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In this article, I will use the frame-model to analyze different kinds of concept change. Mainly, I will use frames to distinguish between what I will call inter-conceptual change and intra-conceptual change as well as between conceptual structure change and conceptual content change . Further, I will introduce the notion of conceptual enrichment as opposed to conceptual change. To achieve these goals, I will expand the frame-model where necessary and exemplify the proposed extensions by means of a frame-based analysis of John L. Austin’s distinction between constative and performative utterances.

In order to understand the advanced, scientific concepts of the various disciplines, students cannot rely on the simple memorization of facts. They must learn how to restructure their naive, intuitive theories based on everyday experience and lay culture. In other words, they must undergo profound conceptual change. This type of conceptual change cannot be achieved without systematic instruction that takes into consideration both individual, constructivist and sociocultural factors. Teachers must find ways to enhance individual students’ motivation by creating a social classroom environment that supports the creation of intentional learners who can engage in the deep and enduring comprehension activities required for the revision of conceptual knowledge.

The purpose of this research was to investigate the effectiveness of conceptual change learning approach based on conceptual change model over traditional instruction on the improvement of physics education undergraduate students’ conceptual understanding in Newtonian mechanics. A quasi experimental research method with pre-test and post-test control group design was employed. The sample chosen based on purposive technique sampling comprising of 73 students was in two groups selected randomly each as experimental and control group. Predict-Observe-Explain-Apply (POEA) and using Conceptual Change Texts (CCT) strategies were implemented in the experimental group. The Force Concept Inventory (FCI) in Indonesian was used to collect data before and after treatments. The results show that the conceptual understandings of students who were taught using strategies under conceptual change approach was significantly better than those of the traditional approach. The research confirmed that only learning based on conceptual change model could improve learners’ Newtonian mechanics conceptual understanding.

Conceptual engineers have recently turned to the notion of conceptual functions to do a variety of explanatory work. Functions are supposed to explain what speakers are debating about in metalinguistic negotiations, to capture when two concepts are about the same thing, and to help guide our normative inquiries into which concepts we should use. In this paper, I argue that this recent “functional turn” should be deflated. Contra most interpreters, we should not try to use a substantive notion of conceptual functions to handle various problems for conceptual engineering. The primary accounts of function appealed to by conceptual engineers, namely etiological and system functions, are not suited to handle many of the problems functions are supposed to handle, and it’s dubious whether any other account of function would do better. Instead of trying to use substantive functions to solve theoretical problems, we should deflate those problems themselves by focusing only on what matters to us, as speakers or theorists, in a given inquiry.

Recent work on philosophy of technology emphasises the ways in which technology can disrupt our concepts and conceptual schemes. We analyse and challenge existing accounts of conceptual disruption, criticising views according to which conceptual disruption can be understood in terms of uncertainty for conceptual application, as well as views assuming all instances of conceptual disruption occur at the same level. We proceed to provide our own account of conceptual disruption as an interruption in the normal functioning of concepts and conceptual schemes. Moreover, we offer a multilevel taxonomy thereof, where we distinguish between instances of conceptual disruptions occurring at different levels (conceptual scheme, conceptual clusters, and individual concepts), taking on different forms (conceptual gaps and conceptual conflicts), and leading to different degrees of severity (extending from mild to severe). We also provide detailed accounts through historical examples of how conceptual gaps and conceptual conflicts can occur at different times in the very same process of conceptual disruption. Finally, we make the case that different kinds of conceptual engineering can provide meaningful ways to assess and overcome distinct types of conceptual disruption.

Scientific misconceptions are ubiquitous, and in our era of near-instant information exchange, this can be problematic for both public health and the public understanding of scientific topics. Refutation text is one instructional tool for addressing misconceptions and is simple to implement at little cost. We conducted a random-effects meta-analysis to examine the effectiveness of the refutation text structure on learning. Analysis of 44 independent comparisons (n = 3,869) showed that refutation text is associated with a positive, moderate effect (g = 0.41, p < .001) compared to other learning conditions. This effect was consistent and robust across a wide variety of contexts. Our results support the implementation of refutation text to help facilitate scientific understanding in many fields.

Research has provided overwhelming evidence that children enter in science classroom with ideas they have formed in making sense of the world around them. Children observe world with curiosity which help them to construct their initial ideas (Anderson, Reynolds, Schallert ve Goetz, 1977). These ideas of the child are called pre-existing knowledge which serves as a podium from which learners understand their world (Dole ve Sinatra’s 1998). Similarly the children have multiple experiences of different phenomena like push, pull, throw or pull (Driver, Squires, Rushworth ve Wood-Robinson, 1994). The children’s observation, ideas and experiences collectively make their preconceptions. This study was an attempt to find out misconceptions of biology students at secondary level (Wiser ve Amin, 2002). It is a well known fact that students enter in science classroom with many misconceptions (Yensin 2004). This research was aimed to identify and rectify the misconceptions of students, about selected concept of biology e.g. classification of animals. The nature of the research study was exploratory. A well established technique ‘Interview about Instances’ (IAI) was used to explore conceptions and misconceptions of the students. Twenty instance cards (twenty for selected biology concept) were developed to present examples and non - examples of particular concepts in the form of diagram, line diagrams and pictures. Interviews were audio-taped with the permission of respondents and transcribed with the help of experts. A wide variety of misconceptions were found in the responses of the students therefore keeping in view the misconceptions of students inquiry sessions were planned. Whole sample of the study was randomly divided into two groups’ i.e. Group A ve Group B. Group B participated in inquiry sessions while group A was kept outside. Researcher facilitated the inquiry sessions. Students planned activities and explored the concepts. Afterwards, the same instance cards were shown to both groups A ve B. IAIs were conducted, recorded, transcribed and coded. The responses of students were divided into major and minor categories. The frequencies and percentages of responses given by students in pre and post session interviews were calculated and compared. In a result three categories of responses emerged such as scientific responses, misconceptions and generalizations. Moreover, to establish the effectiveness of inquiry approach as a conceptual change instructional strategy the percentages and frequencies of the responses of Group A. ve B. in post session were also compared. The improvement in scientific responses and correctness of misconceptions was observed in the responses give n by group B in post session interviews. This research study concluded that students had misconceptions in very basic biological concepts. The misconceptions found were very dynamic in nature. The misconceptions of students can be addressed with appropriate conceptual change instructional strategy such as inquiry approach.

This review provides a critique of David Ausubel’s theory of meaningful learning and the use of advance organizers in teaching. It takes into account the developments in cognition and neuroscience which have taken place in the 50 or so years since he advanced his ideas, developments which challenge our understanding of cognitive structure and the recall of prior learning. These include (i) how effective questioning to ascertain previous knowledge necessitates in-depth Socratic dialogue; (ii) how many findings in cognition and neuroscience indicate that memory may be non-representational, thereby affecting our interpretation of student recollections; (iii) the now recognised dynamism of memory; (iv) usefully regarding concepts as abilities or simulators and skills; (v) acknowledging conscious and unconscious memory and imagery; (vi) how conceptual change involves conceptual coexistence and revision; (vii) noting linguistic and neural pathways as a result of experience and neural selection; and (viii) recommending that wider concepts of scaffolding should be adopted, particularly given the increasing focus on collaborative learning in a technological world.