2016 Volume 57 Issue 1 Pages 1-10
The purpose of this study is to clarify students’ understanding of scientific models. A 20-item pencil-and-paper questionnaire consisting of four constructs was conducted on 227 lower secondary school students and 200 science course college students. The results of this analysis revealed that lower secondary school students indicate lower scores than science course college students in four constructs (explanation/prediction, characterization, limitation, and tentativeness). Lower secondary school students realize that models can represent natural phenomena that are difficult to see directly or simplify complex natural phenomena. Lower secondary school students do not understand that models are useful for explanation/prediction of natural phenomena, and their models are tentative. It is especially difficult to learn the purpose of models; college students’ score on models for explanation/prediction of natural phenomena is also relatively low. Based on the results of this analysis, lower secondary school students need to understand that models are useful for explanation/prediction, through practice using models to explain and predict natural phenomena.
