Formation Of Scientific Concepts Research Articles

The effect of external resources on the formation of scientific concepts : Case Study of a Science Lesson on the Law of Inertia

The effect of external resources on the formation of scientific concepts : Case Study of a Science Lesson on the Law of Inertia

MOKSLEIVIŲ IKIMOKSLINIŲ VAIZDINIŲ IR MOKSLINIŲ SĄVOKŲ APIE JUDĖJIMĄ IR JĖGAS ANALIZĖ

The issue of the study. Our precondition was that non-scientific notions formed by pupils affect concept teaching. If non-scientific notions are in conformity with the content of scientific concepts the teacher should rely on them forming new concepts, explaining natural phenomena, etc. It contributes to the concept comprehension efficacy. In case non-scientific notions are in collision with the content of scientific concepts they should be corrected as in that case they interfere with the formation of scientific concepts. The goals of research. The goals of the research were: 1) to clarify the interaction of pre-scientific notions and scientific concepts about motion and forces; 2) to evaluate the comprehension of concepts by those pupils who had studied physics and to clarify changes in concept understanding and typical errors that had remained after systematic study. Methodology of research. The research was carried out in year 2004. 700 pupils of 7th and 9th forms from the schools of Siauliai, Kaunas, Telsiai district, Kelme district and young physicists’ school “Fotonas” have been involved in the research. Group I included 7th formers (265 pupils), who had not studied physics as a separate subject but had elementary knowledge of physics from the course “World Science” (1st – 4th forms) and the integrated course of natural sciences “Nature and Man” (5th – 6th forms). Group II consisted of 9th form pupils (540), who have been studying physics for three years. The same questions and tasks adapted to the pupils’ age and previous knowledge were given to each group. The concepts from the topics “Force” were included. The tasks included elementary knowledge of the researched concepts familiar to pupils from both groups, but exact and correct answers were given by the 9th formers who had already analysed the topics. Besides, aiming for better evaluation of knowledge in physics, pupils of Group II answering the questions had to formulate proper definitions of the concepts or laws. A discussion method was used to clarify pupils’ thinking procedures. The received data was processed using statistical research methods. Results of research. It was stated during the research that before starting a systematic study of physics pupils had had pre-scientific notions. A number of incorrect notions on motion and force were revealed. In many cases pre-scientific notions were typical and in a way understandable for pupils. Pre-scientific notions often are retained even after purposeful teaching, and in some time or situations they turn out to be even more distinct and convincing than the scientific ones. It has been stated that pupils reproduce concept definitions without any efforts, but in a definite situation they base solutions of a definite task on misleading notions. Very often pupils understand the content of some concepts in a wrong way, do not make distinction between concepts and confuse functional relations of concepts. They are already able to indicate the features of a concept, but are not able to separate essential and inessential concepts. Key words: concept, pre-scientific images, motion, force, and typical mistakes.

