BEGIN:VCALENDAR
VERSION:2.0
PRODID:-//Talks.cam//talks.cam.ac.uk//
X-WR-CALNAME:Talks.cam
BEGIN:VEVENT
SUMMARY:Making sense of making sense: A microgenetic multiple case study o
 f five students’ developing conceptual compounds related to physics - Ri
 chard Brock \, PhD student\, Faculty of Education\, University of Cambridg
 e 
DTSTART:20170612T153000Z
DTEND:20170612T170000Z
UID:TALK72855@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Ann Waterman
DESCRIPTION:My thesis arose from a comment made by a student who had achie
 ved highly in examinations yet felt that science: ‘doesn’t make sense
 ’. Therefore\, I analysed different conceptualisations of learning to de
 velop the concept of making sense as the formation or modification of a co
 nceptual compound (a system of two or more concepts) in which concepts are
  related in a coherent causal system that may be transferred to novel situ
 ations. This definition is situated within a constructivist epistemology. 
 The research question asked how students make sense of physics concepts re
 lated to dynamics and electricity. Five 16-17 year old students\, conceptu
 alised as a multiple case study\, were selected from an English secondary 
 school using purposeful sampling. The students were interviewed once a wee
 k for twenty-two weeks in sessions using a range of probes such as intervi
 ews about instances\, concept maps and concept inventory questions. It is 
 assumed that data collection occurred at a frequency that was high relativ
 e to the rate of conceptual change hence the work is seen as microgenetic.
  The analysis focused on the development of the students’: a) ontologies
  of concepts from concrete instances towards abstractions\; b) conceptual 
 compounds from temporary organisations to more stable structures\; c) unde
 rstanding of causality from focused on macroscopic objects to abstract con
 cepts\; d) judgments of coherence\; e) ability to apply concepts to novel 
 contexts\; and f) the proposition of a model of conceptual change as an al
 teration in the frequency of application of a concept in a given context. 
 The implications of these findings for science teaching are discussed.
LOCATION: MAB Boulind Room 6  Mary Allan Building\, Homerton College\, Hil
 ls Road\, Cambridge CB2 8PQ
END:VEVENT
END:VCALENDAR