Model Assisted Reasoning in Science (MARS)
www.lrdc.pitt.edu/mars/
Summary
The Model Assisted Reasoning in Science project is developing a sequence of science modules for middle-school classrooms. In MARS instruction, hands-on experiments are coordinated with computer tasks and discussion activities that encourage students to use models to depict and test their own ideas.
Models are visible representations that can simplify what is complex, integrate what is incoherent, and concretize what is abstract. By teaching middle-school students to understand and reason with models, MARS instruction provides a bridge between the concrete science lessons of elementary school and the abstract instruction encountered in high school science courses.
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