Special Feature Learning with Computer Simulations

Computer graphics, visual imagery, and spatial thought

“…Although we think of computer graphics as a relatively new phenomenon, they have been used for well over a decade as an instructional aid (Hammond, 1971). Complex concepts once presented in strictly a verbal mode or in a two-dimensional, static graphic display can now be augmented and expanded with computer simulations (Hortin, 1982;Bork, 1979). Animation, simulation, and other graphic capabilities have been used in engineering (Pleck, 1975;Wozny, 1978), physics (diSessa, 1982 andChapter Six in this volume;Hughes, 1974), and mathematics (Hooper, 1982;Wegman, 1974).…”