Investigating the Contextual Nature of Organic Chemistry Students' Modeling Knowledge

What makes a scientific model good? And when do we change scientific models? This study investigates student conceptions of these questions. First, we asked them to consider these prompts abstractly, and then had them generate a predictive model for organic acid-base equilibria, after which they engaged in evaluating and changing their own models. This comparison allowed us to consider how students’ ideas about models (epistemic modeling knowledge) related to the factors they considered when actually engaging in the practice of evaluating and changing a model. We found that students often considered different factors when discussing their ideas about models broadly versus when they actually engaged in modeling, providing instructional implications for how to support students in this skill.