TY - JOUR
T1 - Helping students understand challenging topics in science through ontology training
AU - Slotta, James D.
AU - Chi, Michelene T.H.
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was supported in part by the Mellon Foundation and in part by the Spencer Foundation, Grant 200100305. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this article are ours and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Mellon or the Spencer Foundation. We are grateful for the help from Stephanie Siler and Britte Cheng in coding some of the protocols.
PY - 2006
Y1 - 2006
N2 - Chi (2005) proposed that students experience difficulty in learning about physics concepts such as light, heat, or electric current because they attribute to these concepts 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.
AB - Chi (2005) proposed that students experience difficulty in learning about physics concepts such as light, heat, or electric current because they attribute to these concepts 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.
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U2 - 10.1207/s1532690xci2402_3
DO - 10.1207/s1532690xci2402_3
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:33744974258
SN - 0737-0008
VL - 24
SP - 261
EP - 289
JO - Cognition and Instruction
JF - Cognition and Instruction
IS - 2
ER -