Precise and reasonable modelling is necessary and indispensable to the analysis of dynamic characteristics of mechanical structures. Also. the effective prediction of the change of modal properties due to the variation of design parameters is required especially for the application of finite element method to the structural dynamics problems. To meet those necessity and requirement, three model updating algorithms are proposed for finite element methods. Those algorithms are based on sensitivity analysis of the modal data obtained from experimental modal analysis(EMA) and analytical modal analysis(AMA). The adapted sensitivity analysis methods of the algorithms are 1)eigensensitivity(EGNS) method. 2)frequency response function sensitivity(FRFS) method. 3)sensitivity based element-by-element method (SBEEM), Singular value decomposition(SVD) is used for performing eigenanalysis and parameter estimation in the updating process. Those algorithms are applied to finite element of a plate and the updating capability of each algorithm is compared in terms of accuracy. reliability and stability of the updating process. It is shown that the model updating method using frequency response function is superior to the other methods in view of various updating capabilities.