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Multiple Representations (multiple + representation)
Selected AbstractsReconsidering simulations in science education at a distance: features of effective useJOURNAL OF COMPUTER ASSISTED LEARNING, Issue 6 2007C. Blake Abstract, This paper proposes a reconsideration of use of computer simulations in science education. We discuss three studies of the use of science simulations for undergraduate distance learning students. The first one, The Driven Pendulum simulation is a computer-based experiment on the behaviour of a pendulum. The second simulation, Evolve is concerned with natural selection in a hypothetical species of a flowering plant. The third simulation, The Double Slit Experiment deals with electron diffraction and students are provided with an experimental setup to investigate electron diffraction for double and single slit arrangements. We evaluated each simulation, with 30 students each for The Driven Pendulum and Evolve simulations and about 100 students for The Double Slit Experiment. From these evaluations we have developed a set of the features for the effective use of simulations in distance learning. The features include student support, multiple representations and tailorability. [source] The contribution of computer-based activities to understanding statisticsJOURNAL OF COMPUTER ASSISTED LEARNING, Issue 2 2002E.J. Morris Psychology students often find statistical concepts difficult, and research has suggested that students can hold confusions about seemingly straightforward concepts, such as the mean. Although previous research has evaluated computer-based learning systems for statistics, there is little research that has looked specifically at whether particular computer-based learner activities contribute to students' understanding of introductory concepts in statistics. The study described in this paper was designed to investigate whether computer-based activities that provide multiple representations of concepts contribute to students' understanding of correlations and measures of central tendency. A pre-/post-test control group design was used involving 50 students who were studying psychology. It was found that activities involving the direct manipulation of data contributed to students' understanding of measures of central tendency as indicated by a significant improvement from pre- to post-test. However, findings indicated that computer-based activities of this kind did not necessarily contribute to students' understanding of correlations. [source] Beyond Conceptual Change: Using Representations to Integrate Domain-Specific Structural Models in Learning MathematicsMIND, BRAIN, AND EDUCATION, Issue 2 2007Florence Mihaela Singer ABSTRACT, Effective teaching should focus on representational change, which is fundamental to learning and education, rather than conceptual change, which involves transformation of theories in science rather than the gradual building of knowledge that occurs in students. This article addresses the question about how to develop more efficient strategies for promoting representational change across cognitive development. I provide an example of an integrated structural model that highlights the underlying cognitive structures that connect numbers, mathematical operations, and functions. The model emphasizes dynamic multiple representations that students can internalize within the number line and which lead to developing a dynamic mental structure. In teaching practice, the model focuses on a counting task format, which integrates a variety of activities, specifically addressing motor, visual, and verbal skills, as well as various types of learning transfer. [source] SOFTWARE ENGINEERING CONSIDERATIONS FOR INDIVIDUAL-BASED MODELSNATURAL RESOURCE MODELING, Issue 1 2002GLEN E. ROPELLA ABSTRACT. Software design is much more important for individual-based models (IBMs) than it is for conventional models, for three reasons. First, the results of an IBM are the emergent properties of a system of interacting agents that exist only in the software; unlike analytical model results, an IBMs outcomes can be reproduced only by exactly reproducing its software implementation. Second, outcomes of an IBM are expected to be complex and novel, making software errors difficult to identify. Third, an IBM needs ,systems software' that manages populations of multiple kinds of agents, often has nonlinear and multi-threaded process control and simulates a wide range of physical and biological processes. General software guidelines for complex models are especially important for IBMs. (1) Have code critically reviewed by several people. (2) Follow prudent release management prac-tices, keeping careful control over the software as changes are implemented. (3) Develop multiple representations of the model and its software; diagrams and written descriptions of code aid design and understanding. (4) Use appropriate and widespread software tools which provide numerous major benefits; coding ,from scratch' is rarely appropriate. (5) Test the software continually, following a planned, multi-level, exper-imental strategy. (6) Provide tools for thorough, pervasive validation and verification. (7) Pay attention to how pseudorandom numbers are generated and used. Additional guidelines for IBMs include: (a) design the model's organization before starting to write code,(b) provide the ability to observe all parts of the model from the beginning,(c) make an extensive effort to understand how the model executes how often different pieces of code are called by which objects, and (d) design the software to resemble the system being mod-eled, which helps maintain an understanding of the software. Strategies for meeting these guidelines include planning adequate resources for software development, using software professionals to implement models and using tools like Swarm that are designed specifically for IBMs. [source] How multiple external representations are used and how they can be made more usefulAPPLIED COGNITIVE PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 9 2009Rolf Schwonke In two studies, students' difficulties in using multiple external representations were effectively addressed. In a first explorative study (N,=,16), we investigated the allocation of visual attention (as assessed by gaze data) on external representations, its relation to learning and learners' beliefs on the representations' functions. Results confirmed that students were not aware of the functions. In a subsequent experiment (N,=,30), we analysed effects of informing students about the function of diagrams in worked examples on learning, mediating effects of visual attention and moderating effects of prior knowledge. The instruction had strong effects on learning, which were partially mediated by visual attention. Prior knowledge moderated both, the effects of the instruction on visual attention and of visual attention on learning. Implications for research into multiple representations and instructional design are discussed. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] | ||||||||||