August 1994 — Features

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Educational Effectiveness of Computer Software

How Each Program Is Used Many children play Number Muncher and Fraction Muncher just to attain the highest score. Its arcade-like quality makes it very attractive despite the fact that there is not much a junior high school student can learn from the game. One may argue that some mathematics skills are strengthened, however the majority of students play this game because they know their facts so well that they can proceed at a high speed without much thought. Jeopardy is liked by many students since they are challenged to give the correct answer, win against the computer and score high. The girls that play it are usually enrolled in Advanced Studies; according to the lab supervisor, average female students do not play this game. This may be explained by its level of difficulty and girls' concern about being embarrassed in front of others.1 Self-confidence is also necessary to attempt this game as a great deal of trivia must be memorized. Indeed, these two items have been cited as a possible cause for a general lack of girls in computer labs.2 Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? is played by both boys and girls and is considered quite challenging. Since it requires a long time for many people to obtain results, some students don't make it their first choice.
Dazzle Draw is an attractive program for artistic creation. It allows for figurative and abstract designs not easily done by hand. For example, it offers functions such as mirror symmetry, spray paint, squiggly lines and filling enclosed areas with patterns. Paper Plane Pilot and Wood Car Rally were played by boys only. Players were not following directions and also weren't putting much thought into selecting values for the variables involved. Children seemed to improve their aiming skills, but more by trial-and-error strategies than careful calculation. Odell Lake is a science simulation to identify fish and their habits in Odell Lake, Oregon.