Abstract

The question of whether students’ ideas evolve ‘naturally’ from earlier ideas or whether radical changes need to take place for ideas to progress, is an issue that has dominated the research literature on conceptual development for many years. This study uses a multi-case study approach to explore 3 students’ ideas in astronomy topics and discusses how their ideas progress over a period of time. The participants, aged 14 at the start of the study, were selected on the basis of their responses on a survey, which was administered to 342 Year 9 students in 3 comprehensive schools in Cambridgeshire. The interpretive design used drew on aspects of grounded theory, especially in the analysis of the interview and group activity data. Data from the case studies is analysed and interpreted in terms of the 2 currently prominent theories of conceptual development: standard/framework theory and the knowledge-in-pieces theory. Evidence from the 3 participants indicated that nearly all the cognitive resources required for understanding a topic, such as why Eclipses occur, were present at the start of the study. Moreover, these initial ideas – whether accurate or inaccurate – seem to be carried forward, and, even if adapted later, appear to remain within their memory, either running parallel to, or representing the starting points of future, more accurate ‘evolutions’ of their ideas on the topic (e.g. Eclipses).