Suggests that scientific thought experiments (TEs) draw upon three epistemological resources: conceptual-logical inferences, visual imagery, and bodily-motor experience. Argues that TEs are powerful because of students' thought capabilities related to imagination and visual imagery. Claims that TEs are not currently exploited by school learning…

Although the ideas of Jean Piaget still dominate the field of science education, the range and severity of criticisms has increased progressively. In recent years, the emergence of a different theory of cognitive development has begun. This paper tentatively outlines a Lakatosian Research Programme for the alternative conceptions field. The…