Computer modelling in mathematics education

Abstract

According to Aebli's operative method (1963) and Bruner's (1974) theory of representation the development of the process of thinking in teaching has the following phases - levels of abstraction: manipulation with specific things (specific phase), iconic representation (figural phase), symbolic representation (symbolic phase). Modern information technology has contributed to the enrichment of teaching and learning processes, especially in the fields of natural sciences and mathematics and those of production and technology. Simulation appears as a new possibility in the representation of knowledge. According to Guetzkow (1972) simulation is an operative representation of reality from a relevant aspect. It is about a model of an objective system, which is dynamic in itself. If that model is material it is a simple simulation, if it is abstract it is a reflective experiment, that is a computer simulation. This present work deals with the systematization and classification of simulation methods in the teaching of natural sciences and mathematics and of production and technology with special retrospective view on computer simulations and exemplar representation of the place and the role of this modern method of cognition.