Home PublicationsJRTEPast IssuesVolume 27 Number 4

Edited by Dennis W. Spuck and William C. Bozeman

formerly Journal of Research on Computing in Education

Volume 27 Number 4 -- Summer 1995

Table of Contents

Cognitive Style and Its Effect on the Stages of Programming

Cathy Bishop-Clark                                        373



Students and Computers as Partners in Developing StudentsÕ 

Problem-Solving Skills

Maria Cardelle-Elawar and Keith Wetzel                    387



Focusing Attention with Temporal Sound

Bruce L. Mann                                             402



The AIDA Approach to Educational Software Portability

Ant—nio JosŽ Mendes and Teresa Mendes                     425



Implications of Learning Strategy Research 

for Designing Computer-Assisted Instruction

Seungbae Park                                             435



Electronic Networking Comes to the University: Factors That 

Influence Adoption Among Faculty

Linda E. Parry and Robert R. Wharton                      457



Using Multimedia as a Cognitive Tool

Ron Toomey and Kim Ketterer                               472



Quality of Writing by Elementary Students With Learning 

Disabilities

Yuehua Zhang, David W. Brooks, Teresa Frields, and Michael 

Redelfs                                                   483



                      Abstracts



Cognitive Style and Its Effect on the Stages of Programming



Cathy Bishop-Clark

Miami University, Ohio



Abstract



Computer programming has separate and distinct phases: 

problem representation, program design, coding, and 

debugging. It may be that certain cognitive styles and 

personality traits affect some stages of programming but not 

others. The purpose of this article is (a) to present a model 

that suggests the cognitive style and personality traits that 

are likely to affect programming stages and (b) to 

empirically investigate one portion of that model. An 

investigation of 192 college students reveals that the 

correlation between field-dependence/field-independence and 

design is significantly higher than the correlation between 

field-dependence/field-independence and coding, hence 

empirically validating a portion of a model. 



Students and Computers as Partners in Developing StudentsÕ 

Problem-Solving Skills 



Maria Cardelle-Elawar and Keith Wetzel

Arizona State University West



Abstract



One-hundred and twenty students in the second and fourth 

grades worked in pairs to solve computer-posed problems. 

Students used the IDEA (Identify, Define, Explore, Assess) 

Model as a self-regulatory strategy to engage them as 

partners in a question-and-answer dialog while solving 

problems. Students reflected on their progress by writing in 

journals and in classroom debriefings recorded by teachers 

following the problem-solving sessions. Additional 

observational data was collected by the researchers through 

informal classroom discussions with the teachers. The results 

of this exploratory study indicated that the strategy was 

successful in helping students monitor their own learning. 

Implications for teaching practices and future research are 

discussed. 




Focusing Attention with Temporal Sound



Bruce L. Mann

Memorial University of Newfoundland



Abstract



This research addressed the problem of studentsÕ inattention 

to critical information from the computer interface by 

focusing on software solutions using sound. Current interest 

in constructivism, hypermedia authoring, and verbal-

information learning suggested endorsement of these areas as 

the experimental platform. Temporal sound was designated for 

empirical study. Temporal sound is spoken information 

provided about future and past events that present highlights 

and details about static or moving visuals. The purpose of 

the study was to determine how temporal sound affected the 

studentsÕ attention to critical information. Twelve 

postsecondary students were randomly assigned to one of three 

treatment conditions: sound, sound/text, or text. Between-

subjects designs using small groups are not uncommon in 

educational computing research. A protocol analysis of their 

verbal reports revealed that temporal sound helped these 

subjects attend to screen information by affecting their 

constructive ability. Whereas text and sound/text subjects 

concentrated on one model through to the summary before 

beginning on the next model, sound subjects compared models 

before attempting the summaries. Subjects in the sound/text 

treatment summarized more highlights and details than those 

in the sound or text treatments. These findings confirmed 

previous research that reported that listeners tend to 

process information largely at the level of meaning (or 

highlights) rather than at the word level (or details). 




