Cognitive Influences of Students’ Alternative Conceptions Within a Hands-on Gene Technology Module

Confront and Cluster—How Different Groups of Primary School Children Respond to Instruction towards Conceptual Change at an Out-of-School Learning Setting

“…Contrary to our first hypothesis our methods of confronting third grade students with their alternative conceptions using pictures (Franke & Bogner, 2011;Kubisch & Heyne, 2015) could not foster changes in conceptions. This discontinuous way of learning (Duit, 1995;Strike & Posner, 1982) does not seem to be an appropriate approach for changing alternative conceptions in primary school children, neither for the targeted group nor for the other, non-targeted groups that did not start with the addressed alternative conception found in the open questionnaire.…”

“…First we needed to get to know the alternative conceptions, then define the problem, refute and secure the new knowledge (Petermann, Friedrich, & Oetken, 2008). Considering reading and presenting skills in primary school children we used the confrontation with pictures (Kubisch & Heyne, 2015;Franke & Bogner, 2011) and a teacher centered discussion during the refutation part instead of refutation text (Tippett, 2010).…”

“…We ensured to use students' alternative conceptions as a starting point but instead of establishing a continuous form of learning on top of that, we intended to create a "cognitive conflict" (Franke & Bogner, 2011;Limon, 2001) by confronting them with their own alternative conceptions in a context that would assure the initial perception of said alternative conception to be neither plausible, therefore not useful to solve the current problem, nor fruitful as a solution for future problems (Tippett, 2010). Duit (1995) also states a discontinuity in the process, caused by a change in directions when students are confronted with their own concept.…”

Learning About Genetic Engineering in an Outreach Laboratory: Influence of Motivation and Gender on Students’ Cognitive Achievement

“…With respect to measuring mental effort, Whelan (2007) pointed to a possible influence of individual differences that might have a significant effect. To overcome these potential differences in the mental effort ratings, we anchored the midpoint of the scale by linking it to the typical effort necessary in biology lessons at school (Franke & Bogner, 2011). For this purpose, we wrote an additional sentence (anchor) under the nine-point rating scale: 'The value 5 is equivalent to the mental effort typically spent on normal biology lessons at school.…”

Conceptions about Drinking Water of 10<sup>th</sup> Graders and Undergraduates

“…However, cognitive conflicts need a meaningful and relevant connection for students' everyday life [42] [43]. The confrontation with individual alternative concepts can produce more positive emotions and may increase motivation for learning [20] [44]. Repetition of scientifically correct conceptions can also last longer, when students resolve the conflict with their everyday perceptions [45].…”