CONTENT AND APPROACHES
TO CONCEPTUAL CHANGE
We indicated early in this chapter our belief that the processes of conceptual
change had some linkage with the content to be learned.
The content to be learned will also have some influence on approaches used in teaching for
conceptual change. We now illustrate these issues by reference to the mechanics
sequence we have outlined.
There are three significant characteristics of the content of introductory
mechanics for these issues.
The first two are that it is a highly conceptual content area; and that almost all students have had a rich array of personal experiences that have relevance. The combination of these two characteristics means that the oscillating between existing and scientific conceptions as the context changes, described earlier in the chapter, is more likely than for content areas that do not possess one (or both) of the Characteristics.
Hence concern for exploring concepts and conceptual relationships across a range of related contexts becomes more central in this content area, a point of significance for both teaching and for relevant research on learning and classrooms.