Graphical Means for Inspecting Qualitative Models of System Behaviour

Fuente: ERIC Institute of Education Sciences
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Main Authors: Bouwer, Anders, Bredeweg, Bert
Format: Recurso educativo Open Access
Language:en
Published: 2010
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author Bouwer, Anders
Bredeweg, Bert
author_facet Bouwer, Anders
Bredeweg, Bert
Bouwer, Anders
Bredeweg, Bert
collection Education Resources Information Center
contents Graphical Means for Inspecting Qualitative Models of System Behaviour Bouwer, Anders Bredeweg, Bert Foreign Countries Knowledge Representation Ecology Models Systems Approach Computer Simulation Simulated Environment Prediction Graphs Computer Graphics Computer Software Computer Software Evaluation Computer Uses in Education This article presents the design and evaluation of a tool for inspecting conceptual models of system behaviour. The basis for this research is the Garp framework for qualitative simulation. This framework includes modelling primitives, such as entities, quantities and causal dependencies, which are combined into model fragments and scenarios. Given a library of model fragments and a scenario describing an initial situation, the qualitative simulation engine generates predictions in the form of a state-transition graph. This rich knowledge representation has potential for educational purposes. However, communicating the contents of simulation models effectively to learners is not trivial. The predicate logic format used by Garp is not easy for non-experts to understand, and a simulation often contains so much information that it is difficult to get an overview while still having access to detailed information. To address these problems, a tool has been developed that generates graphical representations of the information contained in a qualitative simulation. This tool, named VisiGarp, incorporates a vocabulary of graphical elements for model ingredients and relationships, and combines these into interactive diagrams. VisiGarp has been evaluated by thirty students, with promising results, using a setup which included simulation results and exercises about Brazilian Cerrado ecology. (Contains 2 tables, 15 figures, and 4 footnotes.)
format Recurso educativo Open Access
id eric_EJ874568
institution ERIC Institute of Education Sciences
language en
publishDate 2010
record_format eric
spellingShingle Graphical Means for Inspecting Qualitative Models of System Behaviour
Bouwer, Anders
Bredeweg, Bert
Foreign Countries
Knowledge Representation
Ecology
Models
Systems Approach
Computer Simulation
Simulated Environment
Prediction
Graphs
Computer Graphics
Computer Software
Computer Software Evaluation
Computer Uses in Education
Graphical Means for Inspecting Qualitative Models of System Behaviour Bouwer, Anders Bredeweg, Bert Foreign Countries Knowledge Representation Ecology Models Systems Approach Computer Simulation Simulated Environment Prediction Graphs Computer Graphics Computer Software Computer Software Evaluation Computer Uses in Education This article presents the design and evaluation of a tool for inspecting conceptual models of system behaviour. The basis for this research is the Garp framework for qualitative simulation. This framework includes modelling primitives, such as entities, quantities and causal dependencies, which are combined into model fragments and scenarios. Given a library of model fragments and a scenario describing an initial situation, the qualitative simulation engine generates predictions in the form of a state-transition graph. This rich knowledge representation has potential for educational purposes. However, communicating the contents of simulation models effectively to learners is not trivial. The predicate logic format used by Garp is not easy for non-experts to understand, and a simulation often contains so much information that it is difficult to get an overview while still having access to detailed information. To address these problems, a tool has been developed that generates graphical representations of the information contained in a qualitative simulation. This tool, named VisiGarp, incorporates a vocabulary of graphical elements for model ingredients and relationships, and combines these into interactive diagrams. VisiGarp has been evaluated by thirty students, with promising results, using a setup which included simulation results and exercises about Brazilian Cerrado ecology. (Contains 2 tables, 15 figures, and 4 footnotes.)
title Graphical Means for Inspecting Qualitative Models of System Behaviour
topic Foreign Countries
Knowledge Representation
Ecology
Models
Systems Approach
Computer Simulation
Simulated Environment
Prediction
Graphs
Computer Graphics
Computer Software
Computer Software Evaluation
Computer Uses in Education
url https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ874568