Investigating the relationship between refutational text and conceptual change

Abstract

Abstract The aim of this study was to identify the type of conceptual change (assimilation or accommodation) that can be induced by a refutational text. Individual interviews were carried out with a stratified sample of eighty‐seven grade 9 students. Forty‐four percent of them were found to have a misconception about the concept of ecological role—they believed that some living things do not have a role in nature. These 36 students were asked to read either a text that refuted the misconception, or a control text that consisted of a didactic explanation of ecological role. They then participated in an immediate posttest and a delayed posttest. Surprisingly, both texts were able to induce accommodation in a large proportion of the students. Factors such as the high motivation of the students, encouragement of metacognition, age‐readiness of the students, and a relative lack of robustness of the misconception were considered to have greatly facilitated the conceptual change process. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Sci Ed 87: 663–684, 2003; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/sce.1056