Model-Building and the Use of Computer Simulation of Dynamic Systems

Abstract

The Systems Thinking and Curriculum Innovation (STACI) Project is a multi-year research effort intended to examine the cognitive impact of learning from a systems thinking approach to instruction and from using simulation-modeling software. Systems thinking is an analytic problem solving tool that can be integrated into courses to supplement and enhance instruction in a variety of content areas. The purpose of the study is to test the potentials and effects of using the technology-based approach in secondary school curricula to teach content-specific knowledge as well as general problem solving skills. The research focuses on the effects of introducing a software environment that enables students to learn from and make concrete multiple representations of scientific, mathematical, and historical phenomena.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Mathematical Science Education Board, [Press release], National Research Council, Washington, D.C., January, 1987.

National Science Board Commission on Precollege Education in Mathematics, Science, and Technology, Educating Americans for the 21st Century, National Science Foundation, Washington, D.C., 1983.

Forrester

J. W.

, Principles of Systems, MIT Press, Cambridge, 1968.

Roberts

Andersen

Deal

Garet

Shaffer

, Introduction to Computer Simulation: A System Dynamics Modeling Approach, Addison-Wesley, Reading, Massachusetts, 1983.

Richmond

, STELLA [Computer program], High Performance Systems, Lyme, New Hampshire, 1985.

O'Brien

, The Water Tank Problem, unpublished curriculum materials, Brattleboro Union High School, Brattleboro, Vermont, 1987.

Mandinach

E. B.

Thorpe

M. E.

, The Systems Thinking and Curriculum Innovation Project, Technology and Learning, 1:2, pp. 1, 10–11, 1987.

Mandinach

E. B.

Thorpe

M. E.

, The Systems Thinking and Curriculum Innovation Project: Technical Report, Part I (TR87-6), Harvard University, Educational Technology Center, Cambridge, 1987.

Mandinach

E. B.

, Systems Thinking and Curriculum Innovation: A Naturally Occurring Classroom Study (STACI Rep. No. 1), Educational Testing Service, Princeton, New Jersey, 1986.

10.

Resnick

L. B.

, Education and Learning to Think, Academy Press, Washington, D.C., 1987.

11.

Mandinach

E. B.

Thorpe

M. E.

Lahart

C. M.

, The Impact of the Systems Thinking Approach on Teaching and Learning Activities, Educational Testing Service, Princeton, New Jersey, 1988.

12.

Mandinach

E. B.

Thorpe

M. E.

, The Systems Thinking and Curriculum Innovation Project: Technical Report, Part 2 (TR88-12), Harvard University, Educational Technology Center, Cambridge, 1988.

13.

Miller

Jr. Dillon

T. J.

Smith

M. K.

, Concepts in Physics, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Orlando, 1980.