A Conceptual Change Approach to Learning Science

Summaries

English

Learning science is complex‐‐a student has at different times to acquire new information, reorganize existing knowledge and even discard cherished ideas. In addressing this issue, the analogy between individual learning and conceptual change in scientific disciplines has been fruitful in providing aspects of a suitableframework for analysing science learning. In this paper a model of learning as conceptual change is developed. It investigates the conditions under which an individual holding a set of conceptions of natural phenomena, when confronted by new experiences will either keep his or her conceptions substantially unaltered in the process of incorporating these experiences, or have to replace them because of their inadequacy. The model illuminates the importance of addressing an individual's existing conceptions. It also pinpoints the importance of an individual's metaphysical commitments in influencing scientific learning.     

A New Approach for Assessment

Assessment reform is an indispensable component of school curriculum reform. The "English course guideline for primary and secondary school students" (2001) (Hereafter guidelines) advocates that assessment should stress on students, which means teachers, parents should pay more attention to students’ differentiae and their processes of study, but not only on the results they have got in the tests. As a result, portfolio, which has some advantages that accord the requirement of the new syllabus, is introduced as a new way of assessment, for it can help change the assessment system from quantity-oriented to quality-oriented. But unfortunately, portfolio assessment came across many difficulties in real practice. It needs some suggestions on portfolio application.     

Supporting Conceptual Change in School Science: A possible role for tacit understanding

When students reason during school science, they often refer to conceptions that are derived from out-of-school experiences and are poor proxies for science orthodoxy. However, for some areas of science, these conceptions represent only a proportion of students' full conceptual knowledge, for tacit understanding exists that is superior to the understanding displayed when reasoning. Noting that tacit understanding is engaged when events are judged as natural or non-natural, the paper is concerned with software that: (a) requires direction and speed of falling objects to be predicted, i.e. a typical science reasoning task that engages conceptual knowledge; (b) presents simulations of predicted motion in the expectation that its naturalness or non-naturalness would be recognised. An evaluation study is reported where children aged 8–12 years worked with the software in contexts that typify computer use in classrooms, i.e. individually under adult guidance (n =? 44 children) or in pairs with a classmate (n = 48 children). They were observed while they did this. Reasoning about object fall was assessed via change from individual pre-tests administered prior to software usage to individual post-tests administered a few weeks afterwards. The children who worked with the software showed greater pre- to post-test gains in conceptual understanding than control children (n =? 47 children), who lacked software experience. The gains were especially marked for the children who worked in pairs. The approach taken is contrasted with traditional approaches to conceptual change in school science, e.g. strategies that rely upon classroom experiments.     

概念转变学习：一种基于建构主义的科学教学模式

建构主义认为，科学概念的学习就是学生由前概念向科学概念的转变过程。西方学者对此做了大量的研究。本文着重分析了概念转变学习的内涵、支持条件、途径和模式，以及促进前概念转变为科学概念的教学策略。     

计算思维评价的新途径:微认证

随着K-12教育计算思维培养的不断推进,计算思维评价的重要地位日渐凸显。鉴于计算思维由复合思维和能力构成,本研究提出以能力为导向的微认证。该方式不同于当前大多数研究采用的统合视角的评价方式,对计算思维的各构成要素分别评价和认证。本研究基于对计算思维概念的要素分解和专家认证,将计算思维从认知和操作层面以及非认知层面分解为问题识别与分解、抽象建模、算法设计、自动化、问题迁移能力以及计算观念六个子能力;讨论各子能力在K-12阶段的发展水平及适合的测评方式;展示计算思维微认证的实现过程,探讨正式与非正式学习情境下实施的差异。研究最后以41名6-8年级学生参与的教学实践为例,验证将微认证引入计算思维评价的可行性。研究结果表明,微认证作为计算思维评价的新途径,得到了师生认可,不仅能有效呈现学生计算思维层面的发展,还能激发学生参与学习和测评的积极性,实现以评促学;同时微认证存在过程性任务数据难以收集以及部分数据缺失下结果认证合理性等问题。     

