Cognitive Aspects of Computational Modeling and Simulation in Teaching and Learning
Abstract
"We discuss cognitive aspects of modeling and simulation in an efficacy study of computational pedagogical content knowledge professional development of K-12 STEM teachers. Evidence includes data from a wide range of educational settings over the past ten years. We present a computational model of the mind based on an iterative cycle of deductive and inductive cognitive processes. The model is aligned with empirical research from cognitive psychology and neuroscience and it opens door to a whole series of future studies on computational thinking."This project links cognition to computation in terms of the most fundamental way of information processing, storage and retrieval. It sets a new definition for what computational thinking really is. It is not the way a scientist solves a problem on a computer, it is how any computational device works, regardless of the underlying structure, be it electronic or biological.