고등학생들의 화학반응속도 개념과 화학평형 개념간의 상관관계

이 연구의 목적은 고등학생들의 화학반응속도 개념과 화학평형 개념을 조사하여 이들간의 상관관계를 알아보고자 하는 것이었다. 연구대상은 경기도 K시 소재의 인문계 고등학교 자연계열 3학년 학생 120명이었다. 이 연구를 위하여 화학반응속도와 화학평형에 관한 학습내용에서 서로 관련이 있는 것들을 선정하여 개념 검사지를 개발하였고, 문항별 응답 내용을 분석하였다. 연구결과, 화학반응속도에 관한 객관식 문항에 대한 정답률은 높게 나타났으나, 응답 이유를 묻는 문항에 대한 정답률은 상대적으로 낮아서 화학반응속도에 대한 과학적 개념 형성이 잘 되어 있지 않음을 알 수 있었다. 대부분의 고등학생들은 정반응 속도에 관한 문항의 정답률은 높았으나 역반응 속도에 관한 문항의 정답률은 낮았다. 화학평형에 관한 개념의 형성 정도에 있어서는 한쪽 반응만 생각해도 이해할 수 있는 평형개념에 대한 정답률은 높게 나타났으나 정반응과 역반응을 동시에 생각해야 하는 문항에 대한 정답률은 낮게 나타났다. 고등학생들의 화학반응속도 개념과 화학평형 개념간의 상관관계에서 전체적인 상관관계가 다소 높은 것으로 나타났다. 특히, 역반응에 관한 화학반응속도 개념이 부족한 고등학생들은 화학평형이 동적 평형 상태라는 것을 잘 이해하지 못하는 것으로 나타났으며, 화학반응 메커니즘을 충돌론으로 잘 이해하지 못하는 고등학생들은 농도와 촉매가 화학평형 이동에 미치는 영향에 대한 이해도 부족한 것으로 나타났다. 그리고 농도와 촉매에 관련된 화학반응 개념과 화학평형 개념간에 상관관계가 있으나 낮은 것으로 나타났다. 따라서 화학평형의 선개념으로 중요한 부분인 화학반응속도에 관한 과학적 개념형성이 화학평형에 대한 오개념을 줄일 수 있는 방안이 될 수 있다. 그리고 한쪽 반응에만 국한된 화학반응속도에 관한 교수-학습 방법은 동적 평형과 관련된 화학평형 개념 형성에 어려움을 초래하므로, 화학반응속도론에 근거하여 정반응과 역반응을 모두 언급할 수 있도록 하는 교수-학습 방법을 개발하여 학습지도하는 것이 화학평형 개념 형성에 효과적일 것이다. The purpose of this study was to investigate the correlation between concepts on chemical reaction rates and concepts on chemical equilibrium in high school students. The subjects of the investigation consisted of 120 third grade students attending high school in K city of Kyunggi province. For this study, questionnaire relevant to the subject of chemical reaction rates and chemical equilibrium was developed and the answers were analyzed. As a result of the study, a large percentage of high school students answered questions on reaction rates correctly, but only a small percentage of the students could give explanations. Many high school students answered questions on the rates of forward reactions correctly, but not the questions on the rates of reverse reactions. For the concepts on chemical equilibrium, many high school students gave correct answers when faced with equilibrium questions that only required the understanding of one side of the reaction. But the students could not answer the questions requiring understanding of both forward and reverse reactions as well. Overall, there was a little high correlation between concepts on chemical reaction rates and concepts on chemical equilibrium in high school students. Especially, high school students with little understanding of reverse reaction rates did not understand that chemical equilibrium is a dynamic equilibrium. Also, high school students with little understanding of the collision mechanism regarding chemical reaction rates did not understand the effect of concentration and catalyst factors on chemical equilibrium. And the correlation between concepts on chemical reaction rates and concepts on chemical equilibrium related to concentration and catalyst factors was low. In conclusion, the formation of scientific concepts on chemical reactions rates can decrease misconceptions on chemical equilibrium. Also the teaching-learning method limited to one side of a reaction can cause difficulty in forming the concepts on chemical dynamic equilibrium. Therefore, the development of a teaching-learning method which covers both the forward and reverse reactions can be effective in helping students form the concepts on chemical equilibrium.

A cultural-historical analysis of concept formation in early education settings: Conceptual consciousness for the child or only the adult?

SUMMARY The work of Vygotsky (1987) on everyday and scientific concept formation has provided a useful theoretical framework for considering the nature and connectedness of learning between the home and the early childhood centre. This paper will present the findings of an investigation which sought to examine the potential connections made between home and centres. Teacher narratives from eight experienced early childhood teachers were documented during professional learning about concept formation. Hedegaard's (2002) theorisation on the double move in teaching informed the analysis. In particular, the study sought to determine the active engagement of staff in relation to the conscious interlacing of both everyday and scientific thinking. The findings suggest that the participants of this study could not realise Vygotsky's important theoretical work on concept formation, and tended to take an inactive role in children's cognition.

