Conceptual Resources for Learning Science

Conceptual Resources for Learning Science: Issues of transience and grain-size in cognition and cognitive structure.

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Abstract

Many studies into learners' ideas in science have reported that aspects of learners' thinking can be represented in terms of entities described in such terms as alternative conceptions or conceptual frameworks, which are considered to describe relatively stable aspects of conceptual knowledge that are represented in the learner's memory and accessed in certain contexts. Other researchers have suggested that learners' ideas elicited in research are often better understood as labile constructions formed in response to probes and generated from more elementary conceptual resources (e.g., phenomenological primitives or 'p‐prims'). This 'knowledge‐in‐pieces perspective' (largely developed from studies of student thinking about physics topics), and the 'alternative conceptions perspective', suggests different pedagogic approaches. The present paper discusses issues raised by this area of work. Firstly, a model of cognition is considered within which the 'knowledge‐in‐pieces' and 'alternative conceptions' perspectives co‐exist. Secondly, this model is explored in terms of whether such a synthesis could offer fruitful insights by considering some candidate p‐prims from chemistry education. Finally, areas for developing testable predictions are outlined, to show how such a model can be a 'refutable variant' of a progressive research programme in learning science.

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Contents:

• Introduction
• The Significance of the Issue Within the Context of an Established Research Programme
• The Stability of Student Thinking
• Conceptual Resources as 'Knowledge-in-Pieces'
• P-Prims as Resources for Knowledge Construction Conceptual Resources of Varying Grain-Sizes
• Two Frames for Interpreting Research Data
• The Inclusive View
• Perception Conscious and unconscious thinking
• Genetic predispositions built into the cognitive apparatus
• Conceptual structures represented in memory
• Development and learning
• Process and structure
• Tacit and explicit thinking
• Some Findings from Studies into Learning Chemistry
• An Alternative Conceptual Framework from Chemistry
• A Role for P-Prims in Learning Chemistry
• Other Candidates for P-Prims Operating in Learning Chemistry
• P-Prims in Other Science Disciplines
• 'Just So' Stories and Progressive Research into Science Learning
• Using the Model to Develop Bold Conjectures
• Testing for 'Knowledge-in-Pieces'
• Identifying P-Prims
• Conclusion

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