Learning through Computer Model Improvisations

It has been convincingly argued that computer simulation modeling differs from traditional science. If we understand simulation modeling as a new way of doing science, the manner in which scientists learn about the world through models must also be considered differently. This article examines how researchers learn about environmental processes through computer simulation modeling. Suggesting a conceptual framework anchored in a performative philosophical approach, we examine two modeling projects undertaken by research teams in England, both aiming to inform flood risk management. One of the modeling teams operated in the research wing of a consultancy firm, the other were university scientists taking part in an interdisciplinary project experimenting with public engagement. We found that in the first context the use of standardized software was critical to the process of improvisation, the obstacles emerging in the process concerned data and were resolved through exploiting affordances for generating, School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK Faculté des géosciences et l’environnement, Université de Lausanne, Lausanne, Switzerland Corresponding Author: Catharina Landström, School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich NR4 7TJ, United Kingdom. Email: [email protected] Science, Technology, & Human Values 38(5) 678-700 a The Author(s) 2013 Reprints and permission: sagepub.com/journalsPermissions.nav DOI: 10.1177/0162243913485450 sthv.sagepub.com at RENSSELAER POLYTECHNIC INST on April 8, 2014 sth.sagepub.com Downloaded from organizing, and combining scientific information in new ways. In the second context, an environmental competency group, obstacles were related to the computer program and affordances emerged in the combination of experience-based knowledge with the scientists’ skill enabling a reconfiguration of the mathematical structure of the model, allowing the group to learn about local flooding.