Though there is an extensive research literature on understanding and assessing individual modeling competencies, less attention has been given to characterizing the social context of the classroom in which modeling occurs. Yet a classroom’s culture of modeling—its negotiated system of beliefs and values about the nature of modeling and what constitutes a complete, satisfactory solution to a modeling problem—has a shaping influence on its members’ participation in modeling activities. Devising a means of assessing classroom modeling cultures is thus a crucial task for both research and praxis. In this article, we present an approach to operationally defining and assessing classroom modeling cultures, which is (a) based in quantitative analyses of discourse during whole-class presentations of modeling solutions, and (b) grounded in research in individual modeling competencies. We show how our assessment distinguishes the classroom modeling cultures of different classrooms and how it captures shifts over time in the modeling culture of a given classroom. Finally, we accompany our quantitative results with interpretive analyses of presentation discourse, to triangulate and to attribute meaning to the patterns our assessment detects. Our primary data sources include video recorded presentation and Q&A sessions for three modeling activities in each of two US middle school (Grades 5–8) classrooms. Our assessment approach is a significant contribution because it operationalizes the construct of a classroom’s modeling culture, in terms that highlight potential connections with the research literature of individual modeling competencies. It therefore invites modeling research that coordinates learning and development across individual and social levels.

尽管有大量关于理解和评估个人建模能力的研究文献，但是对于表征发生建模的教室的社会环境的关注却很少。然而，教室的建模文化-其关于建模性质的信念和价值观的协商系统以及构成建模问题的完整且令人满意的解决方案-对其成员参与建模活动产生了塑造性的影响。因此，设计一种评估课堂建模文化的方法对于研究和实践都是至关重要的任务。在本文中，我们介绍了一种在操作上定义和评估课堂建模文化的方法，该方法（a）基于建模解决方案全班级演讲过程中对话语的定量分析，（b）建立在个人建模能力研究的基础上。我们将展示我们的评估如何区分不同教室的教室建模文化，以及它如何捕捉给定教室的建模文化随时间的变化。最后，我们将定量结果与陈述性话语的解释性分析相结合，以将三角化并将意义归因于评估所检测到的模式。我们的主要数据来源包括两个美国中学（5-8年级）教室中每个教室的三个建模活动的录像演示和问答环节。我们的评估方法是一项重要的贡献，因为它有效地体现了课堂建模文化的构建方式，从而突出了与各个建模能力的研究文献之间的潜在联系。