doi: 10.7763/IJIET.2012.V2.200
The Contribution of Agent Based Modeling to Students" Evolving Understanding of Complexity
Kamel Hashem
,
David Mioduser
Abstract
This paper describes part of a study about Learning-by-Modeling (LbM). Previous research indicates that involvement with modeling scientific phenomena and complex systems can play a powerful role in science learning. Some researchers argue with this view indicating that models and modeling do not contribute to understanding complexity concepts, since these increases the cognitive load on students. This study will investigate the effect of different modes of involvement in exploring scientific phenomena using computer agent modeling tools, on students’ understanding of complexity concepts. Quantitative and qualitative methods are used to report about 121 freshmen students that engaged in participatory simulations about complex phenomena, showing emergent, self organized and decentralized patterns. Results show that LbM plays a major role in students' concept formation about complexity concepts.
Keywords
- Learning by modeling
- Agent Based Modeling Complex systems
- Mental models
How to Cite
Kamel Hashem and David Mioduser, "The Contribution of Agent Based Modeling to Students" Evolving Understanding of Complexity," International Journal of Information and Education Technology, vol. 2, no. 5, pp. 538-542, 2012. https://doi.org/10.7763/IJIET.2012.V2.200
Copyright & License
Copyright © 2012 by the authors. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited (CC BY 4.0).