Date of Award

Spring 2010

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Department

Computational Modeling & Simulation Engineering

Program/Concentration

Modeling and Simulation

Committee Director

Yuzhong Shen

Committee Member

Ginger Watson

Committee Member

Jiang Li

Call Number for Print

Special Collections LD4331.E58 D55 2010

Abstract

There is a substantial debate concerning the place of technology in education. This debate has been going on over every technology introduced through at least three millennia although the modern version takes place in journal articles. Technology, in the general sense, is already in the educational arena 1n ways which have become so commonplace that we hardly question them today. More modern technologies, however, meet perpetual resistance in achieving their potential. This paper calls into question the most recent trend in research and suggests a new research paradigm which focuses not only on student achievement, but on a variety of other issues which are known to affect the learning experience. As an example and first step in using this new research paradigm, Modeling and Simulation (M&S) was experimentally examined.

The experiment was planned and executed with the cooperation and consent of the Richmond County School System of Warsaw, Virginia. The experimental subjects were minors, specifically second grade students. The group was divided randomly into control and experimental subjects. Through careful preparation, the experiment was integrated with normal classroom procedures in order to pose the least possible risk to these vulnerable test subjects. Testing instrumentation was used before and after the experiments to measure student knowledge. The scores were compared in order to gauge the learning which had taken place during the experiment.

Three distinct instructional methods were used to introduce M&S into the classroom. A separate software simulation was produced for each of these methods. The simulations focused on simplicity and non-numerical analysis. This decision was in keeping with the knowledge and anticipated skill set of the test subjects. Instead of numerical data, each of the simulations made use of simple graphical animation in order to visually depict quantities and directions. The simulations were verified by qualified educators and validated mathematically to ensure that the simulations produced accurate results. In one case the validation was carried on by a US Navy civilian expert in electromagnetic radiation.

An analysis of the experimental results showed no comparable difference between the experimental and control subjects in any of the experimental instructional methods. Under the new research paradigm this finding justifies the use of M&S in the classroom. At the same time anecdotal evidence was searched for any indications of potential educational benefits. This evidence was delineated and several potential benefits were selected for future research. Under the new research paradigm these benefits will need to be quantified in future research in order to validate the contribution of M&S to the classroom.

Rights

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DOI

10.25777/ks4w-kb84

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