Welcome to the InfoSci Platform
Theory of Nuclear Concepts: A New Approach to Understand and Represent Cognitive Structures

Theory of Nuclear Concepts: A New Approach to Understand and Represent Cognitive Structures

Luis M. Casas García, Vítor J. Godinho Lopes, Ricardo Luengo González, Sofia M. Veríssimo Catarreira, José L. Torres Carvalho
Copyright: © 2013 |Pages: 14
ISBN13: 9781466621220|ISBN10: 1466621222|EISBN13: 9781466621237
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-4666-2122-0.ch051
Cite Chapter Cite Chapter

MLA

García, Luis M. Casas, et al. "Theory of Nuclear Concepts: A New Approach to Understand and Represent Cognitive Structures." Handbook of Research on Didactic Strategies and Technologies for Education: Incorporating Advancements, edited by Paolo M. Pumilia-Gnarini, et al., IGI Global, 2013, pp. 591-604. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-4666-2122-0.ch051

APA

García, L. M., Lopes, V. J., González, R. L., Catarreira, S. M., & Carvalho, J. L. (2013). Theory of Nuclear Concepts: A New Approach to Understand and Represent Cognitive Structures. In P. Pumilia-Gnarini, E. Favaron, E. Pacetti, J. Bishop, & L. Guerra (Eds.), Handbook of Research on Didactic Strategies and Technologies for Education: Incorporating Advancements (pp. 591-604). IGI Global. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-4666-2122-0.ch051

Chicago

García, Luis M. Casas, et al. "Theory of Nuclear Concepts: A New Approach to Understand and Represent Cognitive Structures." In Handbook of Research on Didactic Strategies and Technologies for Education: Incorporating Advancements, edited by Paolo M. Pumilia-Gnarini, et al., 591-604. Hershey, PA: IGI Global, 2013. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-4666-2122-0.ch051

Export Reference

Mendeley
Favorite

Abstract

The Theory of Nuclear Concepts (TNC) is based on prior theories and ideas coming from Ausubel and Novak among others, who argue that concepts are organized hierarchically around general concepts. But the TNC differs from them in holding that the students’ cognitive structure is organized around specific concepts that are not the most general, but only the most significant for the students. TNC also argues that, as a result of the learning progresses, the students’ cognitive structure is transformed into a simpler structure. The associated technique to represent the cognitive structures is “Pathfinder Associative Networks” and to obtain them, it was developed GOLUCA software, which serves as a support on the analysis and representation of cognitive networks. The TNC has been used to understand and evaluate the cognitive structures of students and teachers in real situations.

Request Access

You do not own this content. Please login to recommend this title to your institution's librarian or purchase it from the IGI Global bookstore.