Internet vs. Matter: Differences in Students’ Concept Development from Elementary through High School

Introduction

Studying how school students understand complex scientific concepts such as Internet or matter has been an important and productive area of research in both science education and developmental science (e.g., Chi, 2005; Hmelo-Silver & Pfeffer, 2004; Hmelo, Holton, & Kolodner, 2000; Jacobson & Archodidou, 2000; Jacobson & Wilensky, 2006; Penner, 2000; Resnick, 1995; Resnick & Wilensky, 1998).

In science education, research on student alternative conceptions of various science concepts is a well-established domain, known as the Alternative Conceptions Movement (ACM) (Wandersee, Mintzes, & Novak, 1994). One of important findings of ACM is that “students’ alternative conceptions are tenacious and resistant to change, even when sustained, high-quality conventional instruction is offered to able, highly motivated, and well-prepared students” (Wandersee et al., 1994, p. 186). In order to further understand how school students develop scientific concepts, science educators have begun to examine students’ concept development in the long-term. One particular approach to studying students’ concept development is to incorporate developmental theories to look at the degree to which students’ concept development is due to developmental constraint. For example, Liu and McKeough (2005) applied Case’s staircase developmental stage theory (Case, 1992, 1998) to examine students’ concept development on energy from elementary to high school. They found that there existed clear stage-like development of the energy concept that parallels the general stages of students’ psychological development, suggesting a strong effect of development and informal science learning. However, in another series of study on students’ concept development on matter from elementary through high school, Liu and colleagues (Liu & Lesniak, 2005, 2006) were unable to identify this similar stage-like development patter. Instead, they found that the change pattern was more gradual and holistic, suggesting effects of formal science learning at school.