Title	Developing Models in Science Education [electronic resource] / edited by John K. Gilbert, Carolyn J. Boulter
Imprint	Dordrecht : Springer Netherlands : Imprint: Springer, 2000
Connect to	http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-94-010-0876-1
Descript	XI, 387 p. online resource

Models and modelling play a central role in the nature of science, in its conduct, in the accreditation and dissemination of its outcomes, as well as forming a bridge to technology. They therefore have an important place in both the formal and informal science education provision made for people of all ages. This book is a product of five years collaborative work by eighteen researchers from four countries. It addresses four key issues: the roles of models in science and their implications for science education; the place of models in curricula for major science subjects; the ways that models can be presented to, are learned about, and can be produced by, individuals; the implications of all these for research and for science teacher education. The work draws on insights from the history and philosophy of science, cognitive psychology, sociology, linguistics, and classroom research, to establish what may be done and what is done. The book will be of interest to researchers in science education and to those taking courses of advanced study throughout the world

Section One: On the Nature and Significance of Models -- 1. Positioning Models in Science Education and in Design and Technology Education -- 2. Science and Education: Notions of Reality, Theory and Model -- 3. Constructing a Typology of Models for Science Education -- 4. Mathematical Models in Science -- Section Two: The Development of Mental Models -- 5. Grasping Mental Models -- 6. Investigating the Role of Representations and Expressed Models in Building Mental Models -- 7. Modelling and Creativity in Design and Technology Education -- 8. Thought Experiments and Embodied Cognition -- 9. Computers and the Development of Mental Models -- Section Three: Teaching and Learning Consensus Models -- 10. Explanations with Models in Science Education -- 11. Teaching with Historical Models -- 12. Models in Explanations of Chemistry: The Case of Acidity -- 13. Models in the Explanations of Physics: The Case of Light -- 14. The Role of Models in Biotechnology Education: An Analysis of Teaching Models -- 15. Language, Models and Modelling in the Primary Science Classroom -- 16. Teaching and Learning about Chemistry and Modelling with a Computer Managed Modelling System -- 17. The Structure and Development of Science Teachersโ{128}{153} Pedagogical Models: Implications for Teacher Education -- 18 Challenges and Opportunities -- References