The role of model building in problem solving and conceptual change

This study examines the effects of the activity of building systems models for school-based problems on problem solving and on conceptual change in elementary science classes. During a unit on the water cycle in an Asian elementary school, students constructed systems models of the water cycle. We found that representing ill-structured problems as system models improves problem solving as well as creating beneficial conceptual change related to the topic.     

A conceptual framework for job change

Change related to the job is identified as an exigent issue in the field of career development. This paper presents an effort to conceptualize a job change framework. The intent is increase awareness, generate discussion, and stimulate empirical research in this area.The conceptual framework for job change has been predicated on client concerns. The framework involves the unique relationship of several life factors which influence individual job change, and provides a means for systematic personal decision-making. A schematic diagram is also included as a tool that can be used for counseling and research applications.     

Metalearning and conceptual change

Conceptual change means the commitment to a new belief about a principle or a phenomenon, and the abandoning of an old one. Promotion of a new belief is relatively easy, but it is difficult to get students to abandon their former beliefs. Conflicting beliefs can be held by a learner. This article argues that the resolution of conflicting beliefs requires elements of metalearning (conscious control over one's learning).

The work of the Project to Enhance Effective Learning (the peel project), which attempts to promote metalearning in a secondary school is described and some general principles derived from the experience of the project are outlined. It is suggested that the key to the acceptance of metalearning strategies by students parallels the conditions for promoting conceptual change specified by Posner et al. (1982) and in particular in the acceptance of the fruitfulness of the new approaches. It is argued that this requires changes in the organization of schooling, particularly adoption of methods of assessment that reward understanding.     

建筑结构概念设计

文章阐述了概念设计的思想、方法和作用,指出合理的构造措施和预见性的概念设计是完成结构设计的重要保证。     

Classroom conceptual change: philosophical perspectives

Researchers of students’ concepts and conceptual change frequently draw analogies to the history of science. The analogy is generally presented when comparing students’ scientific concepts to similar ones in the history of science. We have tried to show the importance of this analogy on a higher level ‐‐ that of understanding the process of conceptual change in general among students.

This article outlines a number of lines in the philosophy of science and analyses differences between the perspectives of a number of broadly constructivist positions which have developed during this century.

The analysis is used to clarify the theoretical basis on which research into student conceptual change is conducted and interpreted.     

Patterns of conceptual change in evolution

The purpose of this study was to investigate the patterns of students' conceptual restructuring within the theoretical framework of biologic evolution. The study draws on conceptual change theory in an effort to define the limits of the theory and suggest other models of restructuring. Through a series of 17 structured and open-ended interviews with each of 4 participants, the students' changing conceptions about facets of evolutionary theory were documented throughout the school year. Interview questions were developed from the wealth of alternative conceptions documented in the literature, and many interview techniques were employed to assure the mode validity of all research findings. The conceptual change documented demonstrates that many conceptions in this content area are closely interwoven, so that a change in one conception requires a change in many others. Four patterns of conceptual change were seen: (a) cascade, (b) wholesale, (c) incremental, and (d) dual constructions. Of these 4, only 2 conform to the changes described by conceptual change theory. The other two patterns suggest that different models of conceptual restructuring are required for further science education research. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.     

Tracing conceptual change in preservice teachers

This article reports on a study examining changes in preservice teachers' conceptions of teacher planning associated with a year-long course on Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment. Changes were measured by pre and post concept maps. Conceptions of planning on pre-maps differed significantly by certification level (elementary or secondary). Conceptions on post maps differed significantly by course instructor (three sections). Qualitative shifts in responses on pre and post maps are also noted. A new method is described for determining group patterns of response, and depicting them graphically. This method makes analysis of concept maps more practical for educators (less time consuming), and thus may contribute to further program evaluation studies.     

Theory of mind and conceptual change

We agree with the commentaries by Scholl and Leslie, and also by Moses, that the meta-analytic findings do not definitively rule out early competence accounts. But they do make extant versions of such accounts increasingly unlikely. In particular, the meta-analytic findings argue against executive function expression accounts, including the Theory-of-Mind Mechanism/Selection Processor account advocated by Scholl and Leslie. Specifically, Scholl and Leslie articulate two explicit predictions of their account: that task manipulations that attenuate inhibitory demands should differentially advantage older children, and that theory-of-mind developments should occur with consistent timetables. Both of these specific predictions are clearly contradicted, not supported, by the meta-analytic findings.     

Toward an explanation of conceptual change

In this paper, an alternative ‘explanation’ of conceptual change is offered. It is argued that the problem of explaining conceptual stability and change can be divided into three parts; accounting for conceptual change entails specifying some factors affecting each of the following: old conceptions’ persistence, new conceptions’ acquisition, and cognitive restructuring. Some factors affecting each sub‐problem are discussed, and the literature is reviewed to support the significance of these factors.     

