Towards the Use of Interactive Simulation for Effective e-Learning in University Classroom Environment

In this PhD thesis, the utilisation of interactive simulation in a higher education e-learning classroom environment was explored and its effectiveness was experimentally evaluated by engaging university students in a classroom setting. Two case studies were carried out for the experimental evaluation of the proposed novel interactive simulation e-learning tool. In the first case study, the use of interactive agent-based simulation was demonstrated in teaching complex adaptive system concepts in the area of ecology to university students and its effectiveness was measured in a classroom environment. In a lab intervention using a novel interactive agent-based simulation (built in NetLogo). For the purpose of teaching complex adaptive systems such as the concept of spatially-explicit predator prey interaction to undergraduate and postgraduate students in the University of Stirling. The effectiveness of using the interactive simulation was investigated by using the NetLogo software and compared with non-interactive simulation built using R programming language. The experimental evaluation was carried out using a total of 38 students. Results of this case study demonstrates that the students found interactive agent-based simulation to be more engaging, effective and user friendly as compare to the non-interactive simulation. In the second case study, a novel interactive simulation game was developed (in NetLogo) and its effectiveness in teaching and learning of complex concepts in the field of marine ecology was demonstrated. This case study makes a twofold contribution. Firstly, the presentation of a novel interactive simulation game, developed specifically for use in undergraduate and postgraduate courses in the area of marine ecology. This novel interactive simulation game is designed to help learners to explore a mathematical model of fishery population growth and understand the principles for sustainable fisheries. Secondly, the comparison of two different methods of using the interactive simulation game within the classroom was investigated: learning from active exploration of the interactive simulation game compared with learning from an expert demonstration of the interactive simulation game. The case study demonstrated the effectiveness of learning from passive viewing of an expert demonstration of the interactive simulation game over learning from active exploration of the interactive simulation game without expert guidance, for teaching complex concepts sustainable fishery management. A mixed methods study design was used, using both quantitative and qualitative methods to compare the learning effectiveness of the two approaches, and the students’ preferences. The investigation was carried out by running interventions with a mixture of undergraduate and postgraduate students from the University of Stirling in a classroom environment. A total of 74 participants were recruited from undergraduate and postgraduate level for both case studies. This thesis demonstrated through two case studies effectiveness of the proposed novel interactive simulation in university e-learning classroom environment

Eye on Collaborative Creativity : Insights From Multiple-Person Mobile Gaze Tracking in the Context of Collaborative Design

Early Career WorkshopNon peer reviewe

Investigating Science Teachers\u27 Understanding and Teaching of Complex Systems

This study investigates science teachers\u27 understanding and teaching of complex systems. The field of complex systems is the study of how parts of a system give rise to its collective behaviors. Since the 1990s, scientific and educational agencies have advocated the importance of complex systems in science education. Despite this call for instructional emphasis in complex systems, recent studies have shown that students continue to have poor understanding of these systems. Current efforts in addressing this problem have focused on promoting student learning of complex systems. There are also a few studies that examine this problem from a teacher perspective. While these endeavors have yielded various successes and discoveries, the findings concerning teachers\u27 complexity understanding and instructional practices are not conclusive. This is because most studies are small-scale, involve selective teachers, or investigate singular aspects of complex systems understanding. In short, we have yet to gain a thorough insight of the extent science teachers understand and teach complex systems. This research addresses the gaps directly by looking at science teachers\u27 understanding and teaching of complex systems. It examines what they know and teach about complex systems, how their instructional practices may be influenced by their understanding and why the ideas may be difficult to comprehend and teach. This research was conducted with 90 11th and 12th grades science teachers across six Singapore schools. A mixed methods design was used. The findings revealed that while science teachers might appreciate the complex nature of systems, their understanding was not comprehensive: few teachers had prior knowledge of this domain; and certain complex systems ideas appeared better understood than others. It was also found that complex systems ideas were conveyed in science lessons but the extent the ideas were taught was uneven. These ideas were conveyed more often in biology than in chemistry and physics, and certain ideas were more explicitly taught. Teachers with better complex systems understanding were also better able to convey these ideas in their lessons. Several reasons impeding teachers\u27 understanding and teaching of complex systems were also revealed. Implications for research and professional development for science teachers are discussed

Learning evolution through socioscientific issues

No abstract available.publishe

Human environment interactions and collaborative adaptive capacity building in a resilience framework

2012 Spring.Includes bibliographical references.Being firmly in the Anthropocene Era--a period in humanity's evolution where human behavior and dominance is significantly impacting the earth's systems, my research objective was in response to the concern and call of the National Science Foundation and of the International Human Dimensions Programme on Global Environmental Change that humanity needs to develop new strategies to tackle complex anthropogenic issues impacting the global environment and that there should be a focus on human behavior to effect change. Through a collaborative tri-phase dual model research initiative in the back country of Burntwater, Arizona in the Houck Chapter on the Navajo Nation, a small group of Navajo, using a photovoice and artvoice technique, began an exploration into community issues and concerns. The outcome confirmed that illegal trash dumping was a serious matter to the community in need of attention. Through multiple community gatherings the illegal trash dumping issue was discussed and explored within the workings of a Participatory Social Frame Work of Action - Collaborative Adaptive Capacity Building (PSFA-CACB) conceptual model. Using data from my field site I was able to partially inform a theoretical agent-based model Taking Care of the Land - Human Environment Interactions (TCL-HEI). Using the TCL-HEI model I was then able to theoretically illustrate within a resilience framework a social-ecological system regime basin shift from an undesirable state to a desirable state. This shift resulted from a change in the system's stability landscape variables through the introduction of a combination of consultative behavior and economic incentive model parameters. The ultimate objective of the tri-phase dual-model approach was to show how local and regional sustainable entrepreneurial and cooperative action might change illegal trash dumping behavior through a recycling and waste-to-fuels processing program. I further show how the effect of such an initiative would result in mitigating environmental degradation by lessening illegal trash dumping sites and landfill deposits while creating jobs and empowering a local population. It is my hope that the ramifications of this study might be considered at the Chapter, Agency and Nation levels on the Navajo Nation to explore possibilities of contracting-out for the development of a clean-energy waste-to-fuels processing facility and program

Proceedings, MSVSCC 2016

Proceedings of the 10th Annual Modeling, Simulation & Visualization Student Capstone Conference held on April 14, 2016 at VMASC in Suffolk, Virginia