Conceptual Change in Science Education: From Cold to Hot Approaches

Science education research finds that children may generate misunderstandings about certain scientific concepts based on their personal experiences prior to formal schooling. These misconceptions may present students with learning difficulties and barriers to deep comprehension of scientific knowledge. In response to this issue, researchers advanced the method of conceptual change instruction to help students shift from scientifically incorrect pre-instructional knowledge structures to scientifically accepted ones (Pacaci et al., 2024). Conceptual change has been deemed an effective approach to boosting students’ science literacy by improving teaching and learning in science education (Duit & Treagust, 2003; Treagust & Duit, 2008). Duit contended that conceptual change was not about an exchange of pre-instructional conceptions for the science concepts, but rather conceptual learning pathways from students’ pre-instructional conceptions to the science concepts to be learned (Duit, 1999; Duit & Treagust, 2003). Conceptual change studies can be traced back to the 1970s. There have been diverse perceptions of conceptual change in researchers, leading to the development of a variety of conceptual change strategies in science education.