Developing the modelling competence through the use and application of analogies around the chemical change

In this paper the role of analogies in the implementation and development of student skills and values that relate to modeling activities, is analyzed. More specifically, the processes that relate to the use and application of the chemical change model were evaluated. The information provided is taken from 35 students of 3rd ESO. These students were taught through a teaching proposal using analogies as central and recurrent resource. The main instrument of the study consisted of student portfolio, which supplemented information from these other interviews, diary of the teacher and some audio recordings. The data obtained show how the proposed work environment offered a stimulating scenario with opportunities for the implementation and development of the abilities, skills and values needed to use and apply the curricular models learned in the classroom. Not all students benefited equally from this scenario, although more than two thirds of them showed appropriate levels of modeling competence.