Abstract
This research compares the effects of making a model for the purpose of increasing a student's observational abilities to the effects of sketching. In this case, each student had previously sketched a leaf arrangement to observe how the leaves were attached to a stem. By making a model, students could point out many more details about how the leaves were attached and were much more descriptive in their observations of leaf arrangements both during and after model-making. As a result, students not only learned more from model-making than sketching, but retained more information when tested two months later for example, by being able to describe how sunlight affects leaf arrangement. Thus, model-making was found to be more effective than sketching in two important ways: 1) students observed more details, and 2) students retained more information about what they were studying. Model-making, then, can be said to be a more effective way of enhancing the observation and retention of details and information than sketching.
