Secondary school students’ meta-modeling knowledge of concept-process models in biology

Abstract

Meta-modeling knowledge is an important part of scientific literacy. However, models in biology education are mostly used to teach about the content of science rather than to develop the students’ meta-modeling knowledge. Before developing model-based learning techniques that approach this gap in teaching, it is important to know the students’ meta-modeling knowledge without an explicit teaching approach. Previous research has focused on scale models (such as a skeleton). This study investigates the current understanding of biological concept-process models (such as blood sugar regulation) by secondary school students, in regard to the meta-modeling knowledge aspects nature of models and multiple models. The results show that students can think on a more advanced level for concept-process models than previous studies on scale models found. Students show more advanced meta-modeling knowledge for microscopic models than for macroscopic models. A possible explanation for both results is that the abstractness of the model influences the displayed meta-modeling understanding. Models that require more abstract understanding (concept-process models and microscopic models) can possibly trigger more advanced meta-modeling knowledge than models that require less abstract understanding (scale models and macroscopic models).