动态评估：一种能力评测的新视角

动态评估是最近二、三十年国外兴起的一种新的能力评估取向。它改变传统静态评估的“结果导向”为“过程导向”,立足于个体的能力是开放的、灵活的、可塑造的而非僵化的、固定的观念,从一种动态历时的角度对个体进行评估,旨在促进个体认知能力的改变并对其发展潜能进行评估。这样一种新的评测视角的转变,对于人才培养和教育观念的更新具有重要的启发意义。     

A New Approach to BEC Assessment

Abstract

Three key researches bearing on YTS are analysed: that of the IMS (Institute for Manpower Studies) which provided the training rationale for YTS; an important economic analysis (Chapman &; Tooze 1987); and Raffe's long‐term study derived from the SYPS (Scottish Young People's Survey). A series of ‘contradictions’ are examined which are likely to undermine YTS, the most serious being MSC's ambiguous role as a manager of both employment and unemployment. The IMS rationale is defective and ideologically based but has become institutionally entrenched. In practice it proves counterproductive, particularly with regard to the OTF (Occupational Training Families) system. Because of this YTS does not meet real labour market needs; there has been a reversal of the roles of supply and demand. Raffe argues that improving the quality of YTS has no bearing on its success or failure. He stresses the ‘primacy of context’ over content, arguing that unless labour market contexts are changed, YTS cannot succeed. In the educational context a ‘vicious circle of low status’ is identified with YTS which it will be hard to break. Recommendations are made which include (a) a second year which is industry — rather than occupationally‐based; (b) unconstrained movement across OTFs in order to reduce a counterproductive bias in that system; (c) YTS should be financed by government and not by employers in order to combat uneven coverage of training endemic in the ‘voluntary’ system; (d) there should be an expansion of the ‘credentialling’ sector of YTS; (e) and/or an expansion of higher status places in the ‘contest’ sector. YTS is then set against current changes in MSC and government policy regarding education and training.     

Understanding Conceptual Change and Science Learning through Educational Neuroscience

Although the field of educational neuroscience has grown in recent years, little research has been conducted on conceptual change and science learning through an educational neuroscience framework. Educational neuroscience is frequently used to study processes of language and mathematics cognition, but is not extensively applied to conceptual change and science learning. This review integrates insights from extant conceptual change educational neuroscience studies to inform the fields of educational psychology and science education. These new insights shed light on the persistence of misconceptions and the roles of error detection, inhibition, executive function, and memory in conceptual change. Future directions for the study of conceptual change and educational neuroscience are discussed.     

DSLM Instructional Approach to Conceptual Change Involving Thermal Expansion

This article examines the process of students' conceptual change involving thermal expansion as a result of employing the Dual Situated Learning Model (DSLM) (She, 2001, 2002) as a classroom instructional approach. The dual situated learning events of this model are designed according to the students' ontological viewpoint of the science concepts as well as the nature of these concepts. Moreover, these events serve two functions in creating dissonance with the pre-existing knowledge and providing new schema for constructing a more scientific view of the concept. DSLM has been shown to promote students' conceptual change using one-to-one instructional procedure (She, 2002). This study further demonstrates that DSLM holds great potential to facilitate the conceptual change process involving thermal expansion through classroom instruction, even the difficult concept or higher hierarchical level one.     

Career Problem Assessment: A Conceptual Schema for Counselor Training

Counseling students learn about various theories, models, and career assessment measures during their training. However, the transition to practicum and internship often challenges students to decide on when to apply career theories and measures to specific problems. An assessment schema is proposed to assist counselor trainees with a systematic approach to conceptualizing a client's career problem. With this assessment schema, counselor educators can help trainees organize data into meaningful categories, reduce conceptual confusion, and engage students in the study of careers.     

