Today…
• General Housekeeping• MiAmE takes over…• Simulations: Some thought• Brief introduction to your research
projects• Meeting with your parole officer
Reminders
• First summary in your annotated bibliography due today– Two pages– Format as suggested by prelim questions
http://www.msu.edu/user/pdickson/cep901/prelimprocedures.htm#CEPSE%20Preliminary%20Exam%20Questions
• MiAmE needs to – Sum up the online activity for the yahoogroup AND– Create a web page for today’s activity. Send it to
Matt
Reminders
• Not everybody has their web site up– Send Matt the link– And please no word documents
• Readings are up for next week, DKSC is in charge (instructions by Thursday please)
• Please post to the yahoogroup by the deadline (as decided by the group of the week)– This means you (you know who you are)! No
exceptions!
See \ Get …
• Simulations afford us the opportunity to do otherwise impossible, difficult, or impractical (e.g., launch a rocket, see the insides of a frog, make money by marrying multiple times)
– IMPOSSIBLE: Distorts reality (e.g., shooting someone in a video game, or killing your sims by making them fall into the pool)
– DIFFICULT or IMPRACTICAL: Virtual pendulum, why not a real one? Why not interact with real people?
…
• Simulations can focus on the relevant, and ignore the irrelevant (i.e. they can make the “phenomena” more ideal, ignore air resistance; don’t have to worry about not cleaning up)
– Who gets to decide?
– What if the “irrelevant” is relevant?
– Danger of oversimplifying
– Confusing the theory with reality
– Hiding the process of construction and underlying theory and model
…
• Simulations allow us to make manipulations and see their effects (it doesn’t matter how far you push the ball, if you don’t clean up things will get messy)
– Manipulations might not be possible in the real world (making people change sexual orientation by forcing them to act in certain ways)
– Cognitive overload: requires reasoning about multiple causations (hard to keep track of what multiple Sims are doing)
…
• Simulations can make stuff that is hidden in the real world visible (e.g. vectors of momentum, a trail of movement, color to represent temperature, etc. Intentions, ghosts etc.) -- conceptual hallucinations multiplied many times over.
– Lack of correspondence between reality and the simulation (far too many to mention)
– Obscures the process of deciding what to make visible, and what representations are profitable for that phenomena (dependent on the developer of the system).
…
• Allows theory building and modeling. By simulating, the process of modeling becomes visible, accessible, assessable, and sharable (can play games with different characters, economies etc.)
• -- conceptual hallucinations multiplied many times over.
– Who’s doing the theory building and modeling? Why should I believe them?
– Hides the complexity of real experience
… and so?• Representations …
• depend on artistic conventions
• work within the matrix of scientific history, discourse and practice (hidden assumptions and biases)
• are theory laden (mixed blessing)
• construct reality as much as are constructed by reality
• are working conceptual hallucinations
Some contrasts to think about
• Experential versus Symbolic• Surface versus Deep structure• Simple versus Complex
White & Frederiksen, 2001
• Simulation / Modeling fits into a cycle of scientific inquiry (doesn’t replace it)
White & Frederiksen, 2001
• Argue that reflective assessment is important for students to make part of simulation (doing is not enough)
• At each step of the inquiry, students use these categories to evaluate themselves and each other.
• Study compared outcomes for students who have the REFLECTIVE ASSESSMENT included, versus those who did not. (Both groups of students had the same curriculum and use of simulation).
Simulations: Researchable issues
• Is simulation better suited for particular types of learning (which types? For whom?)
• Are simulations more engaging? (For whom? With what personal characteristics?)
• Does learning with simulation enhance learners feelings of self-efficacy?
Simulations: Researchable issues
• Can people learn more with simulations than other types of learning?– Declarative knowledge– Procedural knowledge– Causal knowledge– Transferable knowledge
• Does the introduction of simulation change the nature of the classroom? (ie. From I-R-E to something “better”)
Research issues contd.
• What makes a good simulation?• Resemblance with reality?• Fun?• Correct causal structure?• Graphics?• Interactive?
• When to use simulations?– Before, during or after some subject familiarity?
Contd.
• Connections?– Still vs. dynamic illustration– Hands on vs. didactic teaching– Learner-centered versus Teacher-centered– Mental models– Analogical reasoning– Model based reasoning– Scientific reasoning
For next week
• Visit by other prosem students– To discuss APA style (get your manuals)
• Start thinking of research project– And your next reading
•
Topic for next week: hypermeDia– Guest visit by Matt Koehler