This paper is part 4 in a series of workshops that examine the properties of some simple models of vocabulary networks. This Workshop explores how the overall activity level of a vocabulary network can be altered by changing the connections in the network (i.e., by implementing relinking events). The Workshop is linked to an online practice room…

This paper outlines the design of an interactive simulation of Stokes' law, which is used frequently in the study of particle sedimentation and flotation. The software application includes dynamic visualizations and statistical outputs. Descriptions of how the simulation can be used in a teaching context are provided. The application and its…

It is crucial nowadays to predict in a fast and simple manner physical-chemical behaviors like, the size-dependent optical properties of gold nanospheres (Au NSs). The idea behind this experiment is trying to replace (as much as possible) robust and expensive microscopy techniques with UV-vis spectrophotometry and friendly simulations. Students…

The idea that a vocabulary is a network of words is one that has become a common theme of the second language (L2) vocabulary research literature. However, not many people have considered the wider implications of this powerful metaphor. This paper is the first in a series of workshops that examines some of these implications. In this first…

This article both describes and explains the nature of system simulations--the generation of (non-)numeric models representing characteristics, behaviors, or functions of physical or abstract systems/processes under study. For ease of presentation, I first present some of the most pressing theoretical-practical considerations concerning…

Educational assessments often require uniform test forms, for which each test form has equivalent measurement accuracy but with a different set of items. For uniform test assembly, an important issue is the increase of the number of assembled uniform tests. Although many automatic uniform test assembly methods exist, the maximum clique algorithm…

This paper is part 3 of a series of workshops that examine the properties of some simple models vocabulary networks. This Workshop focusses on how the vocabulary network responds when words become easier to activate. The Workshop is linked to an on-line practice room where readers can explore these processes for themselves.

This paper presents an application of the Kalman filter in signal processing in instrumentation systems when the conditions of the environment generate a large amount of interference for the acquisition of signals from measurement systems. The unwanted interferences make important use of the instrumentation system resources and do not represent…

This contribution shows a simple implementation of Monte Carlo simulation method when presenting Bayes' rule. The implementation is carried out in the environment of Microsoft Excel spreadsheets by means of a generator of random numbers. The empiric results gained by simulation serve to confirm the correctness of the chosen procedures in…

This article provides an overview of the R package lsasim, designed to facilitate the generation of data that mimics a large scale assessment context. The package features functions for simulating achievement data according to a number of common IRT models with known parameters. A clear advantage of lsasim over other simulation software is that…

A simulation study is a useful tool in examining how validly item response theory (IRT) models can be applied in various settings. Typically, a large number of replications are required to obtain the desired precision. However, many standard software packages in IRT, such as MULTILOG and BILOG, are not well suited for a simulation study requiring…

Excluded-volume interactions are ubiquitous to modeling the average size of polymers in solution. This paper shows how simulations can be used by students to explore the emergence of mathematical scaling relations from excluded-volume interactions. Simulations provide robust visual representations of the system, and can be used to investigate a…

Teaching materials used in distance education are generally obtained from the internet as ready-made by teachers. Materials such as simulation, animation and presentation are usually limited to the frame drawn by the creator and do not allow changes outside this limit. In addition, many of these types of materials do not have a feedback mechanism.…

Simulation is an effective tool for analyzing probability models as well as for facilitating understanding of concepts in probability and statistics. Unfortunately, implementing a simulation from scratch often requires users to think about programming issues that are not relevant to the simulation itself. We have developed a Python package called…

In this work we discuss the intricacies of a simulation using the MS Excel spreadsheet that allows to study in detail the process of heat transfer between two reservoirs at different temperatures through a conducting rod when heat losses are neglected. The proposed physical model computes the time dependence of the reservoir temperatures and…