Modeling is a scientific practice that supports creative reasoning, motivates inquiry, and facilitates community sense-making. This paper explores students' perspectives on modeling in an undergraduate laboratory course, Authentic Inquiry through Modeling (AIM-Bio), in which they proposed, tested, and revised their own models. We conducted…

Science classes are full of abstract or challenging concepts that are easier to understand if an analogy is used to illustrate the points. Effective analogies motivate students, clarify students' thinking, help students overcome misconceptions, and give students ways to visualize abstract concepts. When they are used appropriately, analogies can…