Supporting Students' Epistemic Agency to Revise a Class Criteria List for Scientific Models

Reforms in science education have called for students to engage in scientific practices. A scientific practice that has received increased attention is modeling. Part of the practice of modeling is the development, use, and evaluation of epistemic criteria which are the standards scientists use to evaluate the validity and accuracy of scientific models. For students to effectively engage with epistemic criteria, they need to be given collective cognitive responsibility, or epistemic agency. This study investigates how the design and implementation of a fifth-grade model-based inquiry unit supported students' epistemic agency to revise an initial class criteria list for scientific models. The findings indicate that reflecting upon peer critique of their scientific models in a written task, and the ways that teachers engaged students in a class discussion to revise the initial class list, supported students' epistemic agency to revise an initial class criteria list for scientific models.