Using models in design & technology education: some conceptual and pedagogic issues

Models in design and technology education are generally perceived as information carriers; educators at least tacitly regard them as carrying, clarifying, and enlarging on information of one kind of another which is relevant to design activity. However, the information carrying role of models is often confused with another pedagogically important one; models in design and technology education can also have a function with regard to the explication and teaching of concepts [an issue frequently confronting science teachers] and this can be distinguished from their function as carriers of information. In this paper I will attempt to clarify and distinguish these roles. Following upon this, I will suggest ways in which design and technology educators can make their use of models and modelling activity more effective.