An adjunct to the increased emphasis on developing students' critical thinking and higher order skills is the need for methods to monitor and evaluate these abilities. These papers provide insight into current techniques and examine possibilities for the future. The contributors to Diagnostic Monitoring of Skill and Knowledge Acquisition focus on two beliefs: that new kinds of tests and assessment methods are needed; and that instruction and learning can be improved by developing new assessment methods based on work in cognitive science.

Sipke D. Fokkema Amsterdam, Free University From June 13th - 17th, 1977 the NATO International Conference on Cognitive Psychology and Instruction, organized by the editors of this volume, took place at the Free University of Amsterdam. During this period approximately 150 psychologists representing 15 countries assembled for an exchange of scientific experiences and ideas. The broad aim of the conference, as indicated by its title, was to explore the extent to which theoretical and methodological developments in cognitive psychology might provide useful knowledge with regard to the design and management of instruction. From a great variety of submitted papers the organizers attempted to select those that represented major problem areas being scientifically studied in several countries. For the organization of this book we chose to categorize the contributions according to the following general areas: I. Learning II. Comprehension and Information Structure III. Perceptual and Memory Processes in Reading IV. Problem Solving and Components of Intelligence V. Cognitive Development VI. Approaches to Instruction The final paper in the volume is an extensive review and summary by Glaser, Pellegrino, and Lesgold, that examines the state Qf cognitive psychology (mainly as reflected in the contributions in this volume) with regard to instructional purposes. Each of the sections of the book also begins with a brief overview of the specific topics considered by the individual contributors within that section.

This book presents the refereed proceedings of the Third International Conference on Intelligent Tutoring Systems, ITS '96, held in Montreal, Canada, in June 1996.
The book contains 69 revised papers selected from a total of 128 submissions; also included are six invited papers from well-known speakers. All in all, the book reflects the state-of-the-art in the area. In particular the following topics are covered: advising systems, ITS architectures, cognitive models, design issues, empirical studies, formal models, learning environments, real-world applications, software tools for tutoring, student modelling, teaching and learning strategies, and multimedia and WWW.

Learning Issues for Intelligent Tutoring Systems arrays the most current and exciting research in this dynamic and growing area of cognitive science. The various contributions address the design and use of instructional systems as well as the important theoretical and practical questions involved in implementing knowledge-based systems. This book offers complete and up-to-date reviews of the major research programs in computer-aided instruction and intelligent tutoring systems. Learning Issues for Intelligent Tutoring Systems is an important and useful introduction to this rapidly changing field.