Salles and Bredeweg, 2003.
A case study of collaborative modelling: building qualitative models in ecology
(in book) Artificial Intelligence in Education:
Shaping the Future of Learning through Intelligent Technologies.
(eds) U. Hoppe, F. Verdejo and J. Kay,
pages 245-252, 2003, IOS-Press/Ohmsha, Japan, Osaka.
(PDF)
Abstract
To investigate the difficulties students have during the process of building
qualitative models we describe a study in which artificial intelligence
undergraduate students from the University of Amsterdam and graduate ecology
students from the University of Brasilia were engaged in a collaborative model
building activity. Their objective was to build models about the carbon cycle
and the greenhouse effect using a process-based approach and possibly to
implement the models in the qualitative simulator GARP. Almost all the
students (94%) reported an increase in their understanding of the ecological
problems after the modelling activity. Two types of difficulties were
identified: some problems were related to the complexity of the ecological
system being modelled. Other problems were related to the modelling
language, particularly with the design of model fragments. Collaboration
was considered an added value for the modelling success. Identifying
causal relations, processes and describing the system's behaviour were
easier for ecologists. The results stimulate us to carry on with
research and practice on collaborative modelling.