Perspectives on Conceptual Change: Multiple Ways to Understand Knowing and Learning in a Complex World

By: Barbara Guzzetti and Cynthia Hynd

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Synopsis: Perspectives on Conceptual Change presents case study excerpts illustrating the influence on and processes of students' conceptual change, and analyses of these cases from multiple theoretical frameworks.Researchers in reading education have been investigating conceptual change and the effects of students' prior knowledge on their learning for more than a decade. During this time, this research had been changing from the general and cognitive--average effects of interventions on groups of students--to the specific and personal--individuals' reactions to and conceptual change with text structures. Studies in this area have begun to focus on the social, contextual, and affective influences on conceptual change. These studies have potential to be informed by other discourses. Hence, this book shows the results of sharing data--in the form of case study excerpts--with researchers representing varying perspectives of analyses. Instances of learning are examined from cross disciplinary views. Case study authors in turn respond to the case analyses. The result is a text that provides multiple insights into understanding the learning process and the conditions that impact learning.