Abstracts - Earli

elated to the observed performance in a set of posttest assessments focusing on the content of thescience unit studied.Conceptual development and conceptual change in 12- and 14-year- old low SES studentsErzsébet Korom, University of Szeged, HungaryThis paper presents the results of a study that examined the process of knowledge reorganizationwhich occurs as students, starting from their initial (continuous) model of matter, acquire thescientific (particle) model. The connections between the understanding of the scientific model andseveral variables (family background, gender, academic achievement, school related attitudes,inductive reasoning and complex problem solving) were explored. The sample comprised of twoage groups: twelve-year-olds (grade 6) (N=1017) and fourteen-year-olds (grade 8) (N=947).Students from disadvantaged social environments were included only. The instrumentadministered assessed the knowledge and application of the particle model. Since it was used inprevious data collections (studies on the understanding of the particle model in 12- to 18-yearolds),it was possible to compare present findings with those of earlier research. The results showthat disadvantaged students’ achievements are significantly lower than that of a more generalsample. Content analyses of the students’ answers show a significant presence of nañve beliefs andmisconceptions in both age groups. The 6th graders’ explanations did not exceed the level ofeveryday experiences in many cases (e.g. understanding phenomena such as evaporation, boiling,and thermal expansion). In the 8th graders’ responses there appears the application of the particlemodel, but they frequently return to the continuous model of the structure of matter, mixingmacroscopic, microscopic and symbolic levels, or inaccurately using basic scientific notions(atom, molecule, bond and state of matter). No significant differences were found by gender.There is a significant relationship between family background, academic achievement, thinkingabilities and the success of conceptual change. The results highlight that knowledge acquisitionand the reorganization of existing knowledge structures in the field of the structure of matter arevery difficult processes. Helping these to occur in students with social disadvantage requiresassiduous attention from instructors.The role of representation in learning in science from a second generation cognitive scienceperspectiveVaughan Prain, Latrobe University, AustraliaRecent accounts by second generation cognitive scientists of factors affecting cognition (Klein,2006) imply the need to reconsider current dominant conceptual change theories of learning inscience. These new accounts emphasize the role of context, feelings, embodied practices andnarrative-based representation rather than decontextualized manipulation of symbols in learningscience. In this paper we analyze data from a longitudinal study of children’s learning across theprimary school years as an empirical exploration of the usefulness of the ‘second generationcognitive science’ framing of learning. Our study found that this framework provides some strongtheoretical and practical insights into how children learn and the key role of representationalnegotiation in this learning.– 72 –