Graphical simulation of numerical algorithms : an approach based on code instrumentation and Java technologies

We want to create a working tool for mathematics teachers and a corresponding learning tool for students, namely a graphical simulator of mathematical algorithms (GraSMa). To achieve it we try two different strategies. We started by annotate manually the original algorithm with inspector functions. Now we are testing a new approach that aims to automatically annotate the original code with inspector functions. To achieve this we are developing a language translator module that enables to comment automatically any code written in Octave language. The run of the annotated code gated by one of these two ways, records in a XML (eXtensible Markup Language) file everything that happened during the execution. Subsequently, the XML file is parsed by a Java application that graphically represents the mathematic objects and their behaviour during execution. The final application will be accessed on-line through a website (WebGraSMa) which is currently under development. In this paper we report and discuss about the procedures followed and present some intermediate results

Simulador gráfico de algoritmos matemáticos

O objetivo principal do trabalho de investigação foi desenvolver uma ferramenta computacional que possa ser usada por professores e alunos no ensino dos Métodos Numéricos. A ferramenta, designada por GraSMA (Graphical Simulator of Mathematical Algorithms), permite visualizar no ecrã a execução dos correspondentes algoritmos. Esta ferramenta integra vários softwares open source e baseia-se na anotação automática de código Octave com funções de inspeção que permitem captar a sucessão de valores e produzir uma animação do funcionamento do método. A validação do GraSMA como ferramenta de apoio à lecionação destes métodos foi feita através de uma experiência feita em contexto de sala de aula que obteve resultados muito positivos conforme será descrito neste artigo

Graphical simulation of numerical algorithms - an aproach based on code instrumentation and Java technologies

We want to create a working tool for mathematics teachers and a corresponding learning tool for students, namely a graphical simulator of mathematical algorithms (GraSMa). To achieve it we try two different strategies. We started by annotating manually the original algorithm with inspector functions. Now we are testing a new approach that aims at automatically annotating the original code with inspector functions. To achieve this we are developing a language translator module that enables us to comment automatically on any code written in Octave language. The run of the annotated code gated by one of these two ways, records in a XML (eXtensible Markup Language) file everything that happened during the execution. Subsequently, the XML file is parsed by a Java application that graphically represents the mathematic objects and their behaviour during execution. The final application will be accessed on-line through a website (WebGraSMa) which is currently under development. In this paper we report and discuss about the procedures followed and present some intermediate results

VII Congresso Mundial de Estilos de Aprendizagem: livro de atas

Todos os artigos submetidos ao VII Congresso Mundial de Estilos de Aprendizagem foram sujeitos a um processo de revisão pela Comissão Científica antes de serem aceites para publicação