The AIDA Approach to Educational Software Portability



Ant—nio JosŽ Mendes and Teresa Mendes

Centro de Inform‡tica e Sistemas da Universidade de Coimbra, 

Portugal



Abstract



Several research and development projects have attempted to 

make educational software more portable. However, in most 

cases, packages are developed with a particular target group 

in mind. It is uncommon during a software packageÕs 

development for the developers to introduce characteristics 

that facilitate the softwareÕs use in different settings and, 

eventually, in other countries. Educational software 

portability is usually seen as a desirable characteristic, 

but in many cases no special development strategies, 

techniques, or tools are used to achieve that characteristic. 

Consequently, if someone wants to use the package in 

situations other than those for which it was intended, he or 

she must go through a difficult and expensive process of 

adaptation and translation. In this article, motivations for 

portability and some limiting factors of portability are 

analyzed. This article also describes the approach used in 

the AIDA authoring environment to facilitate translation and 

cultural adaptation. 





Implications of Learning Strategy Research for Designing 

Computer-Assisted Instruction



Seungbae Park

Chonju National University of Education, Korea



Abstract



This study presents a comprehensive synthesis of research on 

learning strategies, focusing on the practical use of these 

strategies in CAI design. It has been pointed out that 

computer-assisted instructional packages, which include 

software and printed materials, are poorly designed. 

Cognitively oriented educational psychologists have 

recommended that the uses of learning strategies in textbooks 

and/or during study will help students learn effectively. 

However, there is a need for more research on how to use 

learning strategies in CAI design. This study identifies 13 

learning strategies on which a substantial amount of research 

has been done and presents possible ways to incorporate these 

learning strategies into CAI design. Several future research 

topics in this area are also included. 





Electronic Networking Comes to the University: Factors That 

Influence Adoption Among Faculty



Linda E. Parry and Robert R. Wharton

University of Minnesota, Duluth



Abstract



This study benchmarks the introduction of an emerging 

organizational technology into a university: computer network 

systems. Although it has been argued that gender and age 

differences predict network usage, the researchers observe 

that their significance is diminished when educational field 

is considered. Based on a sample comparing business faculty 

with their counterparts in science and engineering within a 

mid-sized university, most of the hypotheses are confirmed. 

Younger faculty use the networks more, take advantage of a 

fuller variety of options, and express greater feelings of 

expertise. Males, however, do not use the network more than 

females. When educational field is considered, neither gender 

nor age have much explanatory power, and it is clear that 

business school faculty are not making optimal use of the 

potential of computer networks. 



Using Multimedia as a Cognitive Tool



Ron Toomey

Victoria University of Technology, Australia



Kim Ketterer

Eugene School District, Oregon



Abstract



This article provides an account of how three elementary 

school teachers used multimedia to enhance the learning of 

the students in their classrooms. The account shows how these 

teachers incorporate multimedia into their teaching 

repertoire and use it as a tool to mediate the type of 

student-centred but teacher-guided pattern of cooperative 

learning that they seek to encourage in young people. 






Quality of Writing by Elementary Students With Learning 

Disabilities



Yuehua Zhang and David W. Brooks

University of Nebraska-Lincoln



Teresa Frields and Michael Redelfs

Nebraska City Public Schools, Nebraska



Abstract



Teaching students with learning disabilities to write often 

presents great challenges. In this article, we describe 

studies of a HyperCard stack that was developed over a four-

year period to assist beginning writers and their teachers. 

Students enter words from a keyboard or by selecting from 

prepared lists (a 1,000 word core list; four teacher-

generated lists; a first names list; and a user-generated, 

private list). All text can be spoken using a speech 

synthesis system (robotic voice). Records of studentsÕ 

writing are created automatically. StudentÕs ÒcertificatesÓ 

with writing samples and pictures, together with teacher 

feedback, may be printed. ROBO-Writer was compared with 

paper-and-pencil writing and a commonly used word processing 

application for groups of students with learning disabilities 

at two school sites. Using four rating criteria, texts 

created by students with learning disabilities who used ROBO-

Writer showed significantly higher scores than did those of 

matched students using other writing tools. )

A PDF file of each full article is available. Contact: jrte@iste.org . Please specifiy Volume and Issue number and article name.

Copyright © 1995, ISTE (International Society for Technology in Education). All rights reserved.