Modeling for everyone: Emphasizing the role of modeling in stem education
Modeling is a creative activity known and practiced by most in industry, government, and academia. A model is a construct of language coded using different technologies---from print and physical media to computer-generated synthetic environments. The activity of modeling is so central to human cognition, that we must ask ourselves whether modeling should be more clearly emphasized in education, especially within science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. Coding has recently been suggested as a skill that everyone needs to acquire for the 21st Century. Can modeling be situated along side coding? We explore the connections between modeling and coding, and stress the importance of model literacy for all.