Learning, Cognition and the Problem of Conceptual Change

Stella VosniadouNational and Kapodistrian University of Athens

Department of Philosophy and History of Science

Theoretical Frameworks on Learning

• Empiricist

• Piagetian

• Vygotskian

• Cognitive

• Situated Cognition

Empiricist Approach• None or little predisposition for knowledge

acquisition (tabula rasa)

• Knowledge based on experience

• Mechanism of acquisition is mostly the enrichment or prior knowledge

Piagetian Approach• Constructive activity of the learner

• Stages of development (Global restructuring)

• Mechanisms of knowledge acquisition: assimilation and accommodation

Vygotskian Approach

• The importance of society, history, and culture

• Mechanisms of knowledge acquisition: internalization

Cognitive approach• Knowledge acquisition in the context of the

information processing paradigm

• Importance of prior knowledge• Learning strategies• Meaningfuless of learning• Transfer of learning • Metacognition

Situated cognition approach

• Participation vs acquisition metaphor (apprenticeship learning)

• Importance of situational factors (context)

• Meaningfulness and authenticity of tasks

Key Notions

• Importance of experience

• Constructivism

• Social/cultural factors

• Strategic/Metacognitive aspects of meaningful learning for transfer

• Importance of situational factors/authenticity of tasks

Principles of Learning

1. Active Involvement

1. Social Participation

1. Meaningful Activities

2. Relating New Information to Prior Knowledge

3. Being Strategic

4. Engaging in Self-Regulation and Being Reflective

5. Restructuring Prior Knowledge

6. Aiming Towards Understanding Rather than Memorization

7. Helping Students Learn to Transfer

8. Taking Time to Practice

9. Developmental and Individual Differences

10. Creating Motivated Learners

Conceptual Change

• The “standard” theory

• The fragmentation view

• A cognitive/developmental approach to conceptual change

A cognitive/developmental approach to conceptual change

• Children start with a naïve “theory” of physics which is very different from the currently accepted view

• Synthetic models are created as students assimilate scientific information into their naïve theory

A Cognitive/Developmental Approach to Conceptual Change 

1. The human mind has developed, through evolution, specialized mechanisms to pick up information from the physical and social world.

2. Naive physics is not a collection of unrelated pieces of knowledge. It provides a narrow but nevertheless coherent explanatory framework for conceptualizing the physical world.

3. Naive physics can stand in the way of learning science.

4. Conceptual change is required in the learning of many science concepts

5. Conceptual change is a slow and gradual process that proceeds through the gradual replacement of the beliefs and presuppositions of naive physics.

Framework Theories in Physics and Psychology

• Naϊve Physics

Ontology: Physical Object

 

 

  Causality: Mechanical

• Naïve psychology

• Ontology: Psychogical Beings

• Causality: Intentional

Naϊve Physics

The Framework Theory

Ontology

Principles of • solidity• spatio-temporal continuity• contact• gravity (up/down)

Causality

The beginnings of mechanical causality and its distinction from psychological causality. (Dynamic relationship between two objects that come in contact where the first object is thought to cause the second objects’ movement.)

Ontological Presuppositions

Solidity Stability Up/down organization

of space

Up/down gravity

Epistemological Presuppositions

Things are as they appear to be

The ground extends along the same plane

over a great distance

The sun/moon/ stars are

in the sky

The sky is located above

the ground

There is ground and/or water

below the earth

Beliefs

The earth is flat and has a rectangular

shape or a circular shape

The earth is supported by ground/water underneath

The sun/moon/stars/sky are located above the

top of the earth

Mental Models

Rectangular Earth

Disc Earth Ring Earth

Observational and Cultural information about the Earth

Fra

mew

ork

Th

eory

Sp

ecif

ic T

heo

ry

Hypothetical Conceptual Structure Underlying Children’s Models of the Earth

The concept of the Earth

Initial

Earth is flat

Supported by ground, water, etc

Stationary

Sky and solar objects located

Above its top

Geocentric universe

Scientific

Earth is spherical

Surrounded by space

Rotating and revolving

Space and solar objects

Surround the earth

Heliocentric solar system

An Example of Conceptual Case: The Case of the Earth Concept

Frequency of the Earth Shape Models as a Function of Grade

Earth Shape Models

1st Grade  

3rd Grade 

5th Grade 

Total

Sphere  

3 8 12 23

Flattened sphere  

1 3 0 4

Hollow sphere 

2 4 6 12

Dual earth 

6 2 0 8

Disc earth 

0 1 0 1

Rectangular earth 

1 0 0 1

Mixed 7 2 2 

11

Total 20 20 20 60

The concept of the Earth

Initial

Earth is flat

Supported by ground, water, etc

Stationary

Sky and solar objects located

Above its top

Geocentric universe

Scientific

Earth is spherical

Surrounded by space

Rotating and revolving

Space and solar objects

Surround the earth

Heliocentric solar system

(A) From Ptolemy to Copernicus

Major Bodies

Stars Earth

Fixed Stars Planets

Moon Sun Jupiter Mars Saturn Mercury Venus

Major Bodies

Stars Planets Satellites

Sun Moon

Saturn

Jupiter

Mars

Earth

Venus

Mercury

(B) From Grade 1 to Grade 5

Major Bodies

Earth Celestial Bodies

Sun Moon Stars

Major Bodies

Celestial Bodies

Sun Planets Satellites Stars

Moon Earth

Conceptual Change in Astronomy

Plant Development

Initial/Naive Theory Plants take their food from the ground (water or other nutrients) through their roots Plants grow as food accumulates in small pieces inside them They do not breathe or if they do-breathing is not related to growth/development (like in humans)  

Scientific Theory Plants create their own food through the process of photosynthesis Photosynthesis is a chemical process during which solar energy is used to transform water + CO2 into

organic materials like glucose. Oxygen is also formed and stored in the plant or released in the atmosphere Plants take in CO2 from the atmosphere and use it in

the process of photosynthesis. To this extent “breathing” in plants is related to growth and development.  

