Meta-Theoretic Competence for Computational Agent-Based Modeling
Hillary Swanson, Uri J. Wilensky · 2024
In the U.S. context, science standards encourage educators to engage students in modeling practices, including computational modeling. While much work has investigated the productivity of computational modeling with respect to students’ development of scientific content knowledge, less work has focused on students’ development of knowledge and skills for participation in computational modeling practices. A first step in understanding how these practices develop is examining students’ activity in the context of computational modeling environments with attention to the productive moves they make. These moves can provide insight into the knowledge they bring to their learning, which may be foundational to the development of more sophisticated engagement in computational modeling practices. This paper presents empirical results of an investigation of the knowledge one student brings to her interaction with a computational modeling microworld as she models the spread of disease.