중학교에서 공-막대 모형을 이용한 수업의 효과 분석

이 연구는 중학교 과학 교과서에 제시된 물질과 관련된 개념 이해에 대한 문제점을 분석하여 개선 방안을 제시하는데 목적이 있다. 연구를 위하여 과학 교과서 중 관련 단원 내용을 분석하여, 공-막대(ball-and-stick) 모형을 개발하고 이를 이용한 수업의 효과를 분석하였다. 연구 대상은 서울 지역 여자 중학교 2학년 130명이며, 전통적인 강의식 수업과 공-막대 모형을 이용한 수업의 효과를 중학생들의 인지 수준에 따라 살펴보았다. 수업 전에는 학습자의 특성을 알아보기 위해 논리적 사고력 검사를 실시하였고, 수업 후에는 개념 검사, 과학에 관련된 태도 검사 등을 실시하였다. 그리고 10개월 후에 파지 효과를 알아보기 위해 개념 검사를 다시 한번 더 실시하였다. 연구 결과에 의하면 공-막대 모형을 이용한 수업을 실시한 실험 집단이 과학 개념의 이해도와 파지 효과에서 유의미하게 높은 효과가 있었으며, 또한 과학에 대한 태도와 과학 교과에 대한 태도에서 모두 긍정적인 효과가 있었다. 그리고 인지 수준별로는 구체적 조작기의 학습자에게서 파지 효과가 높았다. 이러한 연구 결과로 볼 때, 구체적 조작기와 과도기가 많은 중학생들에게는 모형을 이용하여 직접 조립하고 구체적으로 물질의 형태를 만들어 보도록 하는 것이 학습 흥미도를 높여 주며, 물질이라는 거시 세계와 원자라는 미시 세계를 연결시켜 주어 학생들이 올바른 과학 개념을 형성하는데 효과적인 것으로 생각된다. The purpose of this study was to analyze the controversial points in the concepts of materials in the science textbook of middle school and to provide alternatives of teaching method. For this study, units in connected textbooks were analyzed and the teaching method using ball-and-stick models was developed. The subjects were 130 second graders from a middle school in Seoul, Korea. It aimed to compare the effectiveness of using ball-and-stick models for lesson with the one of traditional lessons, in learning concepts concerning materials by cognitive levels and to investigate the difference of scientific concept formation about concepts concerning materials by their cognitive levels between experimental group and control group by using concept formation questionnaires. Before the instructions, a short-version GALT was administered. After instructions, the posttest of concepts and attitude test connected with science subject were administered, and 10 months later, the posttest of concepts was administered to analyze the long-term memory effects. According to the results, the experimental group using the ball-and-stick models had significantly higher scores at conceptual understanding and long-term memory effects than the control group and improved the attitude relevant to science subject, and also had affirmative effects in attitude for science and science work. When analyzing the results according to the cognitive level, the long-term memory effects was high in the concrete operational stage students. From the results of this study, middle school students that are more concrete operational stage and transitional stage than formal operational stage elevates interesting in studying by using ball-and-stick models and making material form concretely. It would be effective in helping the students develope the correct concepts by connecting real world as materials and the particle world as atom.

