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Front Matter |
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Abstract
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Positioning Models in Science Education and in Design and Technology Education |
John K. Gilbert,Carolyn J. Boulter,Roger Elmer |
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Abstract
The purpose of this Chapter is to establish the place of modelling and models in science education and in technology education (the U.K. terminology of ‘design and technology education’ is introduced and used during the Chapter). It is argued that both the processes and outcomes of science and of technology . have a great deal in common. ‘Authentic’ educations in science and in technology must reflect the natures of the parent disciplines as far as is practicable. Modelling and models are common to both, thus providing a potential bridge between science education and technology education. The basic terminology of modelling and models used throughout this book is presented.
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Science and Education: Notions of Reality, Theory and Model |
John K. Gilbert,Mauricio Pietrocola,Arden Zylbersztajn,Creso Franco |
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Abstract
It was argued in Chapter 1 that science education and technology education should both be as ‘authentic’ as possible and that modelling and models, for which a typology was proposed, can form a bridge between the two. However, modelling and models must be seen within a broader context, that of the relationship between notions of ‘reality’, ‘theory’ and ‘model’, for two reasons. First, science education, which aspires to be authentic, must be based on an historically and philosophically valid view of the nature of science, in which these three notions play important parts. Second, it can be argued that perhaps, to some extent and in some way, the development of ideas by an individual parallels (or can be seen as a metaphor for) the development of ideas in science. The treatment of the reality/theory/model relationship given in this Chapter, which is of importance in its own right, is set within the second of these two reasons because it subsumes the first.
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Constructing a Typology of Models for Science Education |
Carolyn J. Boulter,Barbara C. Buckley |
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Representations and expressed models abound in science classrooms and vary widely on multiple dimensions. In order to encourage systematic research and principled curriculum development, we have developed a typology for categorising diverse kinds of representations and models. This chapter articulates an operational typology of models based on the attributes and modes of representations employed. It emerged from analysis of a range of models of the heart and the lunar eclipse. We conclude with a discussion of the utility of this typology for supporting research in model-based teaching and learning and its link to the study of the parts of models found in Chapter 6.
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Mathematical Models in Science |
David Malvern |
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Abstract
In ending his charming and insightful essay ., by observing that.the Nobel Laureate Eugene Wigner (1960) summarises the difficulty in understanding why mathematical models seem to be essential and not merely useful to science. Although there may be a straightforward distinction between mathematics and science, the truths of mathematics are based on deriving consequences from axioms while those of science rest on empirical evidence, so intertwined are they that it may not be so easy to determine whether a given page of text belongs to one or the other, nor to say who is a mathematician and who a scientist. Thales (624-546 BCE) was generally considered the founder of both Greek science and mathematics and perhaps the most popularly known mathematician. Pythagoras and Euclid also worked, apparently seamlessly, in the sciences. Euclid systematised geometry axiomatically but also treated optics as part of geometry. Pythagoras’ analysis of sound, which remains unaltered today, was at one with his theories of numbers and of astronomy.
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Grasping Mental Models |
Creso Franco,Dominique Colinvaux |
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Mental models have been approached from a number of different perspectives, from cognitive psychology to philosophy of science and science education. As a result, several definitions have been proposed that emphasise distinct aspects. It has also been suggested that researchers have access to people’s mental models by means of the examination of individuals’ expressed models. We argue that, in order to grasp mental models, a fruitful strategy involves developing two complementary approaches: one that focuses on how mental models are developed and the other one on their key features when people make use of them to think. In particular, we will deal with three basic issues: to what extent can we talk about mental models by examining expressed models? What are the tools individuals make use of in order to build mental models? What are the main features of mental models? Each issue is addressed below, starting from a critical analysis of existing literature so as to suggest and discuss a framework that could help us grasp mental models.
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Investigating the Role of Representations and Expressed Models in Building Mental Models |
Barbara C. Buckley,Carolyn J. Boulter |
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Chapter 5 has concentrated upon cognitive-historical studies in science and how these methods of analysis can provide tools for looking at the nature of mental models. Model-based teaching and learning within science education seeks ways of analysing dynamic systems. It sees representations and expressed models forming essential and accessible links between the many levels and contexts of learning. This chapter presents a method for analysing representations, illustrates it using particular models of the human heart and the lunar eclipse, and describes how they function in model-based learning. We focus on what aspects of the phenomenon are represented and how the particular features of the representations facilitate or hinder the learner’s mental model-building.
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Modelling and Creativity in Design and Technology Education |
Roger Elmer,Trevor Davies |
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The overarching aim of this chapter is to examine critically modelling and creativity in design and technology education. To locate this inquiry, and to assist readers less familiar with this curriculum area, the first section gives a brief history of modelling in design and technology education whilst the second section is dedicated to a general review of creativity followed by a focus on creativity and children. The very limited usage of the term in design and technology education is discussed and the section finishes by comparing creativity with a frequently used term in design and technology, innovation. The purpose of modelling, both in industrial and educational settings, and creativity are subsequently explored, and the chapter finishes with a discussion and issues for future research investigation.
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Thought Experiments and Embodied Cognition |
Miriam Reiner |
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The question raised here concerns the validity of a mental model generated through a reasoning heuristic, known as a thought experiment (TE).
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Computers and the Development of Mental Models |
Patrick Carmichael |
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This Chapter reviews some of the ways in which the introduction of computers into classrooms may encourage the expression and elaboration of mental models in science. Programming languages such as Logo (Papert, 1980; Resnick, 1994) have provided a basis for a range of modelling environments; computer-generated imagery has allowed the visual representation of increasingly complex modelled environments; the development of graphical user interfaces has made it possible for even young children and others with limited programming skills to develop computer-based models; and the development of the World Wide Web has provided a medium for dissemination and discussion of models and model-building tools.
