Computer simulation of laboratory experiments: an unrealized potential

Abstract In the early seventies there was a burgeoning interest in the development and use of computer simulated laboratory experiments as replacements for “hands-on” experimentation. Subsequent studies of computer simulated experiments have identified serious limitations inherent in their use. Within engineering, concern has been expressed about the effect of substituting empirically derived output data by values determined through analysis and the manipulation of equations. This has been seen as resulting in students losing sight of the fact that the performance characteristics of devices and the behaviour of complex dynamic processes often cannot be predicted accurately by analytic methods. The paper describes work currently being undertaken to develop a simulation package (of a heat exchanger) which is designed to overcome these limitations. Built into the software is a set of functions which transform the data output produced by the modelling of heat exchange process into a form which mimics the vicissitudes of measurement and data acquisition which a student is likely to experience during an actual laboratory investigation. The argument is advanced that the new approach has the capability to develop specific experimentation skills previously unachieved either in “hands-on” experiments or in conventional computer simulated experiments; and to promote an enhanced understanding and appreciation of the role of experimentation in engineering.