How Do I Love Thee: Modeling

My understanding of the cognitive tool of modeling. Modeling is a thinking tool that enables people to represent a complicated process, visualize a complex idea, and simplify a difficult concept through the use of models. These models can be made of smaller pieces of various representations, abstractions, or analogies and can be something realistic or theoretical. This tool encourages creativity through dimensional thinking which allows people to perceive the concept, idea, or process in different angles, layers, or scales.

How this understanding impacts my topic. It took me more time to understand this tool as I choose a model to help me represent my topic. As I continued to learn about modeling, I found out that modeling is considered a higher-order cognitive tool because it involves combining other cognitive tools and dimensional thinking. This means that I needed to perceive my topic though different approaches like realizing its core attribute (CONNECTION), finding out what makes a connection (COMMON INTERESTS, GOALS), and understanding what the connection may contribute to (CAREER, RELATIONSHIP, LEARNING). As an instructor, there is no specific or right way to represent my topic through modeling as long as I utilize this cognitive tool in focusing on how it contributes to adult’s professional and personal enrichment. 

How and why I chose the model. The second video demonstrates how to create a solid super cluster. This super cluster sphere is made up of 135 smaller spheres of magnetic balls. One small sphere is made up of 12 pentagons. It also showed how the magnets’ polarities affect the construction of the super cluster. I chose the super cluster to visualize the big social network that adult learners can belong to. The smaller spheres represent the groups that can be created through social media. The tiny pentagons are the initial connections (called groups) that an adult learner creates as he adds connections. The magnets’ polarities represent what links the small balls together. So what makes a person connect to another person or group? It can be attributed in part to the person’s or group’s common interests, ideals, purpose, or goals.

This is a challenging cognitive tool to use so far, but it is also very thought provoking as I tried to concentrate my topic on recognizing the relevance of social networking to adult learning. I am definitely igniting some sparks of creativity!