Dear all,

On Wednesday November 11th, Prof. Wouter van Joolingen will give a lecture at our monthly HCS
colloquium. Wouter holds the chair of "Computational Modeling in Educational Settings" at the 
Department of Instructional Technology at the University of Twente. His lecture will be on using
freehand drawings as a means of (initial) modelling in the context of science education.

You are cordially invited to attend this lecture (see details below).

- Jochem

http://www.science.uva.nl/~jliem/colloquia/

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Title:
    Drawings as a means to support dynamic modeling activities.
Speaker:
    Wouter van Joolingen (University of Twente)
Homepage:
    http://www.gw.utwente.nl/ist/medewerkers/wouter_van_joolingen/

Date:     November 11th, 2009
Time:     16.00-17.00h
Location: Science Park 107, Room F0.13

Abstract:

Dynamic modeling of scientific phenomena is seen as a promising approach to enhance the learning of
science. By constructing an external executable representation of a domain, learners are expected to
acquire a deeper understanding of the structure of the domain at hand. Despite its benefits for
teaching, modeling is a complex task for most learners. It requires integrating problem information
and prior knowledge using a modeling language that is not always familiar.

In this presentation I will explore the possibility to use freehand drawings as a means to support
modeling, especially for beginning modelers. Using drawings learners can express their prior
knowledge in a way of their choosing, unbound by the formal representation required for modeling.
Topics that will be discussed are the analysis of drawings, automatic recognition of drawing
elements to support the use of the drawing as initial model, or even to the drawing becoming the
model.