ABSTRACT

Scientific modelling has received much attention in science education, but less is known about how students learn through model-based learning. This study aims to understand and describe the learning processes of students participating in the co-construction of scientific models (CCSM). The participating teachers joined a collaborative workshop on CCSM and co-developed lesson plans with the researchers. Data were collected from participating teachers’ junior high school science classrooms using videotape recordings and participants’ interviews and from students’ artifacts developed in class. The students’ learning in CCSM is described at three levels: model evolution (macro); model generation, evaluation, and modification (meso); and the resources and data used (micro). The concepts of situation definition and intersubjectivity were applied to describe and understand how shared resources were introduced and used to reason with, and how they enabled agreement to be reached. Students’ learning processes in CCSM can be better understood as model evolution and social practice.