Conceptual change among middle school students studying elementary thermodynamics

There is great interest in the processes by which learners reorganize and reformulate knowledge. This research adds to the current understanding by exploring two questions. “How does the learner's understanding change during the study of elementary thermodynamics?,” and “What motivates learners to restructure or reorganize their knowledge?” The conceptual changes and factors affecting that change over the course of a semester within an eighth grade physical science class are presented. General student understanding was assessed through open ended pretests, short tests and posttests given to the entire population (N=180). This was combined with a series of five clinical interviews over the course of the 13 week instruction period for each of 33 students selected by stratified random design for gender and class period. Analysis combined interview and written test data for the experimental groups and written test data for the entire population, allowing both within subject and between subject analyses. A detailed process of conceptual change emerges with individual differences illustrating impediments to knowledge integration. Inferences that have broader application in science instruction are made.     

An evaluation of the learning of structural engineering concepts during the first two years of a project-based engineering degree

In the modern working environment it is essential for a structural engineer to have an understanding of abstract concepts in structural behaviour and an ability to use them qualitatively. This paper presents the findings of a study on how effectively students acquire such conceptual understanding within a new project/design focused degree course. The new degree programme is described. The first-year students experience a mixture of learning opportunities, including model building/testing, laboratories, workshops/tutorials, and lectures. In the second year there are two design exercises but no formal structural theory course. Specific concepts-based learning material was introduced into the first-year course at mid-semester and the effectiveness of this examined by tests and interviews. The performance of the first-year students is compared to that of the second-year students. The findings show that there is good student engagement and satisfaction with the course and that basic skills are successfully being acquired throughout both years. However, the study highlights areas where concepts are not being adequately developed in the first year and subsequently show little enhancement in the second year.     

Fostering High School Students’ Conceptual Understandings About Seasons: The Design of a Technology-enhanced Learning Environment

The purpose of this study is to understand in what ways a technology-enhanced learning (TEL) environment supports learning about the causes of the seasons. The environment was designed to engage students in five cognitive phases: Contextualisation, Sense making, Exploration, Modeling, and Application. Seventy-five high school students participated in this study and multiple sources of data were collected to investigate students’ conceptual understandings and the interactions between the design of the environment and students’ alternative conceptions. The findings show that the number of alternative conceptions held by students were reduced except for the incorrect concepts of “the length of sunshine” and “the distance between the sun and the earth.” The percentage of partial explanations held by students was also reduced from 60.5 to 55.3% and the percentage of students holding complete scientific explanations after using Lesson Seasons rose from 2.6 to 15.8%. While some students succeeded in modeling their science concepts closely to the expert’s concepts, some failed to do so after the invention. The unsuccessful students could not remediate their alternative conceptions without explicit guidance and scaffolding. Future research can then be focused on understanding how to provide proper scaffoldings for removing some alternative concepts which are highly resistant to change.

The Ako Conceptual Framework: toward a culturally and linguistically responsive pedagogy

ABSTRACT

This article offers a new model, the Ako Conceptual Framework (ACF), as a theoretical proposition to add to the critical discourse and development of culturally and linguistically responsive pedagogies within the Asia-Pacific region and beyond. By drawing on the socio-cultural theory and the concept of Zone of Proximal Development, the ACF conceptualises the intersection of culture and pedagogy using a Tongan epistemology. The ACF positions the vā (a space that is relational which enables authentic relationships to be established, nurtured and maintained) and tauhi vaha`a/vā (a responsibility that teachers, schools, educational leaders and practitioners have to establish, nurture and maintain authentic relationships) as the fundamental concepts in the development of culturally and linguistically responsive pedagogies. It is theorised that by recognising Tongan strengths-based principles, values and educational concepts, the taumu`a `oe ako (the purpose for teaching and learning), founga ako (the concepts of teaching), and feinga ako (the concepts of learning) can be aligned. Thereby, recognising and acknowledging the various knowledge systems that the students from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds arrive at school with. The concepts and implications of the ACF are discussed in this article.     

