This paper by Janice Gobert and Jennifer Discenna was presented at the 1997 Annual Meeting of the American Educational Research Association in Chicago, IL. The investigation considers the relationship between students’ epistemology of scientific models and their success at learning about the complex system of plate tectonics. To achieve this goal, ninth grade students were asked to draw three diagrams, a static model, a casual/dynamic model of the movement in the layers and an outcome on the world from such movement. Results show that there were no significant differences found between the naïve epistemology group and the sophisticated epistemology group on their understanding of the spatial/static or casual/dynamic aspects of the domain. There was a significant difference found between the naïve epistemology group and the sophisticated epistemology group on their knowledge acquired through inference on the basis of their models.
ERIC Documant Reproduction Service No. ED409164
This resource is referenced here:Subject: Education
Resource Type:
Pedagogic Resources:Research Results, Journal Article
Grade Level: High School (9-12)
Research on Learning:
Geoscience Expertise:Complex Systems
Keywords: cognitive style, concept forming, learning strategies, problem solving, science instruction, inferences
