Table 1 Framework to assess students'...

Table 1

Framework to assess students' understanding of biological models. The left column shows the five aspects that are important when reasoning with biological models. For each of these aspects up to four levels of understanding have been defined, ranging from an initial level of understanding to an expert level of understanding (Jansen et al., 2019)

	Initial level	Level 1	Level 2	Level 3
Nature of models		Model as copy Model with great similarity Model represents a (non-) subjective conception of the original Displays a process, its components and how they are related	Parts of the model are a copy Model as a possible variant Model as focussed representation	Model as hypothetical representation
Purpose of models		Model for showing the facts Model for showing events	Model to identify relationships	Model to examine abstract/concrete ideas
Multiple models	All models are the same Various models of different originals Only one final and correct model	Different model object properties	Focus on different aspects	Different assumptions
Testing models	No testing of models Perceiving schoolbooks or their authors as authorities providing absolute truth	Testing of material Testing of basic requirements	Comparison between original and model Comparison and matching of original and model	Testing hypotheses Testing of hypotheses with research designs
Changing models	No reason for alterations Alteration of how different originals are represented	Alterations to improve the model object Alterations when there are errors in the model object Alterations when basic requirements are not met	Alterations when model does not match the original Alterations due to new findings about the original	Alterations due to findings from model experiments Alterations when the focus of the model shifts to a different aspect of the process

	Initial level	Level 1	Level 2	Level 3
Nature of models		Model as copy Model with great similarity Model represents a (non-) subjective conception of the original Displays a process, its components and how they are related	Parts of the model are a copy Model as a possible variant Model as focussed representation	Model as hypothetical representation
Purpose of models		Model for showing the facts Model for showing events	Model to identify relationships	Model to examine abstract/concrete ideas
Multiple models	All models are the same Various models of different originals Only one final and correct model	Different model object properties	Focus on different aspects	Different assumptions
Testing models	No testing of models Perceiving schoolbooks or their authors as authorities providing absolute truth	Testing of material Testing of basic requirements	Comparison between original and model Comparison and matching of original and model	Testing hypotheses Testing of hypotheses with research designs
Changing models	No reason for alterations Alteration of how different originals are represented	Alterations to improve the model object Alterations when there are errors in the model object Alterations when basic requirements are not met	Alterations when model does not match the original Alterations due to new findings about the original	Alterations due to findings from model experiments Alterations when the focus of the model shifts to a different aspect of the process

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