Reconsidering Conceptual Change: Issues in Theory and Practice

Reconsidering Conceptual Change: Issues in Theory and Practice PDF

Author: Margarita Limón

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2007-05-08

Total Pages: 419

ISBN-13: 0306476371

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This book is an important account of the state of the art of both theoretical and practical issues in the present-day research on conceptual change. Unique in its complete treatment of the questions that should be considered to further current understanding of knowledge construction and change, this book is useful for psychologists, cognitive scientists, educational researchers, curriculum developers, teachers and educators at all levels and in all disciplines.

Conceptual Change in Childhood

Conceptual Change in Childhood PDF

Author: Susan Carey

Publisher: Bradford Books

Published: 1987-01-01

Total Pages: 226

ISBN-13: 9780262530736

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Are children fundamentally different kinds of thinkers than adults? Or are the cognitive differences between young children and adults merely a matter of accumulation of knowledge? In this book, Susan Carey develops an alternative to these two ways of thinking about childhood cognition, putting forth the idea of conceptual change and its relation to the development of knowledge systems.Conceptual Change in Childhood is a case study of children's acquisition of biological knowledge between ages 4-10. Drawing on evidence from a variety of sources, Carey analyzes the ways that knowledge is restructured during this development, comparing them to the ways that knowledge is restructured by an adult learner, and to the ways that conceptual frameworks have shifted in the history of science. Susan Carey is Professor of Psychology at MIT.

International Handbook of Research on Conceptual Change

International Handbook of Research on Conceptual Change PDF

Author: Stella Vosniadou

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2013-07-18

Total Pages: 658

ISBN-13: 1136578218

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Conceptual change research investigates the processes through which learners substantially revise prior knowledge and acquire new concepts. Tracing its heritage to paradigms and paradigm shifts made famous by Thomas Kuhn, conceptual change research focuses on understanding and explaining learning of the most the most difficult and counter-intuitive concepts. Now in its second edition, the International Handbook of Research on Conceptual Change provides a comprehensive review of the conceptual change movement and of the impressive research it has spawned on students’ difficulties in learning. In thirty-one new and updated chapters, organized thematically and introduced by Stella Vosniadou, this volume brings together detailed discussions of key theoretical and methodological issues, the roots of conceptual change research, and mechanisms of conceptual change and learner characteristics. Combined with chapters that describe conceptual change research in the fields of physics, astronomy, biology, medicine and health, and history, this handbook presents writings on interdisciplinary topics written for researchers and students across fields.

Concepts, Kinds, and Cognitive Development

Concepts, Kinds, and Cognitive Development PDF

Author: Frank C. Keil

Publisher: MIT Press

Published: 1992-01-30

Total Pages: 352

ISBN-13: 9780262610766

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In Concepts, Kinds, and Cognitive Development, Frank C. Keil provides a coherent account of how concepts and word meanings develop in children, adding to our understanding of the representational nature of concepts and word meanings at all ages. Keil argues that it is impossible to adequately understand the nature of conceptual representation without also considering the issue of learning. Weaving together issues in cognitive development, philosophy, and cognitive psychology, he reconciles numerous theories, backed by empirical evidence from nominal kinds studies, natural-kinds studies, and studies of fundamental categorical distinctions. He shows that all this evidence, when put together, leads to a better understanding of semantic and conceptual development. The book opens with an analysis of the problems of modeling qualitative changes in conceptual development, investigating how concepts of natural kinds, nominal kinds, and artifacts evolve. The studies on nominal kinds document a powerful and unambiguous developmental pattern indicating a shift from a reliance on global tabulations of characteristic features to what appears to be a small set of defining ones. The studies on natural kinds document an analogous shift toward a core theory instead of simple definition. Both sets of studies are strongly supported by cross cultural data. While these patterns seem to suggest that the young child organizes concepts according to characteristic features, Keil argues that there is a framework of conceptual categories and causal beliefs that enables even very young children to understand kinds at a deeper, theoretically guided, level. This account suggests a new way of understanding qualitative change and carries strong implications for how concepts are represented at any point in development. A Bradford Book

Young Children's Thinking about Biological World

Young Children's Thinking about Biological World PDF

Author: Giyoo Hatano

Publisher: Psychology Press

Published: 2013-04-15

Total Pages: 225

ISBN-13: 1134949901

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Presents research on the topic of young children's naive biology, examining such theoretical issues as processes, conditions and mechanisms in conceptual development using the development of biological understanding as the target case.

Perspectives on Conceptual Change

Perspectives on Conceptual Change PDF

Author: Barbara J. Guzzetti

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2013-12-16

Total Pages: 286

ISBN-13: 1135454655

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Perspectives on Conceptual Change presents case study excerpts illustrating the influence on and processes of students' conceptual change, and analyses of these cases from multiple theoretical frameworks. Researchers in reading education have been investigating conceptual change and the effects of students' prior knowledge on their learning for more than a decade. During this time, this research had been changing from the general and cognitive--average effects of interventions on groups of students--to the specific and personal--individuals' reactions to and conceptual change with text structures. Studies in this area have begun to focus on the social, contextual, and affective influences on conceptual change. These studies have potential to be informed by other discourses. Hence, this book shows the results of sharing data--in the form of case study excerpts--with researchers representing varying perspectives of analyses. Instances of learning are examined from cross disciplinary views. Case study authors in turn respond to the case analyses. The result is a text that provides multiple insights into understanding the learning process and the conditions that impact learning.

New Perspectives on Conceptual Change

New Perspectives on Conceptual Change PDF

Author: Wolfgang Schnotz

Publisher: Emerald Group Publishing

Published: 1999

Total Pages: 322

ISBN-13: 9780080434551

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Brings together the research on conceptual change from perspectives in developmental, cognitive and motivational psychology, instructional psychology and science education. This book addresses four main themes that include traditional cognitive views on knowledge acquisition and socioconstructionist perspectives.

Discipline-Based Education Research

Discipline-Based Education Research PDF

Author: National Research Council

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2012-08-27

Total Pages: 282

ISBN-13: 0309254140

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The National Science Foundation funded a synthesis study on the status, contributions, and future direction of discipline-based education research (DBER) in physics, biological sciences, geosciences, and chemistry. DBER combines knowledge of teaching and learning with deep knowledge of discipline-specific science content. It describes the discipline-specific difficulties learners face and the specialized intellectual and instructional resources that can facilitate student understanding. Discipline-Based Education Research is based on a 30-month study built on two workshops held in 2008 to explore evidence on promising practices in undergraduate science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education. This book asks questions that are essential to advancing DBER and broadening its impact on undergraduate science teaching and learning. The book provides empirical research on undergraduate teaching and learning in the sciences, explores the extent to which this research currently influences undergraduate instruction, and identifies the intellectual and material resources required to further develop DBER. Discipline-Based Education Research provides guidance for future DBER research. In addition, the findings and recommendations of this report may invite, if not assist, post-secondary institutions to increase interest and research activity in DBER and improve its quality and usefulness across all natural science disciples, as well as guide instruction and assessment across natural science courses to improve student learning. The book brings greater focus to issues of student attrition in the natural sciences that are related to the quality of instruction. Discipline-Based Education Research will be of interest to educators, policy makers, researchers, scholars, decision makers in universities, government agencies, curriculum developers, research sponsors, and education advocacy groups.