Outlines an account of conceptual learning in terms of the conceptions that people hold, the status they award to their conceptions, and the conceptual ecology containing the criteria they use in determining status. (Author/CCM)

The theory of conceptual change is criticized because it focuses only on supposed underlying logical structures and rational process processes, and lacks attention to affective aspects as well as motivational constructs in students' learning science. This is a vast underestimation of the complexity and diversity of one's change of conceptions. The…

The question is to what extent intelligence test-batteries prove any kind of empirical reference to common intelligence theories. Of particular interest are conceptualized tests that are of a high psychometric standard--those that fit the Rasch model--and hence are not exposed to fundamental critique. As individualized testing, i.e., a…

Bloomer began using the concept of "learning careers" in 1996 with similar ideas being offered by Hodkinson on "careership". Their collaboration began in relation to research conducted on the transition from school to Further Education. Part of the rationale put forward for further developing this concept was that much of the…

Research on personal epistemologies (Hofer & Pintrich, 2002) has mostly conceptualized them as stable beliefs or stages of development. On these views, researchers characterize individual students' epistemologies with single, coherent descriptions. Evidence of variability in student epistemologies, however, suggests the need for more complex…

Argues that there is a strong nonrational component in conceptual change, analyzing aspects of the nonrational or aesthetic that are part of the conceptual change process. Shows that the results of Posner et. al. ("Science Education" 66: 211-27, 1982) support this thesis. (Author/JN)

Responds to comments by West and Pines ("Science Education" 67: 37-39, 1983) on rationality and learning. Discusses two views of learning, distinguishes between what learning depends on and what it is, and offers distinctions between rational and nonrational factors in learning. (Author/JN)

Discusses the process of the construction of entities following a social semiotic approach that enables the use of new analytical tools and describes the rhetoric used in construction. Based on an analysis of the historical formation of the notion of cells by scientists, and analysis of a lesson on the microscopic observation of onion cells.…

Conceptual change researchers have made significant progress on two prominent but competing theoretical perspectives regarding knowledge structure coherence. These perspectives can be broadly characterized as (1) knowledge-as-theory perspectives and (2) knowledge-as-elements perspectives. These perspectives can be briefly summarized in terms of…

In this article the authors resort to a qualitative analysis of the plot of science fiction stories about a group of scientists, written by two 11th-grade Earth and Life Science students (aged 17), and to semi-structured interviews, with the double purpose of diagnosing their conceptions of the nature of science (namely, as regards scientists'…

Counseling orientations are redescribed in terms of the relative importance they place on knowing. This epistemological redescription results in a reconsideration of the role of humanism. Specifically, rather than a treatment orientation, the author argues that humanism should be considered a moral imperative. Implications of this conclusion for…

English, and presumably any natural language, contains a small group of expressions referring to species of things found in nature. These species are defined by their internal structure, determined by genetics in the case of living things and by chemical or physical properties in the case of others. The reference of these terms is determined by…

Provides a rebuttal to critical comments on the author's earlier article concerning the concept of epistemological rationality. Main disagreements center on the view that the use of terms with evaluative connotations about cognitive functions have a potential for abuse and that one cannot make judgments about the relative efficacy of the…

Outlines the elements of a revised epistemological approach to thinking about library and information science. Hermeneutical phenomenology seeks an understanding of the essence of things (such as the library) and takes into account, among other things, the intentional stances of the human actors within the realm of library and information science.…

Recommends the use of an instructional strategy that is ideal for examining students' conceptions of the nature of science. Defines cooperative controversy as a situation in which one person's ideas, information, conclusions, theories, or opinions are incompatible with those of another. (DDR)