Episode 75 – Recast – Cynthia Passmore – “Models Are the Functional Unit of Scientific Thought”

Episode 75 – Recast – Cynthia Passmore – “Models Are the Functional Unit of Scientific Thought”

From Science Modeling Talks by Mark Royce

December 1, 2025 · 32 min · Episode 75

About this episode

Mark talks with Cynthia Passmore about the role of models in scientific thought and education.

In this episode, Mark talks with Cynthia Passmore, who is a professor of science education at the University of California, Davis. They talk about the differences between the approach to modeling developed at ASU and UC Davis, which seem to be more and more similar as time goes by. They talk about how all of our understanding in scientific study is based on models, even if we do not specifically hold those up as "models" per se. We use mental models to explain the world around us and to better understand how and why certain interactions happen the way they do. They talk about modeling instruction and the Next Generation Science Standards and how modeling really gets students to do the thinking as scientists and make the connections between what we see and the explanations for what we see. They talk about Cynthia's new book, even get to talk about some of Cynthia's recent research on effective teaching using modeling methods in the high school biology classroom. Guest Cynthia Passmore Cynthia Passmore is currently a Professor specializing in science education in the University of California, Davis School of Education. She did her doctoral work at the University of Wisconsin…

People in this episode

Host: Mark Royce

Guest: Cynthia Passmore

Topics covered

  • modeling in science education
  • Next Generation Science Standards
  • mental models
  • effective teaching
  • high school biology

Keywords

  • models
  • scientific thought
  • education
  • curriculum design
  • model-based reasoning

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: University of California, Davis, ASU, University of Wisconsin, Madison

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