On Defining and Assessing Learners’ Modeling Competence in Science Teaching and Learning

• In Event: Assessment in Science Education

Abstract

The study documents the absence of a framework from existing research that would provide information about the constituent components of learners’ modeling competence, and suggests a theoretical framework for addressing this gap. This framework emerged from a synthesis of research literatures on learning and teaching science through modeling, and entailed four modeling practices, as well as, two types of knowledge (metacognitive knowledge and meta-modeling knowledge), that were considered as essential for an individual to effectively engage within modeling-centered inquiry settings. The framework served as a guide for the design and administration of a set of assessment tasks, and it was empirically tested through the analysis of the data collected from these assessment tasks administered during several teaching interventions.

Authors

• Marios Papaevripidou, University of Cyprus

• Christiana Theophani Nicolaou, University of Cyprus

• C. P. Constantinou, University of Cyprus