Preparation Checklist

Module 6: Explorables and Discrete Models

Use this checklist while you prepare the explorables presentation. It restates the requirements of the syllabus as concrete checks. The presentation is worth 10% of the final grade.

Before the presentation

You have a partner and you work as a pair.
You chose your model one to two weeks before your presentation date.
You know which of the two explorables sessions you present in (five pairs per session).
You can explain the model in your own words without reading from the explorable’s page.

Content

What is modelled. You name the real system and the quantities the model tracks.
Assumptions. You list the simplifications of the model explicitly.
Your own contribution. You add an extension, a test or a criticism of your own.

Timing

Your presentation fits in ten minutes. Rehearse it with a timer.

Assessment criteria

The syllabus asks you to explain what is modelled, state the assumptions, and add an extension, test or criticism of your own, within ten minutes. The syllabus lists no further criteria, so prepare against these three content items and the time limit.

Exercise

Pick one explorable from Complexity Explorables that you do not plan to present. Write one sentence for each content item: what is modelled, one assumption, and one extension, test or criticism.

Solution

There is no single answer. A good answer is specific. For example, for a model of flocking: the model represents birds as points that align with neighbours within a fixed radius; one assumption is that every bird sees all neighbours within that radius, with no blind angle; one test is to vary the noise level and check whether the order parameter drops as the noise grows (Vicsek et al. 1995). Compare with the Vicsek model in Module 2.

Back to Explorables Module Index

References

Vicsek, Tamás, András Czirók, Eshel Ben-Jacob, Inon Cohen, and Ofer Shochet. 1995. “Novel Type of Phase Transition in a System of Self-Driven Particles.” Physical Review Letters 75 (6): 1226.