Learning by Making Inferences
People often make sense of the world through inferences -- while not certain to be correct, they are necessary to move forward with a question, problem, or situation.
This model of Earth in the picture is a type of inference, a representation of an object that helps us understand complex phenomena, and that educators often use to teach and explain.
Models are powerful tools for helping us make inferences in novel situations and predictions about new situations that go well beyond what's actually been experienced.
This globe of Earth allows us to infer that the planet is round...
...without having to actually see it from space.
Models can allow students to explore applicable patterns or principles of underlying phenomena (like tides, weather, and gravity)!
Teachers can use models to facilitate guided learning to allow users to experiment with educational hypotheses and develop questions.