Abstract
The adoption of models and modelling practices in science education is a widely accepted method. However, students’ beliefs about models deviate from the scientifically acceptable ones. This research aims to enhance students’ epistemological beliefs regarding science models by the use of a model based, inquiry Teaching Learning Sequence as an intervention method. The latter contains modelling processes and practices that incorporate Information and Communication Technologies such as applets, the Cabri Geometry II software and Phet applications. Their main common feature is the adoption of the ray model which is used for the interpretation and the prediction of light phenomena. The virtual experiments are complementary to the real ones, providing realistic representation, increased interactivity and measurability. The results indicate an increase in students’ performance in their epistemological beliefs regarding the nature, purpose, multiplicity, and change of scientific models. In addition, it is this study’s intention to unveil the criteria by which students distinguish and categorize images representing obvious models from non-obvious ones, as well as from non-science representations.
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Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank Dr. E. Petridou and Dr. I. Soulios for their constructive comments regarding the closed-ended questionnaire and Dr. A. Taramopoulos for his insight regarding data analysis.
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Koukioglou, S., Psillos, D. (2019). Enhancing Junior High School Students’ Epistemological Beliefs About Models in Science. In: Tsitouridou, M., A. Diniz, J., Mikropoulos, T. (eds) Technology and Innovation in Learning, Teaching and Education. TECH-EDU 2018. Communications in Computer and Information Science, vol 993. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-20954-4_35
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