Numerous research studies support the claim that affect plays a critical role in decisionmaking and performance as it influences cognitive processes [see e.g., Damasio, 1994; Goleman, 1995; Picard, 1997]. Despite this body of research the role and function of affect is not generally recognized by the disciplines that address the broad issues of understanding complex systems and complex behavior, especially in the presence of learning. The innovative models and theories that have been proposed to facilitate advancement in the field of human-computer interaction (HCI) tend to focus exclusively on cognitive factors. Consequently, the resulting systems are often unable to adapt to real-world situations in which affective factors play a significant role. We propose several new models for framing a dialogue leading to new insights and innovations that incorporate theories of affect into the design of (affect-sensitive) cognitive machines. 1.

ABSTRACT. This paper suggests that from a cognitive-evolutionary perspective, computational media are qualitatively different from many of the technologies that have promised educational change in the past and failed to deliver. Recent theories of human cognitive evolution suggest that human cognition has evolved through four distinct stages: episodic, mimetic, mythic, and theoretical. This progression was driven by three cognitive advances: the ability to “represent ” events, the development of symbolic reference, and the creation of external symbolic representations. In this paper, we suggest that we are developing a new cognitive culture: a “virtual ” culture dependent on the externalization of symbolic processing. We suggest here that the ability to externalize the manipulation of formal systems changes the very nature of cognitive activity. These changes will have important consequences for mathematics education in coming decades. In particular, we argue that mathematics education in a virtual culture should strive to give students generative fluency to learn varieties of representational systems, provide opportunities to create and modify representational forms, develop skill in making and exploring virtual environments, and emphasize mathematics as a fundamental way of making sense of the world, reserving most exact computation and formal proof for those who will need those specialized skills.

This paper presents design implications for educational groupware as revealed by GHT (Group Homework Tool), a same time di#erent place groupware tool built to support synchronous, collaborative coding among novice programmers. We detail the design, implementation, evaluation, and redesign of GHT, focusing on the issues of awareness, control, evaluation and sca#olding. GHT capitalizes on trends of technology and collaboration in the traditional learning environment by supporting distance learning, remote access to TAs and tutors, and facilitating co-located and remote group work. Constructing such software for a computer science curriculum provides unique challenges as one must integrate the tools used by a programmer, the resources used by a learner, and the widgets used to support group interaction. By combining common groupware components with our own shared editor we were able to exploit the educational benefits in a modified version of extreme programming [1]. Our research informs future design e#orts by building upon previous investigations of integrated, cooperative software in a learning environment [10, 12, 11].

Computer games are very popular among children and adolescents. In this respect, they could be exploited by educational software designers to render educational software more attractive and motivating. However, it remains to be explored what the educational scope of educational software games is. In this paper, we explore several issues concerning the educational effectiveness, appeal and scope of educational software games through an evaluation study of an Intelligent Tutoring System (ITS) that operates as a virtual reality educational game. The results of the evaluation show that educational virtual reality games can be very motivating while retaining or even improving the educational effects on students. Moreover, one important finding of the study was that the educational effectiveness of the game was particularly high for students who used to have poor performance in the domain taught prior to their learning experience with the game.

Abstract: We believe that identifying media by their cognitive roles (e.g., definition, explanation, pseudo-code, visualization) can improve comprehension and usability in hypermedia systems designed for learning. We refer to media links organized around their cognitive role as cognitive media types [Recker, Ram, Shikano, Li, & Stasko, 1995]. Our hypothesis is that the goals that students bring to the learning task will affect how they will use the hypermedia support system [Ram & Leake, 1995]. We explored student use of a hypermedia system based on cognitive media types where students performed different orienting tasks: undirected, browsing in order to answer specific questions, problem-solving, and problem-solving with prompted self-explanations. We found significant differences in use behavior between problem-solving and browsing students, though no learning differences.

This paper describes premises of a video about an as-yet unimplemented design for a virtual environment. The video is a basis for discussion -- a sketch, rather than a specification, of a virtual playspace and interactions that can happen there. The playspace is conceived as a "learning environment" in which activities can focus thinking on certain sets of ideas. Conversations within the multiuser environment can also be conducive to learning, and to developing an "online community." These actions and conversations would depend on a future system combining technologies in networked graphics, speech, AI, various input devices, and high-level software for constructing animations and audio/video sequences.

Museums typically strive to support learning about topics that pertain to the collections. However, necessities in museum-exhibit design may work against this goal. Designing for experiences of just a few minutes keeps traffic moving through gallery spaces, but prevents the immersion that a productive learning experience demands. This paper describes a genre of computer environments that could address both the constraints of a museum visit and the sort of extended, highly personal experience that can support learning. The environments are called “microworlds, ” which can take the form of stand-alone "construction kits " for single users or teams of users, or located as pockets of activity within a larger, networked, multiuser environment. Supplemented by other exhibits and learning materials, microworlds can be installed in gallery kiosks to give visitors a taste of the subjects and modes of interaction they offer. The software could also be available for more in-depth use outside the museum, through museum store purchases or dial-ins to a server. The microworlds described here are for learning about an aspect of motion study, balance. They are also for learning about an aspect of topology, the spatial relationships between vertexes, edges, and faces of three-dimensional shapes. Users construct dinosaur skeletons and mobiles for experiments with balance, and polyhedra for explorations in topology. The mobiles in changed scale can become items of jewelry, and the polyhedra in changed scale can become landscapes along which the dinosaurs can teeter. This work may not be copied or reproduced in whole or in part for any commercial purpose.

Computer simulation plays an increasingly important role in engineering education as a tool for enhancing classroom learning. This research investigates the efficacy of using simulation in teaching the topic of transportation network growth through an experiment conducted at the Civil Engineering Department of the University of Minnesota. In the experiment, a network growth simulator program (SONG) was incorporated into a senior/graduate class in transportation system analysis. Results of the experiment show that the use of SONG effectively enhanced students ’ learning in terms of helping students develop in-depth understanding about the development process of network patterns, and helped them develop some aspects of judgment, problem-solving, and decision-making skills. However the use of SONG may have been more effective had some other barriers to learning been overcome. Key words:

TurboTurtle is a dynamic multi-user microworld for the exploration of Newtonian physics. With TurboTurtle, students can alter the attributes of the simulation environment, such as gravity, friction, and presence or absence of walls. Students explore the microworld by manipulating a variety of parameters, and learn concepts by studying the behaviours and interactions that occur. TurboTurtle has evolved into a “group-aware ” system where several students, each on their own computer, can simultaneous control the microworld and gesture around the shared display. TurboTurtle’s design rationale includes concepts such as equal opportunity controls, simulation timing, concrete versus abstract controls, recoverability, and how strictly views should be shared between students. Teachers can also add structure to the group’s activities by setting the simulation environment to an interesting state, which includes a set of problems and questions. Observations of pairs of young children using TurboTurtle highlight extremes in collaboration styles, from conflict to smooth interaction. Finally, the technical work in making TurboTurtle group-aware is slight, primarily because it was built with a groupware toolkit called GroupKit. 1

Software games are very popular among children and adolescents and thus they have often been used in educational software research projects to increase motivation of students. However, before educational software games are designed to be targeted to real classroom students there are many questions to be answered concerning the scope of motivation and attractiveness of these games. This paper investigates the extent to which learning can be combined with pleasure and vice versa so that the end users of an educational virtual reality game may gain an enjoyable learning experience. For this reason the likeability of an educational virtual reality game interface has been evaluated both in the school environment and in the home environment of student-users.