Qualitative Modeling in Education

We argue that qualitative modeling provides a valuable way for students to learn. Learning to formulate, test, and revise models is a crucial aspect of understanding science and is critical to helping students become active, lifelong learners. Supporting students in articulating models of a domain and refining them through experience, reflection, and discussion with peers and teachers can lead to deeper, systematic understanding of science (for example, Reif and Larkin [1991]; Collins [1996]). However, modeling formalisms have traditionally been associated with creating mathematical models and deriving numeric results. Such approaches fail to capture many crucial aspects of models, such as the conditions under which a model is applicable, and are relatively inaccessible to younger children, such as middle school students.