How Do I Love Thee: Modeling

Modeling is the act of creating something to represent a complex object or idea. At the very basic level, modeling is constructing a miniature version of an object as way to better understand that object. For example, people build model planes, model cars, and models of buildings. The act of creating these models helps the learner understand more about the actual or in some cases, full-size, object. However, modeling can go far beyond making a smaller version of a large object. In some cases, we might make a larger version of a very small object. Take the double helix model of DNA. We can create a physical representation of DNA that represents the sugar-phosphates and the bases that make up a strand of DNA. As described by the Root-Bersteins, the double-helix model is "physical embodiment of something that is simply to small to see." (239) From this model, the learner can see what we cannot normally see: the structure of DNA and how its components fit together. That is main idea behind modeling: to represent how something works, looks, or perhaps, fits together.

Models of all kinds represent the original object, usually in a way that makes that object more accessible to the viewer/learner. For example, I obviously can't have the Titanic at my disposal any time I would like. It is a massive ship that is at the bottom of the Atlantic. But I can learn more about the Titanic with a model. By looking at a model of the ship I can see what it would have looked like and how the iceberg might have damaged the ship. If I build the model myself, and go one step further, I will have a better understanding of the spatial relationships on board. I would have a better understanding how small a room in steerage was compared to that of someone traveling in first class.

Other models, may not be physical embodiments of the original. In other words, not all models are objects that we can reach out and touch. Sometimes they are diagrams, such as a diagram of an atom. Sometimes they might be virtual, like a flight simulator or a training program for police officers to run through life-like weapons scenarios. Furthermore, they might simply be representational in a more abstract way.

For example, my content area that I have been focusing on over the course of the semester has been rights and freedom. But how do you build a model of somethttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifhing you can not see, touch, taste, or smell? In this case, I created a model of freedom and rights in the United States by using a concept map. A concept map is a model in the sense that it represents the components of the original and helps the learner understand how its parts fit together and how ideas are connected.



To view the concept map as a webpage, click: http://www.gliffy.com/publish/3083436/

The above model shows depicts some of the key components of rights and freedoms in the United States: civil liberties and due process. The concept map then goes on to show the connections to the U.S. constitution. While this concept map does not show all rights and freedoms in the U.S., it does indicate how rights and freedoms are directly related to the Bill of Rights and the subsequent amendments to the constitution. To fully understand due process, I found a concept map that shows the complexities of due process in the judicial system. The diagram below was created by the U.S. Bureau of Statistics and goes a long way to show how complicated this system is:http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif


This image can also be viewed at:
http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/largechart.cfm

or

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Cjsflowco.svg





Without these models, students can read about these rights and freedoms, but might not fully understand the interconnectedness of them. If given the time, one could even add pictures to either concept map, to show examples of each detail. For example, suffrage could be represented by an image of a voting booth while the 4th Amendment might be represented with an image of a police search or warrant.

Models are an excellent way to represent something that is much larger, either in size or in idea, to make it more accessible to the learner. Models help us to think about their original or their muse in a deeper fashion. Finally, we should strive to model more, as modeling is a higher order of thinking and requires the use of observation, spatial understanding, and patterns.