Max Weber's Methodologies: Interpretation and Critique

List of Abbreviations. Acknowledgements. Introduction. 1. THE CONTEXTS. German Historicism and the Controversy over Method. The Post--Enlightenment Anguish of Polytheism. Neo--Kantianism and Nominalism. 2. THE SHAPING OF WEBER'S CONCEPTUAL TOOLS. Distinguishing the Natural from the Social Sciences. Enter Values and the Problem of Selection and Value Intrusion. Rickert: Theoretical and Practical Value--Relation. Weber: Scientific Value--Relativism. The Limits of Social Science Concept Formation. Postscript: Evaluating Rickerta s Influence on Weber. 3. AN ANALYSIS OF WEBERa S SOLUTION. Objectivity, Selection, and Causal Significance. Rational Understanding. Webera s Anti--Psychologism. The Ideal--type. Conclusion. 4. THREE PARADIGMATIC CONCEPTIONS OF WEBER. Introduction: A Brief Outline of Webera s Reception. Talcott Parsons: Weber as a macro--sociologist. Alfred Schutz: Weber as a 'Hermeneutic'. Lazarsfeld and Oberschall: Weber as an empirical social scientist. 5. BEYOND APPROPRIATION. WEBER YESTERDAY AND TODAY. The Weber--Renaissance as Living Legacy. Selective and Creative Presentism. Continuing Significance: Weber as Mediator. Increasing Professionalization and Cohesiveness. The Dispute about the Centre of Gravity of Webera s Work and Methodology. Does an Overarching Interpretation Matter?. Nietzsche, The Disenchantement Thesis and Methodology. Appendix: The radical solution?: A note on Gunnar Myrdal and the Diffusion of Value--Orientation/Relation. METHODOLOGICAL APPENDIX. Recontextualizing Weber at the Crossroads. Approaching the Classics. Notes. Short Biographies. Glossary. References. Index.

The tribunal of philosophy and its norms: history and philosophy in Georges Canguilhem’s historical epistemology

In this article I assess Georges Canguilhem’s historical epistemology with both theoretical and historical questions in mind. From a theoretical point of view, I am concerned with the relation between history and philosophy, and in particular with the philosophical assumptions and external norms that are involved in history writing. Moreover, I am concerned with the role that history can play in the understanding and evaluation of philosophical concepts. From a historical point of view, I regard historical epistemology, as developed by Gaston Bachelard and Georges Canguilhem, as a conception and practice which came out of the project, elaborated in France from the 1920s to the 1940s, of combining history of science and philosophy. I analyse in particular Canguilhem’s epistemology in his theory and practice of history of science. What he called ‘normative history’ is the focus of my analysis. I evaluate the question of the nature and provenience of the norm employed in normative history, and I compare it with the norm as discussed by Canguilhem in Le normal et le pathologique. While I am critical of Canguilhem’s treatment of history, I conclude that his philosophical suggestion to analyse the formation of scientific concepts ‘from below’ represents a useful model for history and philosophy of science, and that it can be very profitably extended to philosophical concepts.

Abstraction via generic modeling in concept formation in science

Cases where analogy has played a significant role in the formation of a new scientific concept are well-documented. Yet, how is it that genuinely new representations can be constructed from existing representations? It is argued that the process of ‘generic modeling’ enables abstraction of features common to both the domain of the source of the analogy and of the target phenomena. The analysis focuses on James Clerk Maxwell's construction of the electromagnetic field concept. The mathematical representation Maxwell constructed turned out to be a system of abstract laws that when applied to electromagnetic systems yield laws of a dynamical system that will not map back onto the mechanicals domains used in their construction.

A FORMACAO DE CONCEITOS CIENTÍFICOS POR PRÉ-ESCOLARES

O estudo da formação de conceitos científicos por pré-escolares possibilita a investigação de conceitos relevantes para a vida e a análise das transformações que ocorrem em seus significados. O presente estudo investigou o desenvolvimento de conceitos científicos, em 20 pré-escolares (quatro a cinco anos de idade), considerando seus níveis de desenvolvimento real e potencial. Foram realizadas duas avaliações individuais acerca dos conceitos de animais e vegetais; vertebrados e invertebrados; mamíferos, aves e peixes, intercaladas por um período de instrução sobre os mesmos. Durante a segunda avaliação, foram mais frequentes os agrupamentos carretos das figuras, bem como as respostas que especificavam categorias abstratas para nomear e definir as classes. As atividades realizadas entre as duas avaliações expandiram as zonas de desenvolvimento proxirnal das crianças, promovendo a evolução de seus conceitos.

