Contributions of the model of modelling diagram to the learning of ionic bonding : analysis of a case study.

Abstract

Current proposals for science education recognise the importance of students’ involvement in activities aimed at favouring the understanding of science as a human, dynamic and non-linear construct. Modelling-based teaching is one of the alternatives through which to address such issues. Modelling-based teaching activities for ionic bonding were introduced. This topic was chosen because of both the high incidence of students’ alternative conceptions and its abstract nature, which justify the need for understanding complex models. The diagram Model of Modelling was used as a theoretical construct during the development of the teaching activities, which were implemented in a Brazilian medium level public school class (16–18 years old students). The data collected were the written material and models produced by the students, the content-knowledge tests, the video-recording of the lessons, and the observations and field notes of both the teacher and the researcher who observed the lessons. The analysis of such data enabled the production of case studies for each of the student groups. In this paper, we analyse one of the case studies, looking for evidence about the way that specific elements of the teaching strategy supported students’ learning. It supported our belief in the use of the Model of Modelling diagram as a theoretical construct with which to develop and analyse modelling-based teaching activities.