Theories or Fragments? The Debate Over Learners' Naive Ideas About Science

Mary B. Nakhleh
Department of Chