“Models make it possible to go beyond observables and imagine a world not yet seen.” So says the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine [formerly the National Research Council (NRC)], noting that modeling in science education should begin in the earliest grades and progress to more abstract representations for students as their learning evolves (NRC 2012, 50, 58). However, with newer standards, there has been a shift in when models are introduced in the lessons.
“Historically, we would start with a model and have students ‘do’ an experiment that we predetermined, and then we would ask students to apply their findings to something real,” O’Donnell explains. “Today, it’s the reverse. You start with the real-world scientific phenomenon or problem, you engage students in sensemaking—the idea of what you notice about the phenomenon or problem and what you wonder—and that drives the need to engage with a model to explain the questions that may have arisen from the students’ observation of the phenomenon or problem.”
By beginning with asking questions and wondering about phenomena or problems that arise from phenomena, science and engineering are put into a broader context, which cognitive psychologists say helps enhance students’ memory of the experience (Godden and Baddeley 1975). “In particular, experiences which involve engaging our perceptions of sight, sound, touch, smell, or taste, coupled with strong and realistic context, stimulate a pattern of neural activity in our brains that help us remember the experiences with greater detail,” O’Donnell says (O’Donnell 2019). In other words, the hands-on, multisensory nature of phenomenon-driven learning and use of modeling can be considered an essential ingredient of the glue that helps learning stick.
In A Framework for K–12 Science Education, the focus is on conceptual models—explicit representations that “allow scientists and engineers to better visualize and understand a phenomenon under investigation or develop a possible solution to a design problem” (NRC 2012, 56). These include diagrams, physical replicas, mathematical representations, analogies, and computer simulations. Developing conceptual models engages students as they’re motivated to figure out why something happens.
- Through observations, testing, and refining, they use scientific models to explain phenomena and predict what may happen.
- To incorporate engineering practices, they create and use models to test solutions.
Throughout the process, students continue to deepen understanding as they mimic how scientists and engineers develop explanations, make predictions, and solve problems.
