26:T493,

Although computer-based simulations of workplaces are a promising way to prepare high school students for the world of work, it is unclear how many workplace simulations exist and how suitable they are for school-to-work programs. An extensive survey located 142 workplace simulations, many of which were not intended for the school-to-work market. Thirty-nine of the most promising simulations were obtained and analyzed to determine potential problems that might impede their use in school-to-work programs. These simulations were classified according to type (e.g., Skill simulations; Role-Playing simulations; and Strategy simulations) and then critiqued regarding common problems in using them (e.g., usability, learnability, content, and available teacher support). We indicate which problems are most common and what educators can do to overcome them. We close with a propositional analysis of two of the most promising workplace simulations that measures the job-specificity and implicitness of their content. We conclude that simulations can play an important role in school-to-work transition programs, even if not specifically designed for that purpose.

27:T4c7,

The purpose of the research was to investigate the effect of selected personal, school, and district factors on K-3 teachers' confidence in their ability to implement computer-based instruction in two conditions: before (N = 128 teachers) and after an infusion of Information Technology (IT) (N = 135 teachers). Increased IT resources changed the strength and structure of teachers' confidence: Confidence in teaching various student uses of the computer increased and the sources of information that teachers used to determine their expectations changed as teachers used the technology. The strongest predictors of teaching confidence were teacher cognitions, especially confidence in personal computing skills. Other personal variables (frequency of personal computer use, gender, teaching experience, and computer ownership) dropped out of the regression equations when teacher cognitions were introduced. After the IT infusion, but not before, self-reported instructional practice and contextual factors (shared sense of purpose of the school with its community and experience with district amalgamation) also contributed to variance in confidence about teaching with computers.

28:T425,

A new fuzzy student modeling method with two intelligent agents, a diagnosis agent and a learning agent, are suggested by this article for several aspects (problems) of student modeling in Intelligent Tutoring Systems. Those problems are still difficult tasks for current student models to deal with, such as dynamic interaction, ambiguity, incompleteness, and inconsistency. The diagnosis agent incorporates the classification tree concepts to identify the student's misconceptions and to do score assignment that includes the score assignment of partial correctness. The learning agent is used to learn the features of the student's inconsistent behaviors for the system to take effective strategies to prevent the happening of the student's inconsistent behaviors. This article also integrates fuzzy theories and Hasse diagrams for student modeling. The theories of fuzzy sets are developed to model imprecision of the real world. The Hasse diagram can be used to present the dynamic feature and to reason for overcoming the problem of incompleteness.

29:T4f3,The <i>Journal of Educational Computing Research (JECR)</i> is a leading peer-reviewed, interdisciplinary scholarly journal dedicated to advancing knowledge and critical understanding of educational computing. Through high-quality research reports and critical analyses, the journal addresses the intersection of educational theory, technological innovation, and practical application. It serves as a platform for fostering dialogue between theorists and practitioners, with the goal of shaping the future of educational computing research and practice. Covering diverse topics such as learning ou