Microworlds as Representations

Abstract

It is as though, in becoming electronic, our beautiful old astrolabes, sextants, surveyor's compasses, observatories, orreries, slide rules, mechanical clocks, drawing instruments and formwork, maps and plans-physical things all, embodiments of the purest geometry, their sole work to make us at home in space-become environments themselves, the very framework of what they once only measured.-M. Benedickt Abstract. This paper examines in detail the category of open-ended exploratory computer environments which have been labeled "microworlds." One goal of the paper is to review the various ways in which the term "micro world" has been used within the mathematics and science education communities, and to analyze a number of examples of computer microworlds. Two definitions or ways of describing microworlds are proposed: a "structural" definition which focuses on design elements shared by the environments, and a "functional" definition which highlights commonalities in how students learn with microworlds. In the final section of the paper, the notion that computer microworlds, or symbol systems in general, can be said to "embody" mathematical or scientific ideas is examined within a broader consideration of ideas about representation.