Cross Appointed to OISE, Dept. of Measurement, Evaluation and Computer Application, 1984. Visiting Professor , Institute of Communications, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Spring 1982. Despite the important role that computers play in science and engineering research their use in science education has been fairly limited. A study made for the Ontario Ministry of Education of elementary school science education resulted in the recommendation that pupils use the computer in much the way scientists do to organize and process data that they themselves have collected. Greater use of word processing, data bases and spreadsheets and less reliance on simulations and tutorials would achieve this objective.
Research continues into the ways in which computers can be used for science education.
A study with colleagues from OISE was conducted for the Ministry of Education which established the research parameters for the field of computer applications in education. These parameters eventually became the Ministry criteria by which applications for research funding were judged. The History of Information Processing and Education A book which details the history of the alphabetic writing system and its impact on Western thinking was published in 1986 under the title of The Alphabet Effect. The book attempts to explain why abstract science began in the West. The book shows how the phonetic alphabet, codified law, monotheism, abstract science and deductive logic provided an environment for their mutual development.