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Mental Models: Theoretical Issues for Visualizations in Science Education

  • Chapter
Visualization in Science Education

Part of the book series: Models and Modeling in Science Education ((MMSE,volume 1))

Abstract

Mental models have been outlined as internal representations of concepts and ideas. They are memory structures that can be used to extrapolate beyond a surface understanding of presented information, to build deeper comprehension of a conceptual domain. Thus, these constructs align with the explicit objectives of science education; instructors want students to understand the underlying principles of scientific theories, to reason logically about those principles, and to be able to apply them in novel settings with new problem sets. In this chapter, I review cognitive and educational psychological research on mental models. Specific attention is given to factors that may facilitate students’ construction of mental models for scientific information. In addition, these factors are related directly to the use (and potential) of visualizations as educational methodologies. The chapter concludes with several challenges for future work on visualizations in science education.

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  1. University of Minnesota, Minnesota

    David N Rapp

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  1. David N Rapp
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  1. The University of Reading, UK

    John K. Gilbert

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Rapp, D.N. (2005). Mental Models: Theoretical Issues for Visualizations in Science Education. In: Gilbert, J.K. (eds) Visualization in Science Education. Models and Modeling in Science Education, vol 1. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-3613-2_4

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