Abstracts - Earli

and motivational factors and she points out the importance of the learner’s characteristics in theinteractive process of conceptual change. Gregg Solomon discusses, from the perspective of aprogram director at an agency that funds research on learning and instruction, missteps commonlyseen in research proposals looking at conceptual change and its educational implications. PatriciaA. Alexander and Daniel L. Dinsmore visit the literature on expertise development to address thequestion how to guide someone from conceptual naivetéê to conceptual sophistication. Marcia C.Linn examines different views on conceptual change and argues for the value of the knowledgeintegration view for the design of effective instruction. The discussant, Stella Vosniadou, willattempt to provide an integrated view of the different aspects of conceptual change learningelaborated by the presenters.On the emergence of a conception:Metaphors and models in research on conceptual changeOla Hallden, Stocholm University, SwedenAsa Larsson, Stocholm University, SwedenLiza Haglund, Stocholm University, SwedenModels and metaphors used to explain conceptual change are explored. One common model fordescribing conceptual change has been that of a conception A being exchanged with anotherconception B. This was the way Piaget described the child’s acquisition of culturally agreedconceptions in his early works on the child’s conception of the world and the child’s constructionof reality. The exchange model was also the one adopted in the rapidly growing research onconceptual change in science that began in the seventies. The predominant idea was that thelearner have to abandon commonsense conceptions in favour of scientific ones. In parallel to thisexchange model there was also other models advocated. It was argued that we do not alwaysabandon old conceptions when we acquire new scientific ones but rather that the learner has todifferentiate between explanations in everyday life and in scientific contexts respectively. Incontemporary research there is almost an agreement that conceptions are embedded in conceptualsystems. Still, there is a debate about the concept of concept and what there is that changes inconceptual change. The criticism of constructivist approaches from sociocultural theorists has alsoresulted in an awareness of the context dependence of concepts. Also, emotional factors have beenbrought to the fore in accounting for the process of conceptual change. All of this has to beaccounted for in modelling the process of conceptual change. Here, different models are discussedand it is argued that models have to be explicitly related to methods of inquiry in order for takingthese different aspects into account.A Multi-faceted view of conceptual change learningGale Sinatra, University of Nevada, USAThe view of conceptual change that is emerging from the warming trend (Sinatra, 2005) is one of amulti-faceted, theoretically complex, and interactive process. Sinatra and Mason (in press) arguethat conceptual change should not be examined through only one lens as either a cognitive,developmental, or sociocultural process, but rather multiple lens are needed to understand thecomplexities of conceptual change learning. Specifically, the acceptance of a multi-faceted view ofconceptual change is necessary to advance our understanding of this complex process. Sinatra andMason (in press) describe conceptual change as ranging from algorithmic (or automatic) tointentional (conscious and deliberate) using a levels of awareness framework (for variouscharacterization of a levels view see Anderson, 1990; 1991; Craik & Lockhart, 1972; Newell,1990; Stanovich, 1999). Key to understanding this multi-faceted view of conceptual changelearning is an examination of the role learner characteristics play in the interactive process of– 368 –