Studying Conceptual Modeling Processes: A Modeling Tool, Research Observatory, and Multimodal Observation Setup

Abstract

What do (non-)experienced modelers reason while conceptual modeling and how do they arrive at modeling decisions, which modeling and learning difficulties do they face and why, and how do they overcome these difficulties by tailored modeling tool support are questions of relevance and importance to practicing modelers and, likewise, to conceptual modeling research. For the past 7 years, we have been designing, developing, and evaluating a modeling tool integrating a research observatory aimed at studying individual modeling processes online, in the field, and under laboratory conditions—to contribute to a richer understanding of modeler reasoning and decision-making, to identify common modeling and learning difficulties, and, ultimately, to design tool support to mitigate difficulties and to improve assistance for (non-)experienced modelers. We present an overview of the modeling observatory and of a corresponding multimodal observation setup.