An Introspection on the Art of Modeling in Population Ecology

W hat exactly is science? This question has received considerable attention from contemporary philosophers of science, notably Popper (1968) on the central role of falsifiability in scientific theory, Kuhn (1962) on the structure of scientific revolutions, Hempel (1965, 1966) on the testability of scientific hypotheses and concept formation through operationalism, Levins (1966) and Wimsatt (1981) on the necessity for the robustness of particular theorems, and Lakatos (1976, 1978) on the progression of scientific research programs. Others have added to the debate by questioning the inherent lack of objectivity (Atkinson 1985) or the central role heuristics play (Wimsatt 1981) in the enterprise called science. In disciplines such as fundamental physics, in which mathematical models are constructed using operationally defined concepts and variables that can be measured with great accuracy (e.g., Newton's model for the gravitational attraction between bodies possessing mass), the enterprise produces testable hypotheses and theories with explanatory relevance (i.e., the phenomenon is expected to occur when specific conditions, described by the theory, are met)-two factors that are minimally required for a scientific theory (Hempel 1966). Population ecology as a scientific enterprise, however, is peppered with hypotheses that are not testable and theories that lack or have, at best, weak explanatory relevance. Two examples are the competitive exclusion principle and food web theory. The competitive exclusion principle is not testable because its formulation is confounded with the definition of a niche: If the test fails, one can recover the principle by redefining the niches for the populations

Chains of meaning: A model for concept formation in contemporary physics theories

The rationality of scientific concept formation in theory transitions, challenged by the thesis of semantic incommensurability, can be restored by theChains of Meaning approach to concept formation. According to this approach, concepts of different, succeeding theories may be identified with respect to referential meaning, in spite of grave diversity of the mathematical structures characterizing them in their respective theories. The criterion of referential identity for concepts is that they meet a relation ofsemantic embedding, i.e. that the embedding concept can be substituted by the embedded one in “classical limit” situations. Three case studies from contemporary physics theories will be used to show that the Chains of Meaning approach not only yields meaning comparisons for already established concepts (as for Newtonian and Schwarzschild mass) but is also well suited to characterize actual scientific strategies of concept formation in yet open cases such as black hole entropy or relativistic thermodynamics.

Michael Faraday en die letterlike lesing van twee ‘boeke’ van God: 'n Gevallestudie oor verhouding tussen geloof en wetenskap<sup>1<Sup>

The cognitive historical approach to the history of science provides a methodological approach which makes it possible to take into account most of the factors which were constitutive in the formation of scientific meaning in scientific concept formation. In this article this approach is linked with a methodology of metaphorical hermeneutics in order to determine the role played by religious factors in the meaning of scientific concepts. Contrary to traditional approaches in which religious factors are primarily seen as confessional in nature, the term religious is utilized here to identify those absolute presuppositions which fulfil a controlling or regulative function in scientific concept formation and theorizing. 'This approach is applied to a case study of the relationship of faith and science in the work of the nineteenth century British physicist, Michael Faraday. This approach provides an analysis of the change in conceptual structure which the concept of force undergoes in a transition from a mechanistic to a dynamistic metaphysical framework. In this analysis attention is also given to the distinction between confessional religious factors, metaphysical frameworks, meta-scientific principles and theories.

Reasoning From Imagery and Analogy in Scientific Concept Formation

How do vague notions about how one might understand certain physical phenomena get transformed into scientific concepts such as “field”, “quark”, and “gene”? Philosophers of as disparate views as Reichenbach and Feyerabend have held that the process through which scientific concepts emerge is not a reasoned process. In a manner completely mysterious and unanalyzable, scientific concepts emerge fully grown, like Athena from the head of Zeus. However, when one examines actual cases of concept formation in science, a different picture can be painted: Scientific concepts do not pop out of heads, but are constructed in response to specific problems by utilizing methods appropriate to the solution of the problem. Thus, as with other aspects of the scientific enterprise, concept formation is a problem-solving process that involves the application of systematic procedures in the attempt to solve specific problems. It is a reasoned process.

