An excerpt from Srinivasan et. al. article on Reality versus Simulation is a perfect example of the importance of information visualization for mathematics. One of the participants in the study discussed in Srinivasan et. al\u2019s article states, \u201c\u2026when you\u2019re getting the signals on the computer all you\u2019re doing is typing the equation and getting a graphic, but when you\u2019re getting it on the lab equipment, you\u2019re actually setting frequencies and \u2026 it seems more real\u201d (Srinivasan et. al., 2006, p. 139). Every teacher tries to do his\/ her best to be able to help students understand the learning outcomes of a lesson and it becomes even more rewarding for a teacher when a child is able to visualize the learning and see it as something \u201creal\u201d. Information visualization helps teachers across the globe achieve that reward of helping students see textbook problems as \u201creal\u201d problems.<\/p>\n
According to Edens and Potter, \u201cVisual-spatial representations may function as mental imagery, or in the \u201cmind\u2019s eye\u201d\u201d(Edens & Potter, 2008, p. 184). Being able to visualize something really is being able to see it with the mind\u2019s eye. I always find myself looking in the space, staring at nothing when trying to visualize something, as I am trying to see it with my mind\u2019s eye. As it is widely seen that students are mostly interested in just finding the right answer and moving on to the next question. As Edens and Potter call these students the \u2018number grabbers\u2019 as they like to \u2018compute first and think later\u2019. I think in a situation as such, it is even more important for students to be able to visualize the problem before solving it.<\/p>\n
I have chosen to apply T-GEM instruction framework and combine it with NetLOGO digital simulation introduced in this lesson. I think in my grade 8 honors class while teaching the graphing units where I introduce rate-of-change, I could use NetLOGO as the online simulator to help students visualize how a graph might get affected if the speed of one car changes compared to the other car at the constant speed. I will be using the \u201cTraffic Basic\u201d simulation on NetLOGO for this lesson activity starting with one red and one blue car.<\/p>\n
Generate:<\/p>\n
Step 1: Students are asked to identify the variables that affect the speed of the red car.<\/p>\n
Step 2: Students are asked to get familiarized with the simulation and generate relationships between the speed of the red car and acceleration and deceleration<\/p>\n
Evaluation:<\/p>\n
Step 3: Students are asked to evaluate why are there two controls given to control the speed of the red car- acceleration and deceleration.<\/p>\n
Step 4: Students are asked to evaluate the relationship between acceleration and deceleration and how they affect the speed in different ways<\/p>\n
Modify:<\/p>\n
Step 5: Students are asked to try using more than 5 cars at a time to experiment how the graph may get affected when the speed is played around with.<\/p>\n
Step 6: Students use the new knowledge gained through the second step of T-GEM to modify the knowledge and find a relationship between acceleration and deceleration with more than 5 cars at play.<\/p>\n
References:<\/p>\n
Edens, K., & Potter, E. (2008). How students \u201cunpack\u201d the structure of a word problem: Graphic representations and problem-solving.\u00a0School Science and Mathematics, 108<\/em>(5), 184-196<\/p>\n Srinivasan, S., Perez, L. C., Palmer,R., Brooks,D., Wilson,K., & Fowler. D. (2006). Reality versus simulation. Journal of Science Education and Technology, 15 (2), 137-141<\/p>\n https:\/\/www.netlogoweb.org\/launch#https:\/\/www.netlogoweb.org\/assets\/modelslib\/Sample%20Models\/Social%20Science\/Traffic%20Basic.nlogo<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" An excerpt from Srinivasan et. al. article on Reality versus Simulation is a perfect example of the importance of information visualization for mathematics. One of the participants in the study discussed in Srinivasan et. al\u2019s article states, \u201c\u2026when you\u2019re getting the signals on the computer all you\u2019re doing is typing the equation and getting a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":57098,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1669400],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5867","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-c-information-visualization"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/stem2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5867","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/stem2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/stem2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/stem2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/57098"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/stem2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5867"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/stem2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5867\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5869,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/stem2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5867\/revisions\/5869"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/stem2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5867"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/stem2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5867"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/stem2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5867"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}