Conceptual sophistication. The conceptual sophistication construct map captures the
quality and complexity of the concepts implicated in a student’s description of a rule or a
piece of evidence. Ranging from misconceptions, at the lowest level, to normative scientific
conceptions that require the coordination of several ideas, the conceptual sophistication construct
map addresses the complexity with which students represent concepts (see Figure 4). The
conceptual sophistication construct map is an attempt to capture the domain-specific aspects
of students’ use of evidence.