Elementary Students' Metacognitive Knowledge of Epistemic Criteria

ABSTRACT Scientific modeling is a core practice of scientific inquiry. Students' engagement in modeling can be enhanced by attending to epistemic criteria, which in science are standards used to evaluate the validity and accuracy of scientific models. While prior research has focused on students' development and use of epistemic criteria in scientific inquiry environments, less is known about students' metacognitive knowledge about why epistemic criteria matter—their metacognitive epistemic justifications. Investigating students' metacognitive knowledge of criteria can reveal their understandings of the criteria guiding scientific practice (such as modeling), their relative value, and their relationship to epistemic products. We present findings from clinical interviews of student dyads conducted at the end of the implementation of a fifth‐grade model‐based inquiry unit in which the class developed and used epistemic criteria for scientific models. Students' justifications of epistemic criteria revealed their metacognitive knowledge about why criteria, such as evidentiary fit, are important in modeling practice. We also identified themes in students' justifications for the relative importance of different epistemic criteria and the role such justifications played in resolving disagreements about epistemic matters. Our findings illustrate the potential value of engaging students in discourse about metacognitive justifications for epistemic criteria.