ABSTRACT
We model when we learn about the world around us, and learning to model includes describing the world in a variety of ways, being able to predict the consequences of changes in conditions, and knowing how to make links between theoretical constructs and the world. Modeling the modeler is about understanding how people learn together and how they interact with the world. In this chapter we examine some aspects of the ways in which modelers work together as they coconstruct a model of a fragment of the world. We do this by describing a computational model that we built of a group of learners interacting through dialogue and through an external representation of the model. The approach taken is based on the assumption that students should learn through the adoption of different ways of using dialogue (dialogue roles). We also speculate on what this might mean for supporting people learning to model.
