From textbook images to functional models: a model-based teaching intervention on electric current to foster scientific literacy and 21st-century learning skills

Abstract This paper presents a model-based teaching intervention designed to introduce the concept of electric current while engaging participants in modelling activities that foster scientific literacy and 21st-century learning skills. Although textbooks often include images representing microscopic phenomena, these are rarely utilised as tools for active exploration, explanation, and prediction. The intervention utilises such textbook images, transforming them into functional models that support both exploratory and expressive modelling. Collaborative work and reflective tasks are integrated to promote communication, critical thinking, and creativity. The intervention is structured around the 5E instructional model, integrating three key dimensions: teaching the cognitive content (electric current), familiarisation with scientific practices (understanding the nature and function of models), and development of 21st-century learning skills. Activities include analysing electron movement within conductors, constructing and comparing models to explain observable phenomena, and predicting the effects of manipulating circuit components. Through the transformation of static images into functional models, students gain metamodelling knowledge, recognising that representations must incorporate theoretical ideas to explain or predict phenomena. A preliminary validation phase, conducted through semi-structured interviews with ten in-service physics teachers, provided feedback on the clarity, feasibility and pedagogical coherence of the intervention and identified specific phases that support students’ use, construction and revision of models. Their feedback also highlighted practical considerations for classroom implementation, informing directions for future refinement. The next step involves classroom implementation to investigate the intervention’s impact on learning outcomes and on students’ perceptions of modelling as a scientific practice.