Epistemological Debate Underlying Computer Simulations Used in Science Teaching: The Designers’ Perspective

Abstract

Many research areas widely use computer simulations, and their role in the production of scientific knowledge is nowadays the subject of debate in philosophy of science. This work presents the results of a phenomenographic case study involving three researchers who design and use computer simulations in physics. The study analyzes these designers’ views on simulations and the role of simulations in physics teaching. The results show that they agree on the fact that computer simulations have changed the way we do science and that they share many characteristics with the classical models: they derive from theories, they help to predict and explain phenomena, and their results need to be empirically validated. They consider simulations used in science teaching – that differ from those used in research in their objectives and in their design – to be useful as they allow students to visualize and work on a phenomenon from the viewpoint of the mathematical model, the physical, and the virtual one in an interrelated way. In general, the designers’ views on simulations and their use in science and education were more complex and meaningful than those conveyed by novice researchers in science teaching or found in research articles on secondary education that look at the same subject.