Conceptual change

Conceptual change is the learning process in which people trade old ideas and concepts for new ones over time. It involves more than simply learning new facts; it requires the learner to reconsider things that were learned previously and replace some of that knowledge with new facts and understanding. As a result, it can be a difficult process. The student must abandon thoughts, concepts, and understandings that may be ingrained, and the teacher must identify things the student misunderstands about the subject and help the student replace those misunderstandings with new, more valid information.

Background

The process of learning starts in infancy and continues in both formal and informal ways throughout life. Beginning in childhood, people acquire various bits of information that combine in the mind to form an understanding of things in the world. This process is so constant and continuous that people are often not even aware that they are actively learning something as the learning is occurring.

For example, a child watches a cartoon that shows a dinosaur interacting with a human being. Later, that child sees a movie that also includes dinosaurs and people in scenes together. The child develops the idea that dinosaurs and people lived at the same time, even though about sixty-five million years passed between the extinction of the last dinosaur and the appearance of the first humans.

This is an example of a misconception. There are several key types of misconceptions that can interfere with learning. They include preconceived notions, nonscientific beliefs, conceptual misunderstandings, vernacular misconceptions, and factual misconceptions.

Preconceived notions are thoughts that learners form based on what they think they know about something. For example, a person may think that heavier things fall faster than things that are lighter. This seems to make sense, especially if the person has seen something like acorns and leaves falling from trees. The acorn seems to fall faster because it is heavier when, in reality, it is the difference in air resistance between the compact round acorn and the larger, flatter leaf; both would fall at the same rate if they were in a vacuum.

Nonscientific beliefs are those that are based on information other than a reliable scientific source. These can include mythology, religious beliefs, television and film, or unsubstantiated sources on the Internet. The misconception about dinosaurs and people living at the same time is an example of a factual misunderstanding caused by nonscientific beliefs.

Conceptual misunderstandings occur when people have a basic understanding of parts of a concept but do not fully grasp all of the details. As a result, they develop a faulty understanding of the concept. An example of this would be understanding what causes Earth to have different seasons. Most people know that it has something to do with the placement of Earth in relation to the sun. However, they may be unclear on the details and form an understanding that it is the distance from the sun that causes seasons, when it is actually the way Earth is tilted on its axis in relation to the sun that results in the change of seasons.

Vernacular misunderstandings result from the words used to describe a concept, often because the word has a common meaning and a specific meaning in science or another academic field. An example of this would be the word “salt.” In everyday life, the term refers to a food seasoning. In scientific terms, however, a salt is a substance formed by combining a positively charged acid with a negatively charged base. A learner who assumes all salts are like those found in the kitchen spice rack would have a vernacular misunderstanding.

Factual misunderstandings are those that are simply based on commonly held but totally incorrect information. For example, chameleons are frequently portrayed as changing colors to match their surroundings. In actuality, they change based on other factors such as temperature, light, and how they feel.

Overview

The learning process begins at birth and continues throughout life, often in non-academic settings. This means that there are plenty of opportunities for people to form misconceptions and misunderstandings about the world around them. As a result, the learning process often includes identifying and then unlearning things that were misunderstood or about which misconceptions were formed, replacing the misconceptions with accurate information. Although this can occur in relation to nearly any type of learning, it is commonly associated with scientific facts and concepts.

The first step in this process is identifying areas of misconceptions. Some misconceptions are so common that it is easy for a teacher or other subject-matter expert to predict what misunderstandings learners will have. Some are harder to identify, especially those that may be related to a learner’s personal experiences. One way that misconceptions can be identified and addressed is to provide a non-threatening environment where learners are encouraged to share their thoughts and understandings without fear of ridicule or negative consequences.

The teacher or other expert then has to challenge that misunderstanding in a way that will help the learner discard the mistaken information and replace it with a correct understanding. This can be done by asking questions or having learners explain their viewpoints to help them recognize gaps or inconsistencies in their concept of the issue. Engaging learners in this way allows the learner to confront their understanding of the subject at hand and prepares them to accept new, corrected information.

Experts have suggested that several factors have to be present for a learner to readjust their viewpoint and accept new factual information to replace their previous misconceptions. The learner must realize that there is something faulty about their understanding, there must be acceptable and understandable new information presented to replace it, this new information must make sense to the learner, and the learner must see the value of the new information. For instance, a learner may recognize that the information they “know” does not address a new situation, look for new information to help with the current issue, and come to understand that they need a new way of viewing the situation that addresses all the situations that can be encountered.

The process can be difficult, however. A learner may find something about the misconception so important, comforting, or valuable that they may stubbornly continue to believe it. Another factor that can impede conceptual change is difficulty recognizing that there is a misunderstanding. In addition, because the misinformation may have been acquired over time or reinforced during the learning process, the learner may need time and multiple exposures to the corrected information to form a new correct understanding.

Bibliography

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