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Challenging Cognitive Construals: A Dynamic Alternative to Stable Misconceptions
Julia S Gouvea1,2, Matt R Simon1
1Department of Education, Tufts University, Medford, MA 02155.
CBE Life Sciences Education
|May 26, 2018
Summary
Student thinking in biology is dynamic and context-dependent, not fixed. This study challenges stable cognitive framework models, suggesting thinking varies with specific learning contexts.
Area of Science:
- Biology Education Research
- Cognitive Science
Background:
- Traditional models view student cognition as stable knowledge structures like mental models or misconceptions.
- Cognitive construals (teleology, anthropocentrism, essentialism) have been proposed as stable frameworks causing student misconceptions in biology.
Purpose of the Study:
- To present an alternative perspective of student thinking as dynamic and context-sensitive.
- To challenge the assumption of cognitive stability in biology education research.
- To investigate the stability of students' apparent teleological, anthropocentric, and essentialist thinking.
Main Methods:
- Explored the stability of students' apparent teleological, anthropocentric, and essentialist thinking.
- Designed a study to test the consistency of these cognitive patterns across different contexts.
Main Results:
- Results were inconsistent with stable framework models of cognition.
- Student response patterns appear to stem from context-specific interpretations rather than fixed cognitive structures.
Conclusions:
- Findings support dynamic models of cognition, where thinking is sensitive to context.
- Challenges the burden of proof for claims of cognitive stability in biology education.
- Suggests implications for biology instruction and future research directions.
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