The full contents page of the electronic version of my book

Simulation Technology and Parallelism
in
Learning Environments

Methods, Concepts, Models and Systems

Textbook of Educational Computer Simulation Technology

From Mathematical Model to Simulation Program

by Rik Min
University of Twente; the Netherlands

Most of the figures - as referenced in the text - are not ready yet; also the chaperts 12 and 13. See therefor the textbook itself. Publisher is Academic Book Center, De Lier, 1995. ISBN 90-5478-036-3.

PART 1: LEARNING CONCEPTS


PROGRAMS

LISTINGS


Complete listing of the model of the computer simulation programs of the University of Twente, in Pascal, used in the text:

SYSTEMS


The following simulation systems and/or modelling systems are discribed in this book:

1) Copyrights of MacTHESIS, MacTHESIS (version HyperCard), HyperTHESIS, SuperTHESIS, THESIS (version VAX 11/780): University of Twente, Faculty of Educational Science and Technology; F.B.M. Min and H.B. Reimerink (1992). THESIS (MS.DOS version): P.G. van Schaick Zillesen, Van Hall Instutuut Groningen.

2) The systems and the names Mosaikk / SimTek, STELLA, TUTSIM, CSMP and LabView are trademarked.

3) The models of ECONOMY (Miltenburg, Rijswijk), BRINE PURIFICATION / PEKEL (from AKZO, Hengelo and De Niet, Enschede) and PERCH / BAARS (from the University of Wageningen) are trademarked. The models - and sometimes the programs - are only for scientifical purposes. See also the notes in the text of the corresponding chapters.

4) The copyrights of the following programs (the English and the Dutch names) are with F.B.M. Min, van P.G. Schaick Zillesen, M. Renkema and/or B. Reimerink or others persons of the University of Twente: CARDIO, AORTA, CHEMISTRY, PHYSICIAN / ARTS, BIOLOGY / ECOLOGY, SUN HEATER / BOILER, MacCOAT, FLOWSIM, CASCADE, PLC, BALL, ECONOMY, LEMMINGEN, FLUIDS, ECG / HEART / HART, ANAMNESE, FOOD CHAIN / VIJVER, BRINE PURIFICATION / PEKEL, PERCH / BAARS, AXON, BOILE GAY LUSSAC, RC-NETWORKS, TRANSISTOR, CELLS.

FOREWORD


Dr. Min's book is based on a very long accumulation of experience, of himself and of many students of the Faculty of Educational Science and Technology in The Netherlands. Within this Faculty, one of the departments focuses on the Technology of Educational Instrumentation; this book illustrates one of the directions in which such a focus can develop.

A particular strength of this book is the rich use of examples and visualization. Like the simulations he describes, Dr. Min brings concepts into better clarity by illustrating their important aspects and interrelationships. The many screen displays given in the book not only bring the reader in close touch with the many simulation programs that are described, but also continually reinforce the distinction between model and simulation, which is at the heart of Dr. Min's methodology.

This methodology itself has evolved into a highly specialized field within the broad terrain of computer related educational instrumentation and within the subset terrain of educational computer simulation software. However, even as Dr. Min has sharpened his specialization area, he also shows how it can be opened and applied very broadly. The many applications and examples described in this book show how a particular approach to model / simulation instrumentation technology can be put to use in a wealth of different learning contexts and can stimulate a broad variety of researchable issues.

Another important aspect of Dr. Min's work is his awareness of the instructional context in which his computer simulations are to be used. He gives consideration to the support materials that can accompany simulation use in instructional settings, and throughout his work he assumes always that the user is working within the context of a meaningful learning environment where manipulation of a welldefined model is done for the development of understanding of the system being modelled and the relationships within it.

