Abstract

FERREIRA, Cândida; ALENCOAO, Ana  and  VASCONCELOS, Clara. The use of modelling in science teaching: a study with geological models. Ciência educ. [online]. 2015, vol.21, n.1, pp.31-48. ISSN 1516-7313.  https://doi.org/10.1590/1516-731320150010003.

Integrating themes of geology that are included in the Biology and Geology curricula of secondary school (students age range 15-17), a Problem-Based Learning (PBL) study was developed using a modeling strategy. With the intention of investigating if modeling could promote meaningful learning in students, an intervention program using geological models was implemented during 5 weeks (24 hours). The Research & Development promoted was methodologically-based through triangulation and used many techniques and instruments to collect data. Modeling allowed students to be increasingly involved in elaborating explanations and formulating hypothesis, as well as in a broader search for explanations to solve problems. The collected data led to the conclusion that meaningful science learning was performed by students as shown by their increase in searching for evidence, in autonomy, and in a higher school assessment scores

Keywords : Science education; Geology teaching; Modeling; Methodological triangulation; Geologic models.

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