The merits of Empirical Modelling (EM) principles and tools as a constructivist approach to computer science education are illustrated with reference to ways in which they have been used in teaching topics related to the standard computer science curriculum. The products of EM are interactive models – construals- that serve a sense-making role. Model-building proceeds in an incremental fashion through the construction of networks of definitions that reflect the observables, dependencies and agents associated with a current situation. The three principal case studies discussed (teaching bubblesort, solving Sudoku puzzles, and recognising groups from their abstract multiplication tables) highlight respects in which EM accounts for aspects of computing that cannot be effectively addressed by thinking primarily in terms of abstractions, procedures and mechanisms. The discussion of EM as a constructivist approach to computer science education is set in the context of an analysis of constructivism in computer science published by Ben-Ari in 2001. Reconciling EM's constructivist epistemology with this analysis involves recognising its pretensions to a broader view of computer science.

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I modify an existing educational computer simulator to behave as an agent in an Empirical Modelling context, and present an example, in the form of a simple Empirical Modelling study, of how such an agent can form part of a practical model. I then suggest ways in which the aforementioned concepts can be applied within the contexts of engineering and education. 1

The many theories of learning which are debated by psychologists and educators alike, each offer distinct advantages to the development of knowledge and meaning within an academic environment. One such theory is that of experiential learning, which for those in the development of knowledge, is well recognised and respected. The intention of this paper is to demonstrate the use of Empirical Modelling as a teaching aid to assist with experiential learning. Attention will be paid to its ability to model states of the world and changes between these states, predominately through the construction and analysis of a model of a classic computer science problem, the Tower of Hanoi. 1

Abstract. The role of intuition in software development was discussed in a most original fashion by Peter Naur in 1984. Yet there has been little subsequent interest in elaborating on Naur’s ideas. In seeking to explain this neglect, we argue that the accepted views of software development, both within the formal and pragmatic traditions, are deeply influenced by a conceptual framework inherited from computer science and that, within this framework, making sense of the relation between intuition and software development is inherently difficult. In much more recent publications, Naur himself has related his thinking about software development to the philosophical outlook of William James. We discuss the current status and potential implications of Naur’s original reflections on the role of intuition with reference to trends in thinking about software development since 1984, and to an alternative conceptual framework for computing, afforded by Empirical Modelling, that can be directly related to a Jamesian philosophical stance. 1