Computer Simulations Improve University Instructional Laboratories

Computer Simulations Improve University Instructional Laboratories 1

Laboratory classes are commonplace and essential in biology departments but can sometimes be cumbersome, unreliable, and a drain on time and resources. As university intakes increase, pressure on budgets and staff time can often lead to reduction in practical class provision. Frequently, the ability to use laboratory equipment, mix solutions, and manipulate test animals are essential learning o...

Instructional advice, time advice and learning questions in computer simulations

Undergraduate students (N = 97) used an introductory text and a computer simulation to learn fundamental concepts about statistical analyses (e.g., analysis of variance, regression analysis and General Linear Model). Each learner was randomly assigned to one cell of a 2 (with or without instructional advice) x 2 (with or without time advice) x 2 (with or without learning questions) between subj...

IARCS Instructional Course in Computer

Interactions Between Levels of Instructional Detail and Expertise When Learning with Computer Simulations

Based on cognitive load theory, the effect of different levels of instructional detail and expertise in a simulationbased environment on learning about concepts of correlation was investigated. Separate versions of the learning environment were designed for the four experimental conditions which differed only with regard to the levels of written instructional detail. One hundred and forty Grade...

From Large Simulations to Interactive Numerical Laboratories

High Performance Computing is becoming an instrument in its own right. The largest simulations performed on our supercomputers are now approaching petabytes. As the volume of these simulations is growing, it is becoming harder to access, analyze and visualize these data. At the same time for a broad community buy-in we need to provide public access to some of the simulation results. This is bec...