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This paper proposes a two-step strategy for the computer-aided learning of control. A virtual Web-based laboratory for control design experiments (http://www.hll.uni-mb.si), which supports a two-step strategy, is based on the MATLAB Web server (MWS) and consists of two virtual laboratories. The first virtual laboratory, called 'Web sisotool,' supports computer-aided control design and structured hands-on experiments. Computer-aided control design is welcome as a design tool while structured hands-on experiments are welcome for the visualization of hard-to-grasp concepts. The second virtual laboratory offers students an unstructured MATLAB-Iike environment, called 'M-file application' that allows students to create and design control design experiments by writing MATLAB M-files of their own and executing them on MWS. The presented virtual laboratory for control design experiments is cost effective and has already been successfully used for the learning of control. Student feedback is also presented. Index Terms--Bode plot, computer-aided design, control design learning, M-file, MATLAB Web server (MWS), structured hands-on experiments, unstructured environment, virtual laboratory.

A good teacher is able to customize the lesson to fit the requirements and needs of the learners he or she has in the classroom. This process becomes difficult and expensive in open and distance education, where customization means availability of similar contents, presented in diversified styles. A methodology and the tools to tackle the problem by using automated course compilation have been developed in the 3DE project (Design, Development, and Delivery--Electronic Environment for Educational Multimedia). The work on course customization showed the key role of the authoring process and the related problems. This paper summarizes the methodology and describes the development environment designed to assist authors in the creation of customized educational material. The environment seeks to help teachers/authors understand the relations among pedagogical and technical aspects and provides instructions, guidelines, and assistance for the development of learning-styles-aware material. The paper focuses on the author interface of the environment with details on the pedagogical framework, the authors' guide, the classification guide, and the metadata tool. Index Terms--Authoring guide, automated course construction, educational effectiveness, interoperability, learning styles (LSs), personalized learning, reuse.

As simulator-based training systems become more complex, the amount of effort required to generate, monitor, and maintain training exercises multiplies greatly. This has significantly increased the burden on the instructors, potentially making the training experience less efficient as well as less effective. Research on intelligent tutoring systems (ITS) has largely addressed this issue by replacing the instructor with a computer model of the appropriate pedagogical concepts and the domain expertise. While this approach is highly desirable, the effort required to develop and maintain an ITS can be quite significant. A more modest as well as practical alternative to an ITS is the development of intelligent computer-based tools that can support the instructors in their tasks. The advantage of this approach is that various tools can be developed to address the different aspects of the instructor's duties. Moreover, without the burden of having to repace the instructor, these tools are more easily developed and fielded in existing trainers. One aspect of an instructor's task is to assess the students' performance after each training exercise and select the next exercise based on their previous performances. It would clearly be advantageous if this exercise selection process were to be automated, thus relieving the instructor of a significant burden and allowing him to concentrate on other tasks. Therefore, the focus of this paper is the development of a stand-alone system capable of determining exercise progression and remediation automatically during a training session in a simulator-based trainer, on the basis of the students's past performance. Instructional heuristics were developed to carry out the exercise progression process. A prototype was developed and applied to gunnery training on the Army M1 main battle tank.

The primary mission of the University of Wisconsin-Madison Technical Japanese Program is to train English-speaking scientists and engineers to read technical documents written in Japanese. Semester-long courses in technical Japanese at the basic, intermediate, and advanced levels are now being offered live and interactively to students and professionals throughout the United States. Audiographic teleconferencing employs standard microcomputer hardware and a high quality sound system to share audio and visuals with many people simultaneously. Pictures, text in any writing system, data, and high-resolution graphics are transmitted to participants at multiple, remote locations over ordinary telephone lines. Visuals can be annotated during the class using a graphics tablet. Alternatively, the same computer-generated image can be fed to a satellite and then broadcast throughout the country. Satellite broadcasts, coupled with the use of an audio conferencing system at each receive site, provide another effective method for interactive course delivery to sites beyond the university campus. During the three years in which technical Japanese courses have been delivered via audiographics or satellite to remote sites, student acceptance of the computer-based instructional system has been excellent. In this paper we describe the impact of audiographic teleconferencing on the teaching of technical Japanese. In a future paper we will analyze the performance of students on and off campus.

Energy band formation can be taught using superlattice miniband calculations through a simple Fortran 77 computer code adaptable to personal computers. The time-independent solution of the Schroedinger equation for a heterostructure stack using a transfer matrix approach is used. The model allows students to observe the effect of electron wavefunction interaction between adjacent quantum wells on energy states. Energy band structure can likewise be plotted as a function of well or barrier width.