The "Next Generation Science Standards" call for engaging K-12 students in three-dimensional learning, in which students make sense of phenomena or solve problems by simultaneously using science and engineering practices (SEPs), crosscutting concepts (CCCs), and disciplinary core ideas (DCIs). Decades of education research suggest…

This article discusses the transformative impact of technology on knowledge acquisition and sharing, focusing on the emergence of the metaverse as a virtual community with vast potential for virtual learning. Learning in the metaverse is found to enhance engagement, motivation, and retention, while fostering 21st-century skills. It also offers…

Complex mathematical approaches exist in biological, social, and educational sciences, creating models to understand and explain cognition processes in human brain. Yet, the logged raw data is just an initial learners' behavior footprint in Virtual Learning Environments. Exploratory Data analysis would help to deepen the understanding of cognition…

Individual based models (IBMs) are up-to-date tools both in research and educational areas. Here we introduce an IBM built on NetLogo platform that simulates a top-down trophic cascade controlled by the pressure exerted by two model predators (web-building spiders and ground runner spiders) on a model pest (the olive fruit fly) within a…

This volume, comprising eight chapters from experts in a variety of fields, examines the use of three-dimensional (3D) and virtual reality (VR) technologies in research and teaching, and the library's vital role in supporting this work. 3D modeling, 3D capture techniques, and VR enable faculty and students to engage with highly detailed 3D…

While students may acknowledge the impact that land use and development have on our environment, they do not necessarily understand the relationship between human activities and ecosystem responses. Therefore, the nature of the relationships leaves the science teacher to most often present information in a purely narrative form without any…

Systems thinking suggests that one can best understand a complex system by studying the interrelationships of its component parts rather than looking at the individual parts in isolation. With ongoing concern about the effects of climate change, using innovative materials to help students understand how Earth's systems connect with each other is…

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.…

Artificial intelligence research on creative design has led to Structure-Behavior-Function (SBF) models that emphasize functions as abstractions for organizing understanding of physical systems. Empirical studies on understanding complex systems suggest that novice understanding is shallow, typically focusing on their visible structures and…

A discipline in which scientists seek to simulate and synthesize lifelike behaviors within computers, chemical mixtures, and other media is discussed. A computer program with self-replicating digital "organisms" that evolve as they compete for computer time and memory is described. (KR)

Disturbance-generated biomass results from endogenous and exogenous natural and cultural disturbances that affect the health and productivity of forest ecosystems. These disturbances can create large quantities of plant biomass on predictable cycles. A systems analysis model has been developed to quantify aspects of system capacities (harvest,…

Describes instructional use of a microcomputer version of the WORLD2 global population-ecology simulation. Reactions of students and instructors are discussed and a WORLD2 simulation assignment is appended. The BASIC version used by the author runs on Apple II, DOS 3.3, with 80 column board. (MBR)

Described is a computer program, AQUASIM, which simulates interaction between environmental factors, phytoplankton, zooplankton, and fish in an aquatic ecosystem. The conceptual flow, equations, variables, rate processes, and parameter manipulations are discussed. (CW)

The purpose of this study was to determine the procedural knowledge brought to, and created within, a pond ecology simulation by students. Environmental Decision Making (EDM) is an ecosystems modeling tool that allows users to pose their own problems and seek satisfying solutions. Of specific interest was the performance of biology majors who had…

The IADIS CELDA 2012 Conference intention was to address the main issues concerned with evolving learning processes and supporting pedagogies and applications in the digital age. There had been advances in both cognitive psychology and computing that have affected the educational arena. The convergence of these two disciplines is increasing at a…