Authors

Brad Williamson, Olathe East High School

Jeffrey Bell, California State University - Chico

John Murray, Florida Gulf Coast University

Abstract

Problem: Humans often have difficulty developing the analytical skills necessary to understand and model system processes, particularly those involving unfamiliar scales of space and time. Solution: Squeak and Croquet present an opportunity to develop an easy to use environment for simulation, modeling, and visualization. Our goal is to develop a set of hierarchical tutorials that provide the scaffolding necessary to encourage the everyday usage of models. It is anticipated that students will develop an intuitive understanding of systems at all scales as a result of engaging in the modeling process. Models will be validated and modified based on real world data.. As student modeling skills and interactions increase, we plan to create a collaborative community using the Croquet environment. Sharing and collaboration will be an essential component of this community. Our expectation is that this community will eventually construct complex, distributed system models.