Learners – teachers – researchers: consistency in implementing conceptual change

Tijdschrift voor Didactiek van de Beta-wetenschappen, uitgegeven door het Freudenthal Instituut, Universiteit Utrecht in de periode 1983-2014

Gunstone, R. F. Northfield, J. R. Tijdschrift voor Didactiek van de Beta-wetenschappen 1987 – 5(1), 60-74 Download pdf

In the large volume of recent research which aims to explore student views of and beliefs about natural phenomena, there are important differences and communalities. The differences in basic purpose between numbers of researchers are shown to some extent by the variety of terminology which has been used to describe these views/beliefs-naive theories, naive science, alternative conceptions, children’s science, alternative frameworks, misconceptions, intuitive preconceptions, intuitive science, and so on. The most striking communality to be found in the work is a consistent belief that this research can and should influence the practice of science education. How this influence should affect science teachers, learners, curriculum is another area of difference, but belief that there are practical implications is common. This paper considers issues associated with the influence on science education of research on student views of the world. In particular, we consider the implications of this work for pre- and in-service education and for the fostering of approaches which support these implications for teacher education. The paper argues the need for consistency in considering the promotion of conceptual change in students and teachers (and, in some circumstances, researchers) and elaborates the parallels between the consequences of such consistency and the literature on educational change. As the first step in the analysis, we consider issues arising from research on student views and conceptual change.