ABSTRACT
Domain models are defined as rich descriptions of how the world is organized in a particular task domain. They allow the interconnection of facts and concepts through the definition of meaningful relationships. This process often results in highly complex networks representing rich cognitive schemas that enable learners to interpret unfamiliar situations in terms of their general knowledge, or ‘understand new things.’ For the design of instruction, the analysis of mental models into domain models:
1. helps refine a sequence of task classes; for example, by identifying a progression from simple toward more complicated mental models underlying the performance of increasingly more complex learning tasks (see Chapter 6.1);
2. provides the basis for the development of an important part of the supportive information for each task class (see Chapter 7.1).