Purpose and Scientific Concept Formation

2 WYA's typology of Nubian potsherds 2.1 General background 2.2 Ware-descriptions 2.3 Ware-concept acquisition 2.4 The uses of descriptions in terms of attribute-variables 2.5 The general concept of a ware in WYA's system 3 Generalising to other scientific concept systems 3.1 Preliminary remarks 3.2 The Mohs hardness scale 3-3 Biological species, and the species controversy Appendix A ware description in the Nubian pottery typology of W. Y. Adams

Criteria for the Formation of the Concept of Magnitude in Young Schoolchildren

The formation of scientific concepts, a problem that has become classic for psychology, has been studied by many well-known psychologists: Jean Piaget, L. S. Vygotsky, D. N. Uznadze, N. A. Menchinskaya, and others. The work of V. V. Davydov has also made an important contribution to the study of this problem; he established the principles of discriminating between theoretical (substantive) and empirical (formal) generalizations and the two types of concepts corresponding to them [1]. He clearly showed that a child's learning of theoretical substantive concepts is the principal condition for the formation of the foundations of scientific thought in the strict sense.

Self-understanding and Understanding of Others

Forty years from the end of the 19th century to the beginning of the 20th century in Europe is now being called an “Era of rebellion against positivism”. The current of thoughts in social sciences at that time was dominated by pessimism, which rejected the historical view of the progress of civilization. While people looked with their sceptical eyes at an “instrumental reason” which had long been leading to the positivistic empirical sciences in the 19th century. They were, on the other hand, very interested in the problems of human consciousness and the symbolic world.In this paper we will undertake an estimate of Alfred Schutz's theory of the constitutional phenomenology of natural attitude in its relation to the intellectual current of his days, so that we can understand correctly the meanings of Schutz's theory and its significance. We can see the basic point of his profound studies on “self-understanding” and “understanding of others”. It is characteristic of Schutz's theory that its method is “reflexive” and its perspective “ego-logical”. Therefore, it demonstrates a striking contrast with the positivistic empirical social sciences, of which the method is “inductive”, the perspective being “cosmological”.I conclude as follows ;(1) The construction of reality in terms of the constitutional phenomenology of natural attitude is not the same as the analysis of reality in terms of the standard positivistic social sciences.(2) The contribution of Schutz's study is to give us useful knowledge about the structure of society, which presents itself like a “thingness”, and about the characteristics of the scientific concept formation.

The Problem of the Formation of New Categories in Dialectical Logic

The process of the formation of new scientific concepts conditioned by scientific and technological progress often has the consequence that many concepts formed in special sciences - such as mathematics, physics, and biology - are immediately introduced by certain authors into the sphere of philosophy.

The Taxonomic Classification of Behaviors and Situations and the Problem of Behavior-Environment Congruence

Ss rated the appropriateness of each of a fixed sample of behaviors in each of a fixed sample of situations. A cluster analysis of the intercorrelations of situations across behaviors yielded four distinct and homogeneous situation clusters. A cluster analysis of the intercorrelations of behaviors across situations produced four homogeneous and distinct behavior clusters. The relationship between the situation clusters and behavior clusters was examined and indicated that certain behavior clusters were uniquely appropriate in certain situation clusters. The implications of these results for (a) the interpretation of behavior X situation interaction effects, (b) situational classification as a basis of scientific concept formation and, (c) the identification of instances of behavior-environment congruence were discussed.

Correcting the Prescientific Conceptions of Schoolchildren

In their out-of-school activities, children acquire a considerable amount of information about the world around them. The information reaching them from different sources generally has not been tailored to meet didactic needs, and in the child's mind it is transformed in various ways, some of which are compatible with scientific knowledge while others are contradictory to it. Hence, in many cases the formation of scientific concepts in the minds of schoolchildren, particularly in the area of physics, requires a fundamental overhauling of their prescientific, everyday notions.

Sensory deprivation, preconscious processes and scientific thinking.

The study of preconscious processes in scientific concept formation has been restricted because of limited procedures for obtaining empirical information about these processes. This report describes the use of the sensory deprivation procedure for studying these processes. It is concluded that the method is useful for making observations of preconscious intuitions in scientific thinking.