Abstract
This chapter addresses the role of students’ epistemological knowledge in the process of conceptual change in science. The chapter begins by making a case that students’ conceptual knowledge in science has an epistemological dimension, and that models of conceptual change in science should therefore make reference to this epistemological dimension. The following claims are then developed: (1) many science students tend to over-attribute significance to empirical processes in suggesting how scientific disputes might be resolved, and in justifying viewpoints on scientific issues; and (2) students draw upon different epistemological knowledge in different situations, and for this reason it makes no sense to refer to students’ epistemological knowledge in isolation from the situations in which that knowledge is used. Each claim is supported with data from recent studies, involving the authors, of students’ epistemological knowledge in science. The chapter concludes with suggestions about potentially fruitful directions for future research on epistemological knowledge and conceptual change in science.
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Leach, J., Lewis, J. (2002). The Role of Students’ Epistemological Knowledge in the Process of Conceptual Change in Science. In: Limón, M., Mason, L. (eds) Reconsidering Conceptual Change: Issues in Theory and Practice. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/0-306-47637-1_11
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/0-306-47637-1_11
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
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