institutional evaluations, and unstructured interviews, the study looks at the interconnectedness of different process parts of the Virtual University. An assessment of success and problem areas is presented. Through the analysis of data and discussion, I propose that distance education success in this Mexican university is perhaps related to cultural perceptions or the sophisticated technological infrastructure in the 26 campus system. The result questions the adoption of external models in developing countries. It suggests that, rather than continuing to explain practices in distance education with foreign schemes, local approaches need to be developed as the basis for research in the modality. This idea may be of interest for distance educators in developing nations and elsewhere.

Galileo's contemporaries as well as today's students have difficulty understanding relative motion. It is hypothesized that construction of visual models, resolution of these visual models with numeric models, and, in many cases, rejection of epistemological commitments such as the belief in one "true" velocity, are necessary for students to form integrated mental models of relative motion events. To investigate students' relative motion problem solving, high school science students were videotaped in classroom and laboratory settings as they performed collaborative predict-observe-explain activities with relative motion computer simulations. The activities were designed to facilitate conceptual change by challenging common alternative conceptions. Half of the students interacted with simulations that provided animated feedback; the other half received numeric feedback. Learning, as measured by a diagnostic test, occurred following both conditions. There was no statistically significant difference between groups on the measure. It is hypothesized that students did not show statistically significant performance differences on the relative motion test because (a) many students were able to solve numeric problems through algorithm use; (b) many numeric condition students were aided in their ability to visualize problems by interaction with the treatment; and (c) the animation condition fostered little learning because the activities were too easy for students to perform. Students' problem solving was examined through analyses of protocols and through statistical analyses of written responses. Evidence supported the following findings: (1) Numeric condition students had more difficulty with the computer activities than animation condition students. (2) Many students in both groups were able to construct accurate mental models of relative motion events. (3) A number of numeric condition students used faulty mechanical algorithms to solve problems. (4) A number of animation condition students used visualization to solve problems, mapping dynamic visual features of the animations onto posttest problems. Thus, there is evidence that presentation of numeric data can foster students' use of mechanical algorithms. Presentation of animations can foster visualization of target problems solved off-line. These results suggest that, in addition to the structure of the simulations, how computer simulations are used may have a great impact on students' cognition.

This study examined the nature of social interactions taking place between students working with computers in three inner-city school classrooms. Its main objective is to present a descriptive analysis of the impact of computers on the social relations between students in a bilingual/multicultural setting. The social interactions between students in the classroom are assumed to be an important dimension of their learning experience, especially for students from subordinate cultures. It is further assumed that student-student interactions take place within the context established by the teacher and the school, and within the general context of the society. The micro context (student-student interactions) can not be analyzed in isolation from the macro context (the society). Student interactions were defined as a verbal or non-verbal transaction between two students. These interactions were analyzed by using three major categories of interaction: (1) type of interaction, (2) form of interaction, and (3) mode or expressive style. Classroom sessions were videotaped for a period of 4 weeks near the end of the school year. In addition, fieldnotes were taken to complement the videotaped material. A crosstabulation analysis was conducted to examine the relationship between the categories of interaction and the demographic characteristics of the students initiating or receiving those interactions. Data on the students' demographic characteristics, such as ethnicity, socioeconomic status, sex, and ability level, were gathered through the use of a questionnaire. It was found that all of the determinants of access to the computers and learning tended to favor Anglo students and did not facilitate the success of Hispanic and other minority students. On the other hand, Anglos usually assumed the dominant role in the interactions with Hispanic students. In general, the social interactions between students was determined by a combination of factors, including socioeconomic status, ethnicity, ability level, and sex. These factors played an important role in determining the type, form and mode of social interaction between students, but they should not be seen in isolation from each other. The powerless status of Hispanics in the school and the city, and the generalized presence of Anglos in positions of authority are additional factors that contribute to explain this phenomenon.

A vehicle is suggested for bringing information technology into education. Knowledge-based systems are proposed as a way to explore, reason about, and synthesize large knowledge bases. These systems utilize resources such as artificial intelligence, multimedia, and electronic communication to reason about what, with whom, and how they should teach in order to tailor knowledge and communication to individual students. Teaching material does not consist of a repertoire of prespecified responses; rather, reasoning about the student and the complexity of the subject matter informs the system's response so that inferences made by the machine become key features of the system's response. Currently, such systems can reason about a student's presumed knowledge, can solve the problems given to the student, and can begin to recognize plausible student misconceptions. This document provides a practical hands-on guide for people who are considering building knowledge-based systems. It identifies the requisite resources, personnel, hardware and software and describes artificial intelligence methodologies and tools that might become available. The document is directed both at increased production of knowledge-based systems and also at improving the dialogue among computer scientists, educators, researchers, and classroom practitioners around the issue of information technology in the schools.

The purpose of this study was to determine the number of University Aviation Association (UAA) member postsecondary institutions that were experiencing student delays in flight certification. Such delays can lead to increased costs for the student, the failure to complete the intended academic program, and an interruption in career progression. This study queried the aviation program administrators of UAA member flight institutions to determine the extent of the problem. Through a questionnaire, the researcher determined whether a relationship existed between student flight curriculum progress and certain identified factors at those institutions. A survey instrument was used to obtain responses to questions such as: the level of flight student progress delays, institutional policies regarding prepayment for flight services, the number of students failing to complete their flight training in the semester predicated by the syllabus, the impact of weather and finances, the use of ground-based training devices, and institutional policies relating to flight student incomplete grades. The study revealed that approximately 88% of the respondents noted that they were experiencing a problem with flight student progress delays at their institution. The research indicated that institutional financial policies, such as the formal determination of flight student finances in advance of each semester, were factors in reducing "Major" progress delays. The use of simulation or ground-based training devices was associated with a reduction in the flight progress delays. Flight instructor turnover was not a substantial factor in the student training delays. No relationship was noted between the incidence of flight student progress delays and the level of degree offered at the postsecondary institutions. A larger percentage of the flight student progress delays were classified as "Major" at two-year rather than at four-year institutions.

No description available.

Telecourses, as a form of distance learning, are an effective, accessible educational option for college students. However, there is evidence that attrition rates are high in telecourses which may be due, in large part, to the autonomous nature of such courses. This study investigated factors related to successful persistence in telecourses and attempted to identify a profile of the successful persister in terms of selected characteristics and specific motivation and learning strategies. Five research questions and sub questions were posed to elicit demographic, motivation and learning strategy information from successful (those with a grade of "C" or higher), unsuccessful (those with a grade of "D" or "F") and non-persisters (those who withdrew with a "W"). The study was conducted in three parts: (1) a review of 597 records of telecourse students between 1991 and 1995; (2) a telecourse questionnaire adapted from the Motivated Strategies for Learning instrument and completed by 53 telecourse students enrolled in Fall, 1995; and (3) interviews with ten students who received an "A" in a telecourse. Study findings revealed that successful persisters had a mean age of 33, a grade point average of 3.0 or higher, were majoring in the discipline of the telecourse, and worked 40 hours a week or more. All persisters had higher mean scores than non-persisters for the following scales: Intrinsic and Extrinsic Goal Orientation, Task Value, Self Efficacy for Learning and Performance. Successful persisters, alone, scored highest in Effort Regulation. Qualitative data from interviews confirmed that successful students were self-disciplined and able to manage their time and study environments. Based on the review of the literature and study findings, it was concluded that successful persisters share a number of characteristics which are factors in their ability to complete a telecourse with a passing grade. Students with strong self-management abilities were most likely to successfully persist.

No description available.