Supporting Students in Building and Using Models: Development on the Quality and Complexity Dimensions

Abstract

Past research has identified elements underlying modeling as a core science and engineering practice, as well as dimensions along which students’ learn how to use models and how they perceive the nature of modeling. To extend these findings by a perspective on how modeling practice can be used in classrooms, we used design-based research to investigate how the modeling practice elements, i.e., construct, use, evaluate, and revise, were integrated in a middle school unit about water quality that included using an online modeling tool. We focus on N = 3 groups as cases to track and analyze 7th grade students’ modeling practice and metamodeling knowledge across the unit. Students constructed, used, evaluated, and revised their models based on data they collected and concepts they learned. Results indicate most students succeeded in constructing complex models using the modeling tool by consecutively adding and specifying variables and relationships. This is a positive finding compared to prior research on students’ metamodeling knowledge. Similar to these studies, we observed several basic metamodeling conceptions and generally less progress in this field than in students’ models. We discuss implications for applying modeling practice in classrooms and explain how students make use of the different modeling practice elements by developing their models in the complexity and quality dimensions.

Perception of the Next Generation Science Standard instructional practices among Vietnamese pre-service and in-service teachers

“…Besides, there are other directions of research related to SEPs. For example, Bielik, Opitz and Novak (2018) used design-based research to examine the development of modeling practice for grade seven students when using an online modeling tool in a unit about water quality (Bielik et al, 2018). French and Burrows (2018) examined preservice science teachers' SEPs in their lesson plans before and after learning secondary science methods courses.…”

Thinking in Terms of Change over Time: Opportunities and Challenges of Using System Dynamics Models

“…The unit focused on the kinetics of chemical reactions and consisted of five 80-min lesson blocks over 2 and a half weeks of classroom instruction (Bain & Towns, 2016). Before students started the unit, they discussed the purpose of building models and had hands-on experience with a system dynamics software called SageModeler for 4 h. SageModeler is a web-based open-source tool designed to support student learning through constructing, evaluating, revising, and using models (Bielik et al, 2018(Bielik et al, , 2020. Students used the dynamic timebased setting in SageModeler, which utilizes a "stock and flow" system dynamics approach (Zuckerman & Resnick, 2005).…”

Investigating the dimensions of modeling competence among preservice science teachers: Meta‐modeling knowledge, modeling practice, and modeling product

“…To assess the quality of the participants' modeling products, a novel category system was inductively developed, based on the previous work of the authors. As suggested by Bielik et al (2018), modeling products were considered of high quality when they included the components and relationships that are required to accurately explain the black box phenomenon (Figure 2). Here, modeling products of high quality were expected to include three concepts, which were found to be necessary to explain the water distribution inside the black box and the input and output patterns (Krell et al, 2019): (1) The modeling product should contain water reservoirs filling up with water, (2) the water reservoirs should be embedded in a parallel system of diverging paths, and (3) water should be fully emptied at a specific fill level.…”