This book is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 LicenseModeling
The term modeling can mean either a demonstration of a desired behavior or a representation of an important
theory, idea, or object. Each of these meanings can link curriculum goals with students’ prior knowledge and
experience.
Modeling as a demonstration
In the first meaning, modeling refers to performing or demonstrating a desired new behavior or skill, as when
a teacher or classmate demonstrates polite behaviors or the correct solution to a math problem. In this case we say
that the teacher or classmate models the desired behavior, either deliberately or in the course of other ongoing
activity. Students observe the modeled behavior and (hopefully) imitate it themselves. Research repeatedly shows
that modeling desired behaviors is an effective way to learn new behaviors, especially when the model is perceived
as important (like the teacher), similar to the learner (like a student’s best friend), or has a warm, positive
relationship with the learner (like the teacher or the student’s friend) (Bandura, 2002; Gibson, 2004). Modeling in
this sense is sometimes also called observational learning. It has many of the same properties as the classic
operant conditioning discussed in Chapter 2, except that reinforcement during observational learning is witnessed
in others rather than experienced by the learner directly. Watching others being reinforced is sometimes called
vicarious reinforcement. The idea is that if, for example, a student observes a classmate who behaves politely with
the teacher and then sees that classmate receive praise for the behavior (vicarious reinforcement), the student is
more likely to imitate the polite behavior that he saw. As in classic operant conditioning, furthermore, if the student
observes that politeness by classmates is ignored (extinction or no reinforcement), then the student is much less
likely to imitate the politeness. Worse yet, if the student observes that negative behaviors in others lead to positive
consequences (like attention from peers), then the student may imitate the negative behaviors (Rebellon, 2006).
Cursing and swearing, and even bullying or vandalism, can be reinforced vicariously, just as can more desired
behaviors.
Modeling—in this first sense of a demonstration—connects instructional goals to students’ experiences by
presenting real, vivid examples of behaviors or skills in a way that a student can practice directly, rather than
merely talk about. There is often little need, when imitating a model, to translate ideas or instructions from verbal
form into action. For students struggling with language and literacy, in particular, this feature can be a real
advantage.
Modeling—as simplified representation
In a second meaning of modeling, a model is a simplified representation of a phenomenon that incorporates
the important properties of the phenomenon. Models in this sense may sometimes be quite tangible, direct copies
of reality; when I was in fourth grade growing up in California, for example, we made scale models of the Spanish
missions as part of our social studies lessons about California history. But models can also be imaginary, though
still based on familiar elements. In a science curriculum, for example, the behavior of gas molecules under pressure
can be modeled by imagining the molecules as ping pong balls flying about and colliding in an empty room.
Reducing the space available to the gas by making the room smaller, causes the ping pong balls to collide more
frequently and vigorously, and thereby increases the pressure on the walls of the room. Increasing the space has the
opposite effect. Creating an actual room full of ping pong balls may be impractical, of course, but the model can still
be imagined.
Educational Psychology 230 A Global Text