Self‐directed learning in simulation‐based discovery environments

Abstract

SIMQUEST is an authoring system for designing and creating simulation‐based learning environments. The special character of SIMQUEST learning environments is that they include cognitive support for learners which means that they provide learners with support in the discovery process. In SIMQUEST learning environments, a balance is sought between direct guidance of the learning process and sufficient freedom for learners to regulate the learning process themselves. This paper describes the basic mechanisms of the SIMQUEST learning and authoring environments. The functionality authors have in providing the learner with guidance and some of the experiences on how authors use these opportunities and learners employ the cognitive support are reported.

Instructional Support for Intuitive Knowledge Acquisition When Learning with an Ecological Computer Simulation

“…De Jong and van Joolingen [2] differentiate four types of difficulties learners may experience during discovery learning. The current study focuses on two problems learners often encounter when interpreting data and on difficulties pertaining to self-regulation when learning with a scientific computer simulation [13,15].…”

“…Providing learners permanent access to specific information, such as principles, concepts, terms or facts of a domain, during their interaction with the computer program seems beneficial for knowledge acquisition [53], whereas offering this information earlier on seems less effective [53,59]. Another kind of interpretative support is concrete assignments that learners have to work on using computer simulations [13,60].…”

“…Numerous studies show that scientific discovery learning often represents an obstacle for students' learning, e.g., references [5,[13][14][15][16][17]. However, providing students with methods of learning with computer simulations supplemented with specific instructional support can enhance knowledge gain [2].…”

A digital tool set for systematic model design in process-engineering education

“…The modelling and simulation software that is specifically aimed at education, such as Stella, 20sim or SMART (Merriënboer 1997, Jong 1998, Teodoro 1998, Dimitracopoulou 1999, Kramer 2001, 20Sim 2005, Berkeley Madonna 2005, Stella 2005) is usually more geared towards learning from existing models by 'playing' with them and not learning how to design new models. In addition, the correct use of units when building a model is of major importance.…”

First-person science inquiry in virtual ambient environments

“…Virtual ambients may be static or dynamic, but unlike traditional simulations, they offer users no direct control over independent variables. This constraint is designed to reduce the cognitive burden of exploring complex input spaces [1,2,3] by limiting young learners to familiar concepts and activities: moving around, seeing things at different scales, and imagining the past and future. It does not preclude the articulation and investigation of causal hypotheses; it simply shifts the burden from artificially manipulating preconditions to finding instances of varying preconditions in space or time.…”