Learning how to model in science classroom: key teacher's role in supporting the development of students' modelling skills

Modelling is a key process in the development of scientific knowledge. In order to conduct a more authentic science education, i.e., to make the processes it entails successively approximate to those of science per se, it is advocated that it should be conducted from a modelling-based perspective. From an analysis of how modelling is generally conducted in science, a scheme to represent such a process was previously proposed: the 'Model of Modelling' diagram. It has been used as a framework for the development and use of teaching strategies for some abstract concepts in chemistry. In this paper, a modelling-based teaching of chemical bonding occurred in a regular classroom in Brazil is analysed. In particular, the following research question is discussed: What must teachers do to support the development of modelling skills by students in lessons based on the 'Model of Modelling'? From such a discussion, relevant implications and recommendations for science teachers interested in based their practice in a modelling approach are also presented.