A feasibility study of the use of computational modeling in education research: An agent-based model of the college choice/college access problem in higher education

My dissertation research is an exploration of advanced technologies and their potential usefulness for education researchers. An introduction and overview of quantitative methodologies set the stage for exposing how new theories and quantitative technologies originating from the physical sciences impact the use of methodology and how this in turn shapes how education research can be done. These new methods may bring new insight to old problems, allow us to envision new problems, and may provide ways of researching more complex problems than previously allowed due to limitations in traditional methodologies.; The main body of my dissertation is comprised of two parts. Part one examines thirty-year trends that show increased use of advanced technologies in the social sciences. The technologies have diffused into the social sciences from the physical and life sciences. The trends show increased use over time and differential diffusion across disciplines. These advanced technologies include large databases, geographical information systems, and computer techniques such as neural networks, genetic algorithms, agent-based modeling and computer simulations. Part two examines a current vexing problem in education research that lends itself well to new theoretical and methodological orientations. A comparative modeling study was carried out between agent based modeling and traditional techniques that have been used in college choice/college access research.; I demonstrate the feasibility of agent-based modeling as a new technique for education research. By way of example, I demonstrate to those unfamiliar with these technologies how to envision/re-vision problems in education, and provide ideas on how to use new technologies to gain a different and in some cases more complex understanding of problems in education.