ABSTRACT

It is quite common in science education that on the one hand terms used are somewhat vague, and on the other hand, basically the same concepts are communicated by different terms. Model is certainly among the terms that are used in such a broad spectrum of meanings that great care is necessary when that term is employed (Bunge, 1973, p. 91; Leatherdale, 1974, p. 41; Lind, 1980). Quite frequently not even single authors are consistent in the way they use this term. Nevertheless, there appears to be a common core across the different meanings in that models stand for something else, which they ‘represent’ in some way. Models may be viewed in terms of the structure presented in Figure 13.1. There are two domains, one may be called the ‘source’, the other the ‘target’. The two domains share certain attributes or parts of structures but thus are different otherwise. Models then have to do with mapping the attributes and structures between different domains. The representation R stands for the attributes or structures that comprise the mapping. The term ‘model is used for different components in Figure 13.1. Quite frequently the source domain itself is called a model for the target domain. A well-known example in science education is the water model of the electric circuit. But also what is called representation R in Figure 13.1 is often viewed as a model in that it represents the mapping between the two domains, in other words, it models the mapping.