Concept substitution: An instructional strategy for promoting conceptual change

Numerous studies have shown that students often hold conceptions that conflict with accepted scientific ideas, both prior to and after instruction. The failure of instruction to affect students' conceptions can be interpreted as a failure to facilitate conceptual change. In this paper, an instructional strategy will be described that facilitates conceptual change in the special case where conceptual difficulties appear to arise because students confuse related physics concepts. The strategy involves two parts. Firstly, students observe an experiment or demonstration that conflicts with what they expect to see. Secondly, the instructor identifies students' intuitions that are correct but that they have associated with an incorrect physics term, and substitutes the correct physics term. Students can thus develop more scientifically acceptable understandings of physics concepts without having to give up their intuitive ideas. The use of this strategy will be illustrated in two domains of physics. Specializations: physics education, conceptual development, instructional design, improvement of tertiary science education.     

Strategic intelligence: A conceptual system of leadership for change

Strategic intelligence is a conceptual system of leadership qualities. These qualities must be considered in the context of the challenges facing leaders and the relationships between leaders and the people they lead. A leader's philosophy and personality influence the way he or she expresses the qualities of strategic intelligence when things are going according to plan and when leaders face significant conflicts. Leaders can be most effective by tapping into the intrinsic motivations of followers.     

Understanding conceptual change: connecting and questioning

We engage in a metalogue based on eight papers in this issue of Cultural Studies of Science Education that review the state of conceptual change research and its possible affect on the teaching and learning of science. Our discussion addresses three aspects of conceptual change research: theoretical, methodological, and practical, as we discuss conceptual change research in light of our experiences as science educators. Finally, we examine the implications of conceptual change research for the teachers and students with whom we work.

Dialogue as a catalyst for teacher change: A conceptual analysis

Teacher–teacher dialogue is a central activity within many professional learning programmes. Understanding how and why dialogue works as an effective tool for teacher change is a question, however, that needs more careful probing in the extant literature. In this paper, I draw upon the philosophical theory of practical reason in order to show why and how teacher–teacher dialogue plays such a crucial role in the evolution of teacher practice. This conceptual analysis also builds our understanding as to the kinds of teacher–teacher dialogues that are more likely to be effective at catalysing teacher learning.     

Contact-2: a computer-assisted instructional strategy for promoting conceptual change

Previous research seems to support the assumption that students need instructional guidance to activate and correct their preconceptions. Such an instructional strategy is the CONTACT strategy, characterised by continuous, computer-assisted activation of the conceptions of individual learners. Our previous study showed that the CONTACT strategy was effective in promoting conceptual change in text processing (domain: physical geography) because students (fifth- and sixth-graders, primary education) constructed more correct conceptions. However, students mainly seemed to focus on the central concepts from the training texts, disregarding other information. Therefore, the strategy was adapted to solve this problem of selective attention and to increase its effectiveness. Subjects (74 fifth- and sixth-graders) were assigned to three instructional conditions (original CONTACT condition, revised CONTACT-2 condition and control condition NO ACTIVATION). A mixed between-within-subjects design was used with 2 between-subjects factors (instructional condition and students' familiarity with the central concepts from the 7 texts used). Dependent variables concerned quality of conceptions and learning performance. Students from the CONTACT-2 condition constructed better conceptions and achieved higher learning performance scores than students from the other two conditions. Moreover, the effectiveness of the CONTACT-2 strategy appeared not to depend on the degree of conceptual resemblance between the performance test questions and the central concepts from the texts and on the moment of testing. Additional research should shed some light on the instructional conditions required to teach students how they themselves can initiate and perform learning activities aimed at conceptual change.     

Use of task-value instructional inductions for facilitating engagement and conceptual change

This study explored the relationship between task values, engagement, and conceptual change. One hundred and sixty-six under graduate students were randomly assigned to one of three task value instructional inductions (utility, attainment, and control) to determine whether induced task values would result in different degrees of engagement and conceptual change when reading a refutation text about the common cold. It was hypothesized that the participants in the utility, attainment, and control conditions would differ in their engagement, and degree of conceptual change.     

Task-dependent construction of mental models as a basis for conceptual change

Learning can be seen as a task-oriented process which often requires the reorganization of existing knowledge, usually referred to as conceptual change. This paper describes a theoretical framework for the analysis of conceptual change that considers conceptual knowledge as a generative cognitive tool for the creation of more specific mental representations — propositional symbolic structures and analog mental models. According to this view, conceptual change is based on a task-oriented interaction between these different kinds of mental representations. The assumption is made that it is possible to foster conceptual change by presenting to students well-defined tasks that stimulate the construction of elaborated mental models as well as an intensive interaction between these models and the corresponding propositional representations. In order to test this assumption an empirical study was conducted, in which subjects had to express their prior knowledge about a complex subject matter from the field of geography (time differences on the earth), which contained various conceptual deficits. The subjects were then randomly assigned to different groups who received the same learning material but had to solve different learning tasks requiring differently structured mental models. Afterwards, the subjects were asked to express their knowledge about the subject matter again and were tested for understanding with a comprehension test. The results support the view that a task-oriented interaction between propositional structures and mental models can help learners to evaluate the consistency of their conceptual knowledge. Accordingly, conceptual deficits result in the formation of mental models with an inadequate structure. Such deficits can be detected if the respective model is used in a sufficiently variable way, whereas they can remain unnoticed if it is used in a limited manner.