This study attempts to resolve competing ideas in the literature about whether complex scientific phenomenon, such as evolution by natural selection, cannot be taught until high school, while others believe these topics can be taught at earlier grades. The PI hypothesizes that since younger children may have fewer beliefs and experiences that might interfere with their learning, it should be easier to bring about a change in knowledge and skills about a particular science concept. The objectives of the research is to determine how: (1) individual differences in prior knowledge and metaconceptual awareness affect the trajectory of conceptual change; (2) conceptual change alters domain-specific attitudes, intuitions, and behaviors; and (3) conceptual change shapes, and is shaped by, different forms of interpersonal communication.
Participants will include 75 seven through twelve year-olds, 20 school teachers, 250 undergraduate students recruited from the study pool of the university (and taking introductory biology), and 15 research fellows. Participants will be drawn from Occidental College, local childcare centers and elementary schools. The study will focus on geology, genetics, mechanics, thermodynamics, and evolution. This study builds on the premise that there are three major tensions in the literature. These tensions include: (a) intuitive theories vs. knowledge-in-pieces; (b) knowledge replacement vs. knowledge suppression; and (c) role of experience vs. the role of testimony. Twelve different studies (four for each tension) will be conducted to expand the focus of conceptual change from patterns of learning and reasoning to the broader cognitive context. Cross-sectional, correlational, comparison, and microgenetic analyses will be used for pre and post tests. Procedures and coding schemes used by the PI in prior studies will be used to analyze structured interviews, dyads, and focus groups sessions.
Sample outcomes from the 12 studies will uncover if children will exhibit less extensive and coherent beliefs than adults, exhibit greater pre-post gains in conceptual understanding, and a model to test where students likely made earlier and later changes in life. Outcomes might also include how conservational partners establish reference in situations where they hold conceptually incommensurate views of a particular topic and its properties.
