Harlow and Connections Throughout the Course

I believe Harlow's article offers a new perspective that we have not yet read about but are experiencing ourselves in that we are learning how to incorporate modeling into our own science classrooms in the near future. Many articles have talked about the concept and practice of modeling at the beginning of the semester many of us questions the necessity, practicality, and feasibility of actually implementing modeling in our own classrooms. However, I like to think that we are more open and less constrained in our view of the future of modeling in science education than the undergraduate students interviewed in Harlow et al.'s study.


Harlow bases his approach on diSessa's idea of "knowledge in pieces" which is very useful in understanding the significance and impact small perspectives can have. I also think his approach to evaluating the four resources, (1) the teacher’s role is to provide the right answer, (2) guiding students is less certain than telling them (the right answer), (3) a good model includes scientific terms, and (4) children are creative thinkers, as either appropriate or inappropriate is a direct comparison to how student work can be judged- it does not always have to be right or wrong, but more importantly we should look at the students work and thought process to evaluate models. I think some of the concerns addressed in Harlow's are bigger questions about the role of teachers in general beyond the scope of modeling or even just science education that show a disconnect between ideologies and modern teaching. The notion that a teacher's role is to provide the right answer reflects the traditional thought that students are simply empty vessels that the teacher needs to fill with knowledge. However, the very first week of class we went over the NGSS Science Standards which place much more emphasis on student learning, initiative and being able to explain processes not just spit out facts taught by an "all-knowing" teacher. That is why is was a little surprising to me that student creativity was seen as a hindrance in some scenarios when I would regard student creativity and curiosity as a good thing to have in one's class. I think that negative view of creativity is a byproduct of the immense increase in testing which does not value out of the box thinking. Hopefully, as we discussed in class the focus on standardized tests will be shifted to truly emphasize more organic teaching and learning. With regards to modeling itself, I think the idea that guiding students is less certain than telling them is true-but that's why its called guidance. Previous articles have shown that students get much more out of modeling when they actually have to problem solve on their own. The last point the article touches on is the fact that some models were judged as more accurate with the more scientific terms. This premise is one that NGSS shifts the focus away from, while the terms are important student understanding is more valuable.

In our class discussion and own model making I think we have come very far in understanding the important role models can play and how we should begin to think about implementing models in our classroom. Harlow was a good reminder of our previous concern and how perceptions can change over time and further education.