| Theoretical Models of the Role of Visualisation in Learning Formal Reasoning (2002) | |||||||||||||||
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| Although there is empirical evidence that visualisation tools can help students to learn formal subjects such as logic, and although particular strategies and conceptual difficulties have been identified, it has so far proved difficult to provide a general model of learning in this context that accounts for these findings in a systematic way. In this paper, four attempts at explaining the relative difficulty of formal concepts and the role of visualisation in this learning process are presented. These explanations draw on several existing theories, including Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development, Green's Cognitive Dimensions, the Popper-Campbell model of conjectural learning, and cognitive complexity. The paper concludes with a comparison of the utility and applicability of the different models. It is also accompanied by a reflexive commentary 0 (see footnotes) that examines the ways in which theory has been used within these arguments, and which attempts to relate these uses to the wider context of learning technology research. Commentaries: All JIME articles are published with links to a commentaries area, which includes part of the article’s original review debate. Readers are invited to make use of this resource, and to add their own commentaries. The authors, reviewers, and anyone else who has ‘subscribed ’ to this article via the website will receive e-mail copies of your postings. 0 See page 29: A commentary on the use of theory in the analysis of the Jape study | |||||||||||||||
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