Simulation and Learning A Model-Centered Approach

• Main Author: Landriscina, Franco (Author)
• Other Authors: Seel, Norbert (Editor)
• Format: Book
• Language: English
• Published: New York Springer 2013
• Subjects: Learning > Computer simulation; Educational technology > Computer simulation
• Online Access: Click Here to View Status and Holdings.

 The main idea of this book is that to comprehend the instructional potential of simulation and to design effective simulation-based learning environments, one has to consider both what happens inside the computer and inside the students' minds. The framework adopted to do this is model-centered learning, in which simulation is seen as particularly effective when learning requires a restructuring of the individual mental models of the students, as in conceptual change. Mental models are by themselves simulations, and thus simulation models can extend our biological capacity to carry out simulative reasoning. For this reason, recent approaches in cognitive science like embodied cognition and the extended mind hypothesis are also considered in the book. A conceptual model called the "epistemic simulation cycle" is proposed as a blueprint for the comprehension of the cognitive activities involved in simulation-based learning and for instructional design.