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Evaluation framework for the design of an engineering model

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 May 2009

Walid Ben Ahmed
Affiliation:
Laboratoire Genie Industriel, Ecole Centrale Paris, Châtenay-Malabry, France
Mounib Mekhilef
Affiliation:
IUFM, Department of Mathematics, University of Orleans, Bourges, France
Bernard Yannou
Affiliation:
Laboratoire Genie Industriel, Ecole Centrale Paris, Châtenay-Malabry, France
Michel Bigand
Affiliation:
Ecole Centrale de Lille, Laboratoire de Génie Industriel, Lille, France

Abstract

According to both cybernetics and general system theory, a subject develops and uses an adequate model of a system to widen his/her knowledge about the system. Models are then the interface between a subject and a real-world system to solve a problem and to construct knowledge. Hence, evaluating these models is crucial to ensure the quality of the constructed knowledge. We propose here an evaluation framework to assess complex models based on the intrinsic properties of these models as well as the properties of the derived knowledge. A series of 40 evaluation criteria are proposed under the four systemic axes: ontology, functioning, evolution, and teleology. Through a case study, we show how our evaluation model allows both presenting a given model and assessing it.

Type
Regular Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2010

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