Simulations in the Classroom: Creating an Engaging Pedagogy

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Simulations in the ClassroomCreating an
Engaging Pedagogy
Scott A. Sinex Department of Physical Sciences
and Engineering Prince Georges Community College
Presented at the Computation and Science for
Teachers Workshop held at the Pittsburgh
Supercomputing Center, Pittsburgh, PA on 23-27
June 2008
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Students should

• Deal with data and graphs from
• experimental results
• prepared data sets from Internet
• Look for trends
• Introduce mathematical modeling
• Regression
• Goodness of Fit

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Use simulations

• To examine microscopic interactions
• NetLogo
• Agent Sheets
• Many Java applets on the Internet
• To explode mathematics of macroscopic
  interactions
• Excelets
• Vensim or Stella

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Where do we start?

• Select a single basic modeling tool Excel
• Learn some principles of mathematical modeling
• Develop computationally-based simulations

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An ideal approach
Single variable experiment
Multivariable simulation
Develop an ideal mathematical model
Add error to make real-world
science process oriented
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Guided instruction

• Written guided-inquiry or discovery based
  instructions (think like your students when you
  pose questions!)
• Predict-test-analyze
• Try it and then revise/rewrite it!!!!!

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Ultimately

• Integrated mathematics and science
• A very science process oriented approach
• Your students could be developing models on their
  own

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This is just the beginning

• Computational science can study
• Weather and climate
• Disease spread
• Engineering design
• See the PSC Scientific Visualization Gallery
• http//www.psc.edu/research/graphics/gallery

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Let the journey begin!!!!! but first some coffee
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Resources

• Exercises developed by previous CAST participants
• http//www.psc.edu/eot/k12/cast.php (see
  previous years)
• Computational Resources by MVHS
• http//mvhs.shodor.org/CAST2008
• Developers Guide to Excelets
• http//academic.pgcc.edu/ssinex/excelets
• Introduction to Computational Science Angela B.
  Shiflet and George W. Shiflet
• http//wofford-ecs.org/IntroComputationalScience

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Data analysis

• Graphing with Excel LabWrite
• http//www.ncsu.edu/labwrite/res/gt/gt-menu.html
• Using Excel for Handling, Graphing, and Analyzing
  Scientific Data  A Resource for Science and
  Mathematics Students
• http//academic.pgcc.edu/psc/Excel_booklet.pdf

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Data sets

• Quantitative Environmental Learning Project
  (QELP) as Excel files
• http//seattlecentral.edu/qelp/Data.html
• Exploring Data datasets as Excel files
• http//exploringdata.cqu.edu.au/datasets.htm

Email contact ssinex_at_pgcc.edu