Re-Framing the Conceptual Change Approach in Learning and Instruction

Drawing from philosophical, historical, and psychological research, this book redefines conceptual change as it applies to learning and instruction. Divided into three sections, this book addresses: foundations of conceptual change research, examines the influence that personal beliefs have on conceptual change, and focuses on mathematics learning and teaching. It reflects current state-of-the-art conceptual change work. Each section includes a specialized introduction and ends with thought-provoking commentaries. It is written by experts in the field.

Acknowledgments Contributors Preface The Conceptual Change Approach and its Re-framing PART 1: The Foundations of the Conceptual Change Approach: Kuhns Enfluence in Philosophy, History of Science and Psychology The Philosophical Foundation of the Conceptual Change Approach: An Introduction In the Wake of Thomas Kuhn's Theory of Scientific Revolutions: The Perspective of an Historian of Science Kuhn's Philosophical Successes? Conceptual Change and Scientific Realism: Facing Kuhns Challenge Background 'Assumptions and the Grammar of Conceptual Change: Rescuing Kuhn by Means of Wittgenstein Commentaries Reflections on Conceptual Change Conceptual Change as Structure Change: Comment on Kuhns Legacy PART 2: Personal Epistemologies and Conceptual Change Personal Epistemology and Conceptual Change: An Introduction Epistemological Threads in The Fabric of Conceptual Change Research Conceptions of Learning and the Experience of Understanding: Thresholds, Contextual Influences, and Knowledge Objects Conceptual Change in Physics and Physics-Related Epistemological Beliefs: A Relationship under Scrutiny Effects of Epistemological Beliefs and Learning Text Structure on Conceptual Change Conceptual Change Ideas: Teachers Views and their Instructional Practice Commentary First Steps: Scholars Promising Movements Into a Nascent Field of Inquiry PART 3: Extending the Conceptual Change Approach to Mathematics Learning and Teaching Extending the Conceptual Change Approach to Mathematics Learning and Teaching: An Introduction "When we Clashed with the Real Numbers": Complexity of Conceptual Change in Number Concept How Many Numbers are there in a Rational Numbers Interval? Constraints, Synthetic Models and the Effect of the Number Line Students Interpretations of Literal Symbols in Algebra Teaching for Conceptual Change: The Case of Infinite Sets Commentaries Nurturing Conceptual Change in Mathematics Education Reconceptualizing Conseptual Change