Modeling Day 8

My experience in the modeling workshop has been mostly positive.  Reading the article about the birth of modeling through the work of Malcolm Wells allowed me to reflect on the incredible commitment it takes to become a proficient modeler of physics.  I am having a little trouble seeing the connection of the conceptual construction of the model and the deployment in some of the worksheets like the one we worked on today.  It seems the students conceptual understanding is still pretty vague and the worksheets ask for conceptual understanding at a much higher level.  I'm not sure how you take the students from one to the other.  There seems to be a disconnect right now with me and I hope to gain some understanding about how to create the model to allow students to understand more difficult problems without resorting to plug and chug.