Abstracts - Earli

observation/experiences to inventing mechanisms, making use of the mechanisms to makepredictions and validating the mechanisms through prior experience.Enacting inquiry through modeling: The added value of two modeling-based approaches in thedevelopment of student understanding of ecosystemsMarios Papaevripidou, University of Cyprus, CyprusConstantinos Constantinou, University of Cyprus, CyprusZacharias Zacharia, University of Cyprus, CyprusThis research study is grounded in contemporary perspectives on learning science as inquiry andbuilds upon previous research findings pointing to the significant role of modeling-basedinstruction in fostering and supporting conceptual understanding in specific knowledge domains.We have designed and implemented two modeling-based curricula for fifth graders. Our teachingaimed at enhancing students’ conceptual understanding about ecosystems. Three constituentcomponents, identified through previous research, are thought to shape student understanding:basic needs of living organisms, interdependence, and ecological balance. A pre-post comparisonstudy design was used, which involved two groups. The first group (n=16) received an explicitmodeling-based instruction that combined the construction of paper-and-pencil representations andthe iterative development of computer-based models (CBM group). The second group (n=17)received an implicit modeling-based instruction that combined the construction of paper-andpencilrepresentations and the iterative design of a role-playing game (RPGM group). The roleplaying games took the form of run and chase games where the students were assigned predatorand prey roles in a pre-determined space which they formulated with objects representing plants.All the models constructed throughout the two instructional approaches aimed at representing andinterpreting a specific marine ecosystem as observed through a video documentary. Paper-andpenciltests were administered both before and after the interventions in order to assess thedevelopment of the conceptual understanding about ecosystems of the participants. The data weretreated both qualitatively and quantitatively. The findings of the study indicate that the CBMgroup outperformed the RPGM group regarding the development of the concepts ofinterdependence and ecological balance, whereas the two groups were found to be equal in termsof the development of understanding of the concepts that refer to the basic needs of livingorganisms.C 1429 August 2007 08:30 - 10:30Room: 0.79 JánossySymposiumThe identification and assessment of metacognition in young childrenChair: Gerhard Büttner, University of Frankfurt, GermanyOrganiser: David Whitebread, University of Cambridge, United KingdomDiscussant: Marcel Veenman, University of Leiden, NetherlandsResearch on metacognition has predominantly adopted methodologies relying on the verbalabilities of participants or on their declarative metacognitive knowledge. These methodologies arenow generally accepted to under-estimate the metacognitive capabilities of young children (Winne– 155 –