Verification and validation of simulation models

Simulation Models;econometrics

Verification and validation of models

Simulation Models;econometrics

How the Conception of Knowledge Influences Our Educational Practices: Toward a Philosophical Understanding of Epistemology in Education

This paper explores how the conception and valuation of the knowledge within our educational practices determines the planning, writing, and implementation of the curriculum. There is a pressing need for educators to philosophically and systematically understand the relationship between the foundational epistemological beliefs that ground a curriculum and its relationship to forming the notions of competency, pedagogy, and the methods for evaluating and assessing student progress. These issues are not only relevant, but crucial when attempting to justify a particular conception of education, which relates directly to the student\u27s potential for intellectual growth and social development. It may be argued that the comprehensive theory of curriculum planning manifests the intersection of philosophical critique, social inquiry, and psychological theory, and the author believes that bringing philosophy, and a formal methodology, to bear on the problems of education represents an instance where philosophy might contribute in a direct manner to the active and ongoing process of current educational reform

Truth and Correctness: Towards A Pluralist Framework for Validating Information Systems Research

Research in information systems includes a wide range of approaches that make a contribution in terms of knowledge, understanding, or practical developments. However, empirical studies show that discussion of validity in research is often weak. In this paper we examine the nature of truth and relatedly correctness in order to construct a validation framework that can potentially encompass all the varied forms of research. Current debates within philosophy revolve around the idea of a pluralist view of truth – that there may be different forms of truth de-pending on context or domain. Related to truth is the wider concept of correctness – propositions may be true (and therefore correct) but correctness can also be applied to actions, performances or behavior. Based on these two concepts, we develop a framework for research validity and apply it to a range of research forms including positivist, mathematical, interpretive, design science, critical and action-oriented

Disciplined Exploration of Emergence Using Multi-Agent Simulation Framework

In recent years the concept of emergence has gained much attention as ICT systems have started exhibiting properties usually associated with complex systems. Although emergence creates many problems for engineering complex ICT systems by introducing undesired behaviour, it also offers many possibilities for advance in the area of adaptive self-organizing systems. However, at the moment the inability to predict and control emergent phenomena prevents us from exploring its full potential or avoiding problems in existing complex systems. Towards this end, this paper proposes a framework for empirical study of complex systems exhibiting emergence. The framework relies on agent-oriented modelling and simulation as a tool for examination of specific manifestations of emergence. The main idea is to use an iterative simulation process in order to build a coarse taxonomy of causal relationships between the micro- and macro layers. In addition to the detailed description of the framework, the paper also discusses the corresponding verification and validation processes as important factor for the success of such a study