The nature of scientific conceptions: A discursive psychological perspective

Over the past three decades, the literature in science education has accumulated a tremendous amount of research on students’ conceptions—one bibliography currently lists 7000 entries concerning students’ and teachers’ conceptions and science education. Yet despite all of this research and all the advances in the associated conceptual change theory, there is evidence that students’ conceptual talk remains virtually unchanged by instruction even under the best conditions. In this article, I describe and exemplify discursive psychology as a theoretical alternative, which ultimately allows me to understand the solid nature of student talk about scientific phenomena and why science instruction faces such challenges in bringing about conceptual change. To exemplify the presentation of the theory, I draw on videotaped interviews that covered ground similar to the one featured in A Private Universe. This theoretical alternative questions some of the fundamental presuppositions and assumptions made in the constructivist and conceptual change literature—including the locus of the misconceptions, the relation of individual and collective, and the situated and constitutive nature of the talk eliciting (mis-, alternative, pre-, naïve) conceptions. I conclude with some sobering suggestions and recommendations for the praxis of science teaching and the possibility to bring about scientists’ science for and in all students any time in the near future.     

汉语歇后语的认知解读机制

歇后语是汉语习语中一种独特的表现形式,蕴含丰富的隐喻意义。概念合成是一种先进的隐喻阐释理论。基于概念合成的歇后语认知解读研究不仅获得了比较完整的歇后语认知解读路线,同时考察并完善了概念合成理论需要充实的内容。空间关联和冲突、理想化认知模型和规约化等重要认知机制以及文化影响因素需整合入概念合成理论框架以加强阐释力。     

How to foster STEM learning during Covid-19 remote schooling: Combining virtual and video experiments

Understanding scientific concepts is a fundamental aim of science education. Conceptual understanding can be fostered through inquiry learning with experiments. However, during the Covid-19 pandemic school closures hands-on experiments could hardly be realized. Fortunately, digital technologies allow for conducting experiments virtually by using interactive simulations or observing video recordings of hands-on experiments. In the present study, 154 seventh graders in remote schooling were involved in inquiry learning using either a combination of virtual and video experiments in two different orders or only virtual experiments. We hypothesized that in general inquiry learning fosters students' conceptual understanding in physics, which could be confirmed. Moreover, we expected the combinations to be more effective than learning with virtual experiments only due to the complementary roles of the prior, which was, however, not the case. We conclude that virtual and video experiments can be recommended to teachers if hands-on experimentation is not possible.     

英语写作过程中的联系语语用认知意识探讨

写作是一个语言编码的过程。从认知语用角度看,写作编码的对象不仅包括反映全文主旨的概念意义,而且包括促进语篇理解的程序意义,二者的语言编码不一样。就程序意义而言,语言编码方式主要是使用话语联系语。话语联系语是程序意义的一种语言手段,其认知功能在于引导读者寻找关系,减轻读者处理话语的负担,提高理解的准确度。合理使用话语联系语是衡量英语写作能力的一个重要指标。     

What makes a counterexample exemplary?

In this paper we describe two episodes of instructional interaction, in which examples are used in order to help students face their misconceptions. We introduce the notions of pivotal example and bridging example and highlight their role in creating and resolving a cognitive conflict. We suggest that the convincing power of counterexamples depends on the extent to which they are in accord with individuals’ example spaces.     

A preliminary discourse analysis of constructivist-oriented mathematics instruction for a student with learning disabilities

Reform efforts in mathematics education arose, in part, in response to constructivist works on conceptual learning. However, little research has examined how students with learning disabilities (LD) respond to constructivist-oriented instruction in mathematics, particularly in moment-to-moment interactions. To understand the nature of constructivist-oriented mathematics instruction involving students with LD, the authors conducted a case study to analyze teacher–student interactions during constructivist-oriented small group instruction involving a student with LD. The student demonstrated, to a certain degree, the ability to reason mathematically when provided with appropriate opportunities and prompting. However, given the limited intervention time, his reasoning and problem solving did not seem to go beyond the semiconcrete level of operation, which may have inhibited his solving of complex word problems with large numbers. Findings indicate that more efforts are needed to support students, those with LD in particular, in their transitions from concrete or semiconcrete to abstract conceptual understanding and problem solving.