The goal of this paper is to promote computational thinking among mathematics, engineering, science and technology students, through hands-on computer experiments. These activities have the potential to empower students to learn, create and invent with technology, and they engage computational thinking through simulations, visualizations and data…

Using spreadsheets such as Microsoft Excel for building crop models and running simulations can be beneficial. Excel is easy to use, powerful, and versatile, and it requires the least proficiency in computer programming compared to other programming platforms. Excel, however, has several weaknesses: it does not directly support loops for iterative…

This article offers modelling opportunities in which the phenomena of the spread of disease, perception of changing mass, growth of technology, and dissemination of information can be described by one differential equation--the logistic differential equation. It presents two simulation activities for students to generate real data, as well as…

This article addresses modeling oscillation in continuous time. It criticizes Steele and Ferrer's article "Latent Differential Equation Modeling of Self-Regulatory and Coregulatory Affective Processes" (2011), particularly the approximate estimation procedure applied. This procedure is the latent version of the local linear approximation procedure…

Considering a dyad as a dynamic system whose current state depends on its past state has allowed researchers to investigate whether and how partners influence each other. Some researchers have also focused on how differences between dyads in their interaction patterns are related to other differences between them. A promising approach in this area…

This article presents our response to Oud and Folmer's "Modeling Oscillation, Approximately or Exactly?" (2011), which criticizes aspects of our article, "Latent Differential Equation Modeling of Self-Regulatory and Coregulatory Affective Processes" (2011). In this response, we present a conceptual explanation of the derivative-based estimation…

Mathematical software packages such as Polymath, MATLAB, and Mathcad are currently widely used for engineering problem solving. Applications of several of these packages to typical chemical engineering problems have been demonstrated by Cutlip, et al. The main characteristic of these packages is that they provide a "problem-solving environment…

Time delays are an important aspect of mathematical modelling, but often result in highly complicated equations which are difficult to treat analytically. In this paper it is shown how careful application of certain undergraduate tools such as the Method of Steps and the Principle of the Argument can yield significant results. Certain delay…