The course will examine issues related to conceptual change in physical knowledge. We will start with a review of the cognitive science and science education literature showing that alternative frameworks or misconceptions can stand in the way of acquiring science concepts. We will continue with a discussion of criticisms of the misconceptions view and an exploration of different proposals regarding the nature of naпve physics and its influence on learning. The cognitive/developmental and philosophical/historical approaches to knowledge acquisition and conceptual change will be discussed next followed by a session in which the educational implications of this work will be explored.

• Evidence for alternative frameworks, preconceptions, and misconceptions in children and adults in the process of learning science

• Theoretical interpretations of the phenomenon of misconceptions

Required Readings

Vosniadou, S., & Brewer, W. F. (1992). Mental models of the earth: A study of conceptual change in childhood. Cognitive Psychology, 24, 535-585.

Optional Readings

Clements, J. A conceptual model discussed by Galileo and used intuitively by Physics’ students. In D. Gentner & A.L. Stevens (Eds.), Mental Models. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

McCloskey, M. (1983). Naive theories of motion. In D. Gentner & A.L. Stevens (Eds.), Mental Models. Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

Vosniadou, S., & Brewer, W. F. (1994). Mental models of the day/night cycle.

Cognitive Science, 18, 123-183.

2. The Nature of Naпve Physics

• Criticism of the misconceptions view and its implications for the teaching of science.

• Discussion of the different ways the nature of naпve physics is conceptualized.

Required Readings

 Smith, J.P., diSessa, A.A., & Rochelle, J. (1993). Misconceptions Reconceived: A Constructivist analysis of knowledge in transition, The Journal of Learning Sciences, 3(2), 115-183

Vosniadou, S. (in press). On the Nature of Naпve Physics In M. Limon & L. Mason,

Reframing the Problem of Conceptual Change, Kluwer Academic Press

 Optional Readings

Reiner, M., Slotta, J.D., Chi, M.T.H., & Resnick, L.B. (2000) Naпve Physics Reasoning: A commitment to substance-based conceptions. Cognition and Instruction, 18(1), 1-34

diSessa, A. (1993). Toward an epistemology of physics. Cognition and Instruction, 10, 105-225.

 3. Conceptual Change from a Cognitive/Developmental Point of View

•  The domain specific view of conceptual development in its various manifestation

• Modular approaches, the “theory-theory” view, experts vs. novices

 Required Readings

Carey, S., & Spelke, E. (1994). Domain specific knowledge and conceptual change. In L.A. Hirschfeld and S.A. Gelman (Eds.) Mapping the mind (pp. 160-200). New York: Cambridge University Press.

Optional Readings

Leslie, A.M. (1994). ToMM, ToBY, and Agency: Core architecture and domain specificity. In L.A. Hirschefeld, & S.A. Gelman (Eds.), Mapping the mind. Cambridge University Press.

Ioannides, C. & Vosniadou, S. (in press). Exploring the various meanings of force: From Coherence to Fragmentation, Cognitive Science Quarterly.

• Similarities and differences in conceptual change in the history of science and in the learning of science.
• The “child as a scientist” debate. Do children think like scientists?

Required Readings

• Gopnik, A. (1996). The scientist as a child (and commentary) Philosophy of Science, 63. p..485-561.
• Klahr, D., (2000). Exploring Science (chapter 5: Developmental aspects of scientific reasoning). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press

Optional Readings

Wiser, M., (1987). The differentiation of heat and temperature: History of science and novice-expert shift. In S. Strauss (Ed.), Ontogeny, phylogeny, and historical development. Norwood, NJ: Ablex.

 Nersessian, N., (1989). How do scientists think? Capturing the Dynamics of Conceptual Change in Science, pp. 3-44 in R.N. Giere, (Ed.), Cognitive Models of Science, Minnesota Studies in the Philosophy of Science, XV, Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

• Implications of the above for the design of learning environments to promote learning in science
• The role of technology

Required Readings

Vosniadou, S (in press) How children learn. Educational Practices Series, International Bureau of Education, UNESCO.

Vosniadou, S., Ioannides, C., Dimitrakopoulou, A., & Papademetriou, E. (in press) Designing learning environments to promote conceptual change in science, Learning and Instruction: The Journal of the European Association for Research in Learning and Instruction

Optional Readings

Driver, R., Asoko, H., Leach, J., Mortimer, E., & Scott, P. (1994) Constructing scientific knowledge in the classroom. Educational Researcher, 23(7),5-12

White, B., & Frederiksen, J., (1998). Inquiry, modeling, and metacognition: Making science accessible to all students. Cognition and Instruction, Vol. 16(1), pp. 3-99.

Small Group Projects

Participants will discuss and critically examine several experiments investigating the development of science knowledge from infancy to the acquisition of expertise.

Assessment

There will be various assignments associated with the small group projects. Workshop participants wishing to receive credit will be expected to turn in individually-prepared write-ups of these assignments

Stella Vosniadou (homepage)

Stella Vosniadou received her B.A. in philosophy from Brandeis University (1971), a master’s degree from Columbia University (1974) and a Ph.D. from Clark University (1979) in psychology. She is currently a professor of cognitive psychology and chair of the Cognitive Science Division in the Department of Philosophy and History of Science at the University of Athens. She is also the director of an interdisciplinary graduate program in Basic and Applied Cognitive Science Program at the University of Athens.

She served as President of the European Association for Research on Learning and Instruction (1995-97), associate editor of Learning and Instruction, and one of the four editors of the Elsevier series Advances in Learning and Instruction. Her interests are in the areas of cognitive development, conceptual change, and the design of learning environments.