Although the need for developing students’ modelling competence and understanding models as an essential part of science is recognized in curriculum documents, the practice of teaching models and modelling is lagging in the Netherlands. To address this challenge, we need to act on three levels. First, we need to develop a clear idea of what constitutes the modelling competence, and the knowledge of and about models and modelling. In this project we will focus on computational models. Second, teachers need support to facilitate the development of their students’ modelling competence. Third, both teachers and students need to have appropriate computational tools to develop their modelling competence and their abilities to understand complex systems.
Research questions
This yields three major research questions for the proposed project:
- What constitutes modelling competence, needed for all students leaving secondary education in the Netherlands, and how can this be assessed?
- How to effectively support the development of pre-service teachers’ modelling competence, and their ability to design lessons that engage students with models and modelling?
- How can we support students in the process of modelling with software that helps them construct and use numerical models based on their conceptual ideas about a system?
The project will study these questions in the context of lower secondary education, because this is the level of education that is common for all students. This is important as one of our main claims is that modelling competence is important for everyone, not only for students with majors in science. To make modelling accessible to our target group we intend to scaffold the modelling process using qualitative models. Thinking qualitatively about a system separates the conceptual parts of the modelling practice from the more technical parts. In this project, a subproject will be dedicated to each of the research questions.
Project 1
Project 1 develops a conceptual framework to understand and define what constitutes the modelling competence. Although it has been established that models and modelling should be part of the science curriculum, it is by no means trivial to establish what and how exactly should be taught, to which students, and how to support teachers in doing so. Open questions are how modelling competence develops, how this could be assessed, and what is needed as a level for modelling competence at the end of lower secondary education.
Project 2
Project 2 designs and implements professional development in several teacher training academic institutes across the Netherlands. This program will be based on the findings from Project 1 and generate practical suggestions for supporting students’ modelling competence. Participants in the program are preservice teachers (PSTs) from all disciplines. The program focuses on developing and evaluating PSTs’ modelling competence, engaging them in modelling activities, reflecting on the modelling process, and providing opportunities to design lessons that include modelling activities. More specifically, project 2 investigates what characterizes PSTs’ modelling competence and knowledge about the role of models in science and society, in what ways PSTs’ modelling competence can be developed, and how they can be supported in designing lessons that effectively engage students in models and modelling.
Project 3
Project 3 develops and evaluates curricular materials for students. These materials will be aligned with the curricular framework and teacher training initiatives established in Projects 1 and 2. The project aims to introduce a unifying approach to modelling education across different subjects in lower secondary education, providing a coherent foundation for students and teachers alike. The unifying approach entails students learning modelling competence through software that integrates qualitative and numerical modelling.
Alongside supporting modelling by students, we ensure that teachers are adequately supported in guiding students through the modelling process, by means of a teacher dashboard. This dashboard will facilitate hybrid teaching, where responsibilities are shared between the software and the teacher. For teachers, this represents a new educational scenario in which they must navigate between their traditional role as facilitators and the integration of AI-driven support tools. With the rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI), such hybrid forms of education will become more common. Therefore, the dashboard enables teachers to monitor students’ learning progress, provide guidance, and effectively integrate automated support into their teaching practice.