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Explanations with Models in Science Education |
John K. Gilbert,Carolyn J. Boulter,Margaret Rutherford |
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Consensus models which are important outcomes of science play a major part in providing the explanations are at the heart of the scientific enterprise. The business of science may be said to be the production of explanations of the natural world. The problem with such a definition is that the nature of ‘a scientific explanation’ is left unaddressed. Martin (1972) has pointed out that the word ‘explanation’ can have any one of five meanings in science:
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Teaching with Historical Models |
Rosária S. Justi |
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Abstract
As the first section of this book has shown, science is a special branch of knowledge that includes not only models and theories but also the processes through which scientific knowledge is produced. Assuming the relevance of scientific literacy to the citizens of the twenty-first century, it is important that their education aims at an understanding of (i) the structure of scientific knowledge, (ii) what the conduct of science involves and (iii) the limitations of scientific knowledge in a given context, as well as the development of the skills with which to develop reliable scientific knowledge. In Hodson’s (1992) words, the purposes of science education should be learning science, learning about science and learning to do science.
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Models in Explanations of Chemistry: The Case of Acidity |
John Oversby |
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The discipline of chemistry occupies a special place in science since few of the macroscopic observations can be understood without recourse to sub-microscopic representation or models. Chemical models are constructed to provide a variety of explanations of parts of chemical phenomena. This chapter focuses on the development of modelling in chemistry, using the context of acidity for exemplification.
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Models in the Explanations of Physics: The Case of Light |
Margaret Rutherford |
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Over the centuries, the basic utility of physics explanations has laid a solid base for investigations, explanations and models in other subject areas. As the technology and instrumentation have improved, so the explanations and associated models have become more detailed, more predictive and a better fit to the phenomenon under investigation. In general, one consensus model has emerged which has held sway until some form of Kuhnian paradigm shift has occurred. However, there is one important phenomenon which has yet to develop a single consensus model, the phenomenon of light. This chapter therefore looks at the development of the models used to explain optical behaviour, how opinion has oscillated between the two major theories or explanations and the rather uneasy combination of them in the wave-particle duality explanation. This duality highlights the nature of models in that one is unable to say ‘light is ...’ but must always say ‘in this instance light behaves as if..’ The phenomenon may therefore be a very useful tool in teaching about the nature of models. It could be argued that ‘the case of light’ is an ideal one for an examination of what is meant by a model, how models
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The Role of Models in Biotechnology Education: An Analysis of Teaching Models |
Bev France |
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Abstract
. magazine has nominated the 21st century ‘The Biotech Century’ and predicts that the 20th century revolution in infotechnology will merge with the 21st century’s revolution in biotechnology (Isaacson, 1999). These days biotechnology has a high profile and strong opinions are generated when the dilemmas of genetic engineering and its products are placed before the public (Van Brunt, 1991). There is a consensus that there is a need to educate citizens living in this new century about biotechnological innovations. In New Zealand the need for public education about biotechnology has been identified (Macer, 1990) not only because the public feels insecure about biotechnological products and processes but also because this technology makes a significant contribution to the production of value-added primary products (Kennedy and Davis, 1994). This challenge has been met in New Zealand education through the avenues of science and technology education. Biotechnology education is claimed by biology teachers to illustrate biological concepts (Farmer, 1994) and its classroom expression has a ‘Technology as Applied Science’ (TAS) focus (Gardner, 1995). A modern form of technology education whi
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Language, Models and Modelling in the Primary Science Classroom |
Carolyn J. Boulter |
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The perception that pupils should become scientifically literate and act as authentic scientists has fuelled the rise of science education for primary (5 to 11 years) pupils. The contemporary development of methods for analysing whole class talk between teachers and pupils has shown three main scenarios in the relationships in the control of language and knowledge: informing, questioning and collaborating. The collaborative problem-solving scenario uniquely allows for pupils’ understandings to be voiced and deliberated. In this scenario patterns of persuasion which allow challenging by pupils in dialogic argumentation are possible. It is probable that there are interacting patterns of questioning, explanation and narrative. The model building that is possible in the collaborative scenario allows the pupils to explain their own ephemeral explanatory models in the example of the eclipse using structural, behavioural and mechanism aspects of the phenomenon, representing them in verbal, graphic and gestural forms. To become authentic in the knowledge and use of models and modelling pupils probably need to experience a range of scenarios, including the collaborative.
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Teaching and Learning about Chemistry and Modelling with a Computer managed Modelling System |
Nitza Barnea |
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The advantage of using computer managed modelling systems (CMMS) to illustrate and explore phenomena in chemistry teaching and learning stems from the convenience and simplicity they provide for building molecules of any size and colour in a number of presentations. This Chapter summarises aspects and thoughts about CMMS that were collected from four different populations: Chemistry and microbiology professors, graduate and undergraduate students at university and high-school teachers and students. The data comes from semi-structured interviews, written reports, and questionnaires. Academic members who use CMMS for research and teaching, and schoolteachers, who use it for teaching, all see the advantages and importance of using this tool. Students’ feedback on the use of CMMS both in high school and university was found to be positive. Most of the students enjoyed using CMMS and indicated that it had helped them understand concepts in molecular geometry and bonding, through the improvement of their visualisation skills.
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发表于 2025-3-21 16:28:09
