Abstract
The recent proliferation of science simulation software presents philosophy of science instructors with a viable means to reaching greater numbers of students in both science and non-science majors. The software, when combined with an interrogative approach which construes science as a pragmatically constructivist process, provides the opportunity to explore myriad practical and conceptual problems. This paper examines some of the potential, and some of the problems, inherent in using computerized simulations in science and science studies classes by applying lessons from the epistemology of science. It concludes that, while computer simulations are extremely useful pedagogical tools, they are not experiments, and are thus of only limited utility as a substitutes for actual laboratories.
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McKINNEY, W.J. The Educational Use of Computer Based Science Simulations: Some Lessons from the Philosophy of Science. Science & Education 6, 591–603 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1008694507127
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1008694507127