When many years of (still) evolving work of a number of persons is being synthesized, there are numerous ways in which this synthesis can be organized. A book sets a linear order, and within this confine, Dr. Min has chosen an organization by generic topics Methods, Techniques, Systems, Models, and Programs. However, as his CD-ROM which includes the text and software material referred to in this book shows, there are many other perspectives by which this book could be considered. Some other perspectives include: issues related to visualization in electronic learning environments, issues related to learner control, issues related to coaching and embedded instructional support, issues related to feedback strategies, and issues related to screen design variations. Around each of these and other such perspectives, many useful considerations can be drawn that are as relevant outside the framework of Dr. Min's approach to educational simulation software as they are within it. Instructional technologists involved in educational software design from the perspectives of different types of software can benefit from studying the many design variations considered by Dr. Min within his particular specialized approach. The drawing out of these more general issues related to the design of electronic learning environments is facilitated by the many visualized examples in the book and by the presence of the text and simulation materials stored in a hypertexttype organization on a CD-ROM disk. The materials provide a rich base from which many different aspects of educational design and development can be considered.


In itself, however, the book achieves its breadth through its strategy of depth within a particular focus area. For those wishing to know more about instrumentation for the electronic simulation of mathematical models for use in instructional contexts, this is the book to read.

PREFACE


At the Faculty of Educational Science and Technology at the University of Twente in Enschede, the Netherlands, some universal design systems have been developed with which a trained courseware designer can make computer simulation programs in the fields of physics, biology, medical science, economics and technical training applications. The educational computer simulation programs created with this system are characterized by highly graphic interface.

This book provides an introduction to the use of computer simulation in learning and training, based on models and simulation as a method of learning and the principles of learning environments. The first three chapters present an overview of learning environment concepts and techniques, technical concepts, designing concepts, languages, hardware as well as presentation, acceptation and communication techniques.

Chapters 2 and 3 describe the aspects of software, hardware and environments for computer simulation, the designing philosophy, the concepts of parallelism and the Parallel Instruction theory. There are userinterfaces based on so called first order parallelism and second order parallelism.

The simulation design systems MacTHESIS is described. There is a Macintosh version: MacTHESIS, and an MS-DOS version of the same system: THESIS. The simulation programs built with MacTHESIS are based upon the desk top philosophy and theories about parallelism. The programs made with MacTHESIS resemble loose sheets of paper, which can be moved on the screen by mouse, causing visualized dynamic processes to occur on the pages. By handling the mouse in special 'inclick regions' one can intervene in the dynamic processes of the simulation programs. All the models underlying the computer simulation programs built with MacTHESIS (Macintosh) can simply be implemented in THESIS (MS-DOS) and vice versa.

MacTHESIS on the Macintosh and THESIS on MS-DOS machines use libraries (SIMLIB) with procedures and functions to build easy to use computer simulation programs. In 1995 the university developed an editor tool for building a simulation program with MacTHESIS: MacSimAuthor. This tool will be described later.

The designer (or the 'second designer', the teacher at school) can make a choice of paper materials or computer based instructional materials built with HyperCard, SuperCard, or AuthorWare Professional (Course of Action) for coaching students.

The remaining chapters (4 through 14) introduce a variety of different models for computer simulation programs, tested using one of these simulation systems. The most important educational aspects of these models are described and intervention possibilities are mentioned along with the most important model equations and numerical values.

The book contains a number of figures and 'screen dumps' that illustrate the computer simulation programs discussed. Most of the examples are given for Macintosh but for some programs the MS-DOS version is given. This book is based on 3 courses the author gives at the University of Twente: Most of the prototypes have been evaluated at schools or laboratories by students and assistants of the University of Twente.

In the first two chapters terms are mentioned incidentally. An explanation will be given in the following chapters. In general an attempt has been made to refer directly to the chapters concerned. Technical jargon is used as little as possible, but it is often functional and has therefore not been avoided. The terms are printed between ' ' when they are used for the first time. Synonyms are put between brackets. Sometimes these synonyms are used in the rest of the text.


PREMISES

Simulation programs in this book are based on the concept of parallelism, the Parallel Instruction theory and the MacTHESIS philosophy. The design method used is the PITS method. These premises are described in the "Interactive Learning International", Vol. 8, No. 3 of July-September 1992 and in the "Britsh Journal of Educational Technology", Vol. 25, No. 2 of May 1994.


CD.ROM


All the simulation programs as described in this book, even the MacTHESIS system and research articles about it, are available on CD.ROM.



ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS


The author wishes to thank the following people for their contribution: