SIMULATION AND MODELLING

IN TEACHING AND LEARNING

IN BIOLOGY IN SCHOOL
BY:

AISYAH SAHIRA BINTI ABDUL RAHIM

AIN SOFEA SYAHIRAH BINTI MAHADI

WHAT IS SIMULATION ?
form of experiential learning
technique of study or learning by mimicking it to a
computer application
it is a strategy that fits well with the principles of
Student-Centred and constructivist learning and teaching
process of using a model tools by manipulating variables
that cannot be changed in real life
computer simulations allows students to learn visually
about problems that they do not simply understand

HOW SIMULATION ENHANCE

STUDENTS LEARNING ?
visual learning enhancing students problem solving skills
helps to approach and increase student comprehension
allows students to explore nature of things using scientific
simulations
creative aspect of the simulation makes it seems more fun to handle
makes the students feels the enjoyment of their educational
experience
the pressure to solve a problem by changing the variables can
motivate students in learning new things
simulation process enhances their knowledge of such abstract
theories and concepts

WHAT IS STELLA ?
software that allows modelling and simulation
type of flexible computer modelling package that
provides an interface which allows users to develop or
construct a models of experiment
software reduces time efficiency as it can be done at
any time with the usage of internet
modelling in STELLA proceeds in three steps which are
constructing a qualitative model, parameterizing it, and
exploring the model's dynamics

What comprises the modelling

process?
four building blocks in the modelling process which comprises
of stocks, flows, connectors and converters
Stocks is the very basic thing in building blocks as it is used to
represent anything that accumulated such as population,
biomass, nutrients and water
flows are used to represent activities which are the input and
output
connector is used to transmit the information in order to
regulate the flows mentioned earlier
converters, it contains the equation which generates an output
value during each time interval of a simulation

Example of model tools:

Example of a simulation control

panel:

GRAPH 1

GRAPH 2

GRAPH 3

GRAPH 4

DISCUSSION:
Humification or humus
Humus is a organic matter that has been used or transformed
Increasing the value of humufication fraction will increase the
nitrogen in humus and the value of the nitrogen in organic
matter is decrease because the value of nitrogen transform
into humus increase.
It can motivate student to understand better on the subject
or on the specific topic.
Encourage student to explore any kind of possibilities that
would happen by changing the parameters

ADVANTAGES:
Helps users with provide the practical tutorial when design the
experiments
Student are able to study the behavior of a system without
building it.
Student can see clearly the accurate result showed by the
simulation
Able to study and investigate the natural condition such as
nitrogen cycle by using simulation model
Can be used to investigate the situation that would be dangerous
in real life
Stimulator can be used as an effective ways for teaching or
demonstrating concepts to students.

DISADVANTAGES:
It required internet connection in order to design the
experiments
Sometimes it is difficult to interpret the simulation
results.
Simulation modelling and analysis can be time
consuming and expensive
Have a poor understanding of how physical systems
work.

CONCLUSION
To conclude, this STELLA software gives many
advantages rather than disadvantages. With just a click
and entering the input, we are able to know the result
for the simulation experiment. Not only the result but
also the graph and the table too. This gives many good
impacts especially for students who did not have much
time to conduct an experiment and some of student
may have bad result for the experiment that they
conducted. But the thing that lack in this software is
that, students will lack of practical n handling the
experimental procedures and tools. This reduces their
efficiency in conducting experiment.