The Influence of Approach and Avoidance Goals on Conceptual Change

ABSTRACT

Recently, conceptual change research has been experiencing a warming trend (G. M. Sinatra, 2005) whereby motivational and affective factors are being explored in the conceptual change process. The purpose of this study is to explore the 2 × 2 framework of achievement goal theory in relation to students’ conceptual change learning for a specific topic in biology, HIV/AIDS. The authors hypothesized that those with approach goals (mastery approach and performance approach) would demonstrate greater posttest conceptual change in their understanding of HIV/AIDS than those with avoidance goals. Participants were 206 undergraduates in introductory-level college biology courses. Participants were provided a 1,004-word HIV/AIDS text and were pre- and posttested on their conceptual knowledge of HIV/AIDS. Results of an analysis of covariance indicated that approach-oriented students demonstrated greater conceptual HIV/AIDS change at posttest than avoidance-oriented students. Results are discussed in light of the warming trend and achievement goal theory.     

Using Theory of Mind to Promote Conceptual Change in Science

We argue that learning science requires children to move from perceptually based representations to more abstract conceptual representations and to understand that appearance may sometimes deceive us and that the same phenomenon in the world can have more than one representation when seen from different perspectives. We also argue that the beginnings of such an epistemological perspective can be found in young children’s ability to think about the difference between their beliefs and the beliefs of others in the social domain, i.e., their Theory of Mind. We present the results of two empirical studies that show significant correlations between children’s growing Theory of Mind, developing epistemological thinking, and science learning, and suggest that Theory of Mind tasks can be used to promote conceptual change in science.     

A Multilevel Modelling Approach to Investigating Factors Impacting Science Achievement for Secondary School Students: PISA Hong Kong Sample

This study utilized data from the 2006 Programme for International Student Assessment Hong Kong sample to investigate the factors that impact the science achievement of 15-year-old students. A multilevel model was used to examine the factors from both student and school perspectives. At the student level, the results indicated that male students, students from high socioeconomic status (SES) families, students with higher motivation and higher self-efficacy, and students whose parents highly value science are more likely to demonstrate achievement in science. At the school level, the results showed school science achievement differences can be explained by school enrolment size, school SES composition, and instruction time per week. Contrary to the negative influence of school size that was reported in previous studies, our findings suggested a positive relationship between school enrolment size and science achievement. This finding leads to an international discussion of school size.     

A Method for Investigating Concept Understanding in Science

Summaries

English

The authors report on an ‘Interview about instances’ technique for the investigation of students’ concept understanding in science. The potential and limitations of this technique has been explored in relation to the concepts ‘work’ and ‘electric current’ in 50 trial interviews involving students over the age range seven to 18 years. Some of the findings are reported here and suggestions made for further studies using the ‘Interview about instances’ technique.     

Resubsumption: A Possible Mechanism for Conceptual Change and Belief Revision

Successful learning sometimes requires that the learner abandons or rejects one or more prior concepts, beliefs, or intuitive theories. Such nonmonotonic changes are widely believed to have a low probability of occurring spontaneously and to be difficult to promote with instruction. A theory of nonmonotonic cognitive change should explain both why such changes are difficult and why they are possible. The purpose of this article is to develop the idea that nonmonotonic change happens when the learner resubsumes a domain of experience under a conceptual system originally developed for some other domain. The resubsumption theory is built on three main cognitive processes: In the course of routine knowledge formation, people grow informal theories for different domains of experience in parallel, maintaining local but not global coherence. The trigger for conceptual change is bisociation, the realization that an informal theory developed to make sense of one domain also applies to some other domain, giving the learner two alternative ways of thinking about the latter. The conflict between the two alternative ways of thinking is settled through competitive evaluation of their cognitive utility. The pedagogical implications of the resubsumption theory differ from those of prior theories but are as yet untested.     

Integrating History of Science in Science Education through Historical Microworlds to Promote Conceptual Change

This paper proposes a new way to integrate history of science in science education to promote conceptual change by introducing the notion of historical microworld, which is a computer-based interactive learning environment respecting historic conceptions. In this definition, “interactive” means that the user can act upon the virtual environment by changing some parameters to see what ensues. “Environment respecting historic conceptions” means that the “world” has been programmed to respect the conceptions of past scientists or philosophers. Three historical microworlds in the field of mechanics are presented in this article: an Aristotelian microworld respecting Aristotle’s conceptions about movement, a Buridanian microworld respecting the theory of impetus and, finally, a Newtonian microworld respecting Galileo’s conceptions and Newton’s laws of movement.