Synthetic Models

Models of Plant Development 1. Plants take food from the ground, through roots. Food accumulates

inside plant and makes it grow. They do not breathe.

2. Plants take food from the ground, through roots. Food accumulates inside plant and makes it grow. Information about photosynthesis is assimilated in breathing.

3. Information about photosynthesis assimilated in feeding. Plants takes food from ground and from air and use it to grow.

4. Plants take food from the ground and from atmosphere and make it themselves in their leaves. And also plants make their own food themselves through photosynthesis.

5. Plants make their own food by themselves but still no understanding of the chemical processes involved.

The concept of Force

Initial

Notion of internal and acquired force-Force contained

Internal force is a property of the objects that feel heavy

Acquired force is imparted to objects by an outside agent and is necessary to explain their motion

Motion of physical objects requires an explanation in terms of a causal agent. Natural state of physical objects is that of rest

Scientific

Force – interaction

Force is not a property of objects/notion of gravity

Differentiation between force and energy

Both rest and motion can be natural states of physical objects

Models Kind/garten

 

4th grade 6th grade 9th grade Total

1. INTERNAL FORCE: There is an internal force within objects affected by weight/size only.   

 

7(46.7%)

4(13.3%)

-

 -

 11(10.5%)

2. INTERNAL FORCE AFFECTED BY MOVEMENT: There is an internal force within objects affected both by weight/size and by position/movement.    

 

2(13.3%)

2(6.7%)

-

 -

 4(3.8%)

3. INTERNAL and ACQUIRED FORCE: There is an internal force affected by weight/size and/or position. In addition there is an acquired force within moving objects only.   

 

4(26.7%)

10(33.3%)

9(30%)

1(3.3%)

24(22.9%)

4. ACQUIRED FORCE: There is an acquired force within moving objects only.    

 

- 5(16.7%)

11(36.7%)

2(6.7%)

18(17.1%)

5. ACQUIRED FORCE and FORCE OF PUSH/PULL: There is an acquired force within moving objects. There is a force exerted on all objects being pushed/pulled regardless of motion.

-

 -

 5(16.7%)

10(33.3%)

15(14.3%)

    

 

-

 -

 -

 1(3.3%)

1(1%)

7. GRAVITATIONAL and OTHER FORCES: Force of gravity. Force of push/pull when objects are being pushed/pulled. Acquired force when objects are moving    

 

-

 3(10%)

1(3.3%)

16(53.3%)

20(19%)

8. Mixed

 2(13.3%)

6(20%)

4(13.3%)

-

 12(11.4%)

 Total 15

(14,3%)30(28.6%)

30(28.6%)

30(28.6%)

105(100%)

6. FORCE OF PUSH/PULL: There is a force only on objects being pushed/pulled regardless of motion.

Frequencies and Percent of Models of Force

as a function of grade

(0%) (0%)

(0%)(0%)

(0%)

(0%) (0%)

(0%)(0%)(0%)

(0%)

(0%)

Implications for Instruction

• Content (Presuppositions, Beliefs, Mental Models)

• Structure

• Metacognition

Implications for Instruction

• Content - Explicitness of Explanation

- Does it address entrenched presuppositions and beliefs?

- Does it deal with student’s mental representations?

• Structure - Order of acquisition of the concepts involved

• Metacognition - Conceptual Change and Cognitive Flexibility

Students’ Naïve Theories

Curricula Amount and sequence of information to be taught • Breadth of coverage of the curriculum• Relational structure of the concepts that comprise a given domain and order of

acquisition 

Instruction Facilitating metaconceptual awareness • Social collaboration• Verbal discussions• Making internal representations external• Cognitive flexibility Addressing entrenched presuppositions • Provide theoretically relevant experiences• Different explanatory framework

 

Addressing entrenched presuppositions 

• Good explanatory framework-tied to years of confirmations

• Coherent system of explanation that lies at the roots of our conceptual system

• Motivation to change

• Experiential support (observations and experiments)

• Cultural support-authenticity

• Linguistic problems in the acquisition of science concepts

Broad framework for conceptual change  

1. Individual cognitive changes

2. Individual motivational and affective variables

3. The educational settings in which instruction takes place

4. The broader social and cultural environments in which students live and learn

 

Principles of Learning

1. Active Involvement

1. Social Participation

1. Meaningful Activities

2. Relating New Information to Prior Knowledge

3. Being Strategic

4. Engaging in Self-Regulation and Being Reflective

5. Restructuring Prior Knowledge

6. Aiming Towards Understanding Rather than Memorization

7. Helping Students Learn to Transfer

8. Taking Time to Practice

9. Developmental and Individual Differences

10. Creating Motivated Learners