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Reflections and outlook
Published in Yared Abayneh Abebe, Modelling Human-Flood Interactions, 2021
On ABM software implementation After developing conceptual models, converting such models to an ABM software is a daunting task. The main reason is the “nature” of the ABM modelling paradigm. In hydrodynamic modelling, 2D surface water flow in any case study can be modelled using the shallow water equations—a mass equation and two momentum equations in the x and y directions. If a modeller knows the initial conditions, the boundary conditions and the model parameter values of any study area, an off-the-shelf hydrodynamic modelling software such as MIKE21 solves the equations numerically and provide outputs such as water level and discharge at each computational cell. Unfortunately, there is no universal way of describing human behaviour in an ABM, especially considering heterogeneous agents and their interactions. In fact, there is no such ABM software. There are only ABM development environments such as NetLogo and Repast Simphony that provide the platform to write lines of codes that describe the conceptual model. Thus, developing ABM software requires a “certain” level of programming skills. In relation to that, using different ABM development platform requires knowledge of different programming languages. For example, NetLogo uses a simplified logo language while Repast Simphony uses the Java programming language. Besides, as every case is different, the modeller needs to develop the ABM software for every case. Researchers/modellers that will build ABMs should consider this fact while designing their research plan.
Programming, mathematical reasoning and sense-making
Published in International Journal of Mathematical Education in Science and Technology, 2022
Most researchers have striven to find models for introducing programming to novices (Mendelson et al., 1990). For instance, Papert (1980) introduced the Logo programming language with turtle graphics to stimulate the development of the mini-language approach to helping students learn mathematical concepts through programming. Through experimenting with turtle graphics, students can develop a better feel for geometry and discover that 360° makes a full turn (Papert, 1980). Efforts to improve student access to programming have been made in order to move from the programming language used in Logo to the code blocks used, for example, in Scratch. Scratch is a visual block-based programming language that allows students to create a program (project) by dragging, dropping, and snapping graphical blocks of code into different sequences and combinations (e.g. Honey & Kanter, 2013; Marji, 2014; Vlieg, 2016). Resnick et al. (2009) noted that, unlike Logo, Scratch is more ‘tinkerable’, meaningful, and social.
Programming in mathematics education
Published in International Journal of Mathematical Education in Science and Technology, 2021
Odd Tore Kaufmann, Børre Stenseth
As aforementioned, the relationships between programming and mathematics are often argued through the problem-solving concept because computational thinking can be considered a set of problem-solving methods that involve expressing problems and their solutions in manners that a computer could execute. Khasawneh (2009) considered pupils’ performances in Logo programming and their problem-solving abilities in the context of turtle geometry. She compared seventh-grade pupils’ mathematics achievement in Jordan with achievement in Logo programming and found a positive low correlation between them among seventh-grade pupils. Moreover, pupils’ problem-solving ability was limited while conducting some Logo programming tasks and acceptable in others. Additionally, pupils were better able to solve Logo programming problems by using the turtle than with paper and pencil. Notably, these results could depend on the programme used (Logo) or on the mathematical problems given to the pupils.
Historicizing making and doing: Seymour Papert, Sherry Turkle, and epistemological foundations of the maker movement
Published in History and Technology, 2020
Michael Lachney, Ellen K. Foster
Both drew on psychoanalytic theory to frame the computer as a ‘transitional object’.64 Traditionally, this concept is used to describe the development children go through in understanding self and not-self. A transitional object is said to take the place of the bond between a mother and child, often appearing in the form of something a child is attached to and cherishes like a blanket or stuffed animal. Turkle described the computer as a transitional object because it sits on the border between a formal system of abstraction and the personal experiences of oneself. Papert, similarly, described the LOGO turtle – the visual object, which could be virtual or physical, that children command with the programming language – as the contact point between a child’s concrete environment and abstract mathematical ideas (e.g. recursion). To support their theoretical positions, they analyzed similar if not the same observations of children programming.