Model

Models are ubiquitous in the field of learning. Examples include toys, atomic models, construction kits, architectural models, or 3D prints. Graphics and animations are also considered models. Models help overcome critical factors in learning. In technology and natural sciences, for example, this includes the fact that many processes cannot be directly observed.

Models are surrogate objects. They fulfill something that would normally require reality itself. Depending on the type of model, it can serve various functions. Models can produce real effects (e.g., prosthetics, tools, or digital twins). They can serve aesthetic purposes or support learning processes.

According to Stachowiak, models are characterized by three features: the representational feature (What is depicted?), the reduction feature (What is omitted?), and the pragmatic feature (What is the purpose?).

Models exist within a context of action. For example, an X-ray image is inconceivable without its medical context (diagnosis and treatment). Didactic models can be part of a teaching scenario. In all contexts, they significantly influence events.

This also applies to merely imagined models. An imagined blueprint may lead to the goal. Mental models influence decisions in the development and application of technology.

The concept of a model is useful because didactic recommendations (e.g., the call for reduction, the demand for spatial and temporal contiguity) are applicable across models. Whether the critical factor in learning can be overcome depends on the choice of the appropriate model and medium.

Literature

Stachowiak, Herbert: Allgemeine Modelltheorie, Wien/New York: Springer 1973