Are there any existing research on the effectiveness of computer simulation and/or interactive visualization for the learning of mathematical concepts?
I ask because:
There has been some efforts in developing "virtual laboratories" in the physical sciences and part of the justification is that virtual laboratories are better than no laboratories: this is especially the case for things like environmental sciences where it may not always be possible to travel to a destination with the right sort of environment.
By extension one may expect there to be certain benefits derived from giving students "hands-on" access to mathematical/geometric objects. But is there any research that actually qualifies/quantifies the benefit?
I've seen lots of people pushing the use of things like Desmos: one of the great things I like about it is that the graphs can interactively depend on adjustable parameters. Intuitively I would say that these kinds of models with visual feedback are more effective than simply a graph drawn on a black board. But is this supported by research evidence?