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The integration of test-banks for computer-based testing, textbooks, and electronic lecture notes in first-year mathematics courses has changed the way mathematics is taught at Bennett College (Greensboro, North Carolina). Classes meet in two electronic classrooms each with 27 computers on a local area network and a projection system. An integrated computerized instructional system (ICISS) has been set up in both labs so that a variety of teaching/learning approaches can be used. The main objective of the system is to involve students in the learning process by avoiding excessive writing on the board, providing information in an interactive mode, and allowing students to explore some concepts through computer software. The system contains a set of extensive test-banks for each course and a graphics editor with many mathematical symbols available is used to add questions or modify questions in the test-banks. The ICISS system includes several programs that support the testing/tutorial process. An eight-digit coding system is used which allows the instructor to select the types of questions selected at random by the computer. The Course Management System produces an electronic grade book, so that scores can be entered into the grade book quickly and easily directly from the file server. Electronic Lecture Notes have been installed for Basic Mathematics, Beginning Algebra, and Pre-Calculus. A summary of the results of student attitudes in a questionnaire about the use of the ICISS materials is provided, as well as sample screens of online review and practice testing. (AEF)

1Boy Crusoe

By Allan Eric

Also published as" A Yankee Crusoe" . A 15 year old hard working and studious farm boy finds the lure of adventure on the seas as a merchant seaman more than he can resist. This is his story. " I was born in a little town in the State of Maine, near the close of the Civil War. My boyhood life did not differ materially from that of the average farmer's son in the remote country districts of New England--except, perhaps, that I read more and thought more. Hard work on the rugged soil, two terms each year in the little yellow country schoolhouse, a day's fishing now and then filled the early years of my life full to over-flowing. " What he gets is enough excitement and adventure to overflow his wildest dreams. How he experiences disaster and uses his wits and knowledge to overcome every problem makes for a great read. - Summary by Phil Chenevert