Helping Students Understand Challenging Topics in Science Through Ontology Training

Abstract

Chi (2005) proposed that students experience difficulty in learning about physics concepts such as light, heat, or electric current because they attribute to these con-cepts an inappropriate ontological status of material substances rather than the more veridical status of emergent processes. Conceptual change could thus be facilitated by training students in the appropriate ontology prior to physics instruction. We tested this prediction by developing a computer-based module whereby participants learned about emergent processes. Control participants completed a computer-based task that was uninformative with respect to ontology. Both groups then studied a physics text concerned with electricity, including explanations and a posttest. Verbal explanations and qualitative problem solutions revealed that experimental students gained a deeper understanding of electric current. Students ’ understandings of concepts like force, light, heat, or electricity are well-established and quite distinct from the conventional scientific views offered by instructors. For decades, cognitive and science education research has exam-ined the science knowledge of novices and experts in a widespread effort to iden-tify and characterize preconceptions of various science concepts. Many of the ear-