Our powerful computers help very little in debugging the program we have so we can change it into the program we want. We introduce Conversational Programming as a way to harness our computing power to inspect program meaning through a combination of partial program execution and semantic program annotation. A programmer in our approach interactively selects highly autonomous “agents” in a program world as conversation topics and then changes the world to explore the potential behaviors of a selected agent in different scenarios.

ARC was asked by NSF to conduct a pilot project to review the research methodologies employed by a sample of projects funded by the REESE (Research and Evaluation on Education in Science and Engineering) program. ARC convened an expert panel in consultation with NSF to develop standards and a rubric for rating the rigor of REESE projects’ methodologies, with the ultimate goal of reporting on the methodologies employed in the REESE program overall.

Learn more about the ways that ITEST projects use hands-on activities with educators and youth to promote scientific inquiry.  The ITEST LRC Newsletter, Issue 3/Fall 2006 includes this feature story plus success stories from three ITEST projects, resources, and LRC news and events.

This newsletter is designed to share the exciting work of teachers and students participating in ITEST (Information Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers) projects across the United States. Participating educators and young people work hand in hand with scientists and engineers on extended research projects that carry them beyond the classroom, using technology to explore topics ranging from biotechnology to environmental resource management.