Discusses how conceptual change has developed over the past three decades, alternative approaches for analyzing it, multiperspective views of science learning and instruction, how conceptual change can be used to examine scientific literacy, and paths to a powerful framework for improving science teaching and learning. (Contains 91 references.)…

Reports in detail on a year-long case study of multiple-model use at grade 11. Suggests that students who socially negotiated the shared and unshared attributes of common analogical models for atoms, molecules, and chemical bonds used these models more consistently in their explanations. (Author/CCM)

Describes the development and application of a two-tier multiple choice diagnostic instrument to assess high school students' understanding of inorganic chemistry qualitative analysis. Shows that the Grade 10 students had difficulty understanding the reactions involved in the identification of cations and anions, for example, double decomposition…

Grade 10 students in Singapore find qualitative analysis one of the more difficult topics in their external examinations. Fifty-one grade 10 students from three schools were interviewed to investigate their perceptions about learning qualitative analysis. The results showed that students found qualitative analysis tedious and difficult to…

Uses a two-tier, multiple-choice diagnostic instrument to determine (n=915) grade 10 students' understanding of the acid, base, and salt reactions involved in basic qualitative analysis. Reports that many students did not understand the formation of precipitates and the complex salts, acid/salt-base reactions, and thermal decomposition involved in…

Explores secondary school, undergraduate, and graduate level learners' mental models of bonding with ionic substances through an interview protocol involving the use of physical substances and a focus card containing depictions of ionic bonding and structure. Suggests that teachers and university faculty need to provide stronger links between the…

Describes Australian secondary school, undergraduate, and postgraduate students' use of analogy and anthropomorphism along with their alternative conceptions for mental models of chemical bonding. Finds that learners make use of analogy and anthropomorphism to aid their explanations of chemical bonding, and in addition reveals that learners across…

Provides the status (as of February 1982) of institutions active in curriculum development and/or science education research in Australia, Fiji, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Paupau New Guinea, Philippines, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, Solomon Islands, and Thailand. Includes institutional title/address and name of contact person. (JN)

Comments on Fensham's suggestion for a change of driver for developing new curricula in school science. Discusses the support needed for a curriculum driven by societal experts, unintentional contributions to the existing problem, and a personal research agenda. (Author/YDS)

Focuses on cognitive and affective changes that occurred in one student during the study of heat and temperature. Initially the student's conceptual framework was undifferentiated with regard to heat and temperature; however, course activities and concomitant use of concept substitution helped the student differentiate these concepts and integrate…

Outlines problems students have with understanding the abstract concept of chemical bonding as revealed in previous research. Describes the development of a two-tier multiple-choice diagnostic instrument for assessing alternative conceptions about chemical bonding held by 14-16 year olds. Discusses the instrument and its findings for a group of…

Interview data exemplify students' attempts to integrate the concepts of electrochemistry with related knowledge that they had previously constructed or acquired in other classes. The implications for minimizing potential misconceptions center on the difficulties students experience when using more than one model for explaining scientific…

Explores the conceptual change of two classes of grade 10 students (n=48) in their genetics learning in an Australian girls' school that uses laptop computers. The study used an interpretive, case-based design with multiple data collection methods and a multidimensional conceptual change framework. Over seven weeks, the students learned genetics…

Explores whether exposure to increasingly sophisticated mental models at different points in a chemistry education class showed up in patterns of preference and use of models in interpreting physical properties and phenomena. (Contains 92 references.) (DDR)

Argues that conceptual change is best understood when multiple perspectives are used to interpret chemistry learning. Case studies of two secondary school students show that personal factors and differing interests and purposes for studying science can influence learning outcomes, and that high scores on achievement tests are unreliable indicators…