Lehrer (Ch. 2) describes modeling as a special form of
inquiry that students rarely encounter in school. Modeling “changes what students
observe and what [questions] they choose to pursue”. A model is a “condition
for seeing” a natural phenomenon. Modeling is challenging because it requires
the individual to create a “stripped down analog” – to do this, students need
to develop a sense of which details are relevant (for example, does rocket
shape have an effect on how high it goes?). Modeling also involves the use different
forms of inscription (such pictures, graphs, or equations). This type of
critical thinking helps engage students in a dialogue and highlights science as
a collaborative effort.
Lehrer (2001) contends that rhetoric, representation, and
modeling must all be firmly established before experiments can be meaningful to
students. While adults seem to take for granted the idea that an experiment represents
a model, this is not usually clear to students. Before students can engage in
experiments, they need to first engage in the fundamentals of scientific enquiry,
such as observation and questioning.
Jackson et al., 2008 contends that modeling instruction is
an effective model for teaching science. Not only does it seem to improve the
articulation and confidence of students, but the collaborative nature of
modeling instruction appears to be beneficial for female students. In addition,
many teachers who use modeling instruction have won awards for excellence; this
is because modeling instruction involves the use of technology to support modeling,
frequent high quality discussions, and the use assessments that more accurately
gauge student understanding.
It appears to me that modeling instruction is not only useful for learning science, but also for improving literacy in general. For example, critical thinking and exchange of different views and opinions among students is necessary in English language arts and social studies. In addition, collaboration fosters respect among students, which in turn is good for establishing a positive classroom culture.
I appreciate your connecting the concept of modeling to a subject area other than science or math. I guess I hadn't consciously thought that modeling could be used to in developing critical thinking for English classes. However, this makes sense; if modeling is learning an abstract way to explain one phenomenon, then taking that abstract pattern and applying it to other systems, then why shouldn't this be done with books or poetry, seeing a piece of literature as a model for an entire century of literature.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Faith, and I wonder if there are things we can do with the English teachers in our schools to draw the line between critical thinking and reasoning in science to persuasive rhetoric in English (or social studies, math, etc.). I have seen it done poorly before, but not well.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you brought up the connection between language arts and science. Making sense of representation, a key concept in modeling, is really analogous to metaphors and similes in English.
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