A small group of interested upper secondary education students participated in a workshop where they created a particle-based physics engine and used the engine to implement a hanging cloth simulation and a two-dimensional heat diffusion model of their own creation. During the implementation of their models, learning opportunities present themselves in the form of opening up and exploring different dimensions of variation for the students. By varying aspects and discerning how these changes affect the program, students can construct meaning about the system. The students were video and audio recorded during the workshop and interviewed afterwards. Based on the transcripts, students use of programming was analyzed using social semiotics and variation theory of learning with a focus on the three aspects: coding, visualization, and interaction. The analysis identifies usages of programming such as a transductive link between semiotic systems, the ease of varying and iterating aspects, and the ability to enter into a loop of discovery and understanding.

中文翻译：

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程序设计及其对物理教育的支持：一种社会符号学和变异理论的物理学习方法

一小组感兴趣的高中学生参加了一个研讨会，在那里他们创建了一个基于粒子的物理引擎，并使用该引擎实现了自己创建的悬挂布料模拟和二维热扩散模型。在实施模型的过程中，学习机会以开放的形式展现出来，并为学生探索变化的不同维度。通过改变各个方面并辨别这些变化如何影响程序，学生可以构造关于系统的含义。在研讨会期间记录了学生的视频和音频，然后进行了采访。根据成绩单，使用社会符号学和变异学习理论分析了学生对编程的使用，重点是三个方面：编码，可视化和交互。