Qualitative modeling for middle-school students

Qualitative modeling offers the potential for engaging middle-school students in scientific modeling. This paper discusses the design decisions underlying VModel, a qualitative modeling environment that has been used in several studies in Chicago Public School classrooms. We discuss how these decisions were influenced by the constraints imposed by the conceptual development of the students and the middle school curriculum and environment. We describe the simplified subset of QP theory used, pedagogical agents and other software scaffolds, and how within-state qualitative simulation (i.e., influence resolution) helps students improve their models. Some evidence that VModel can improve learning is provided, and plans for future work discussed