Modelling study

The initial aim of the model is to aid its user in the understanding of a number base – that is to be able to recognise that numbers can be represented in more than one way, to be able to count in the selected base, and to be able to convert between the base and decimal. Depending on the success of this element of the model, it may be suitable to extend the model to facilitate the learning of basic calculations, such as addition, subtraction, multiplication and division, in different bases. The conversion between different non-decimal bases may also be considered.

As well as hopefully producing a useful tool to aid understanding of non-decimal based numbers, the model will be helpful in trying to understand how useful empirical modelling methods are for tasks that are fundamentally non-experiential. Whereas most educational EM models aim to produce an artefact for a subject that exists in a concrete state in the world, the model here is aiming to produce an artefact to represent a much more abstract subject, that of the representation of non-decimal numbers within the mind. This aspect will make the model much more difficult to criticise objectively, as different users are likely to find different types of artefact useful for this exercise. The model must therefore be as flexible as possible and allow learning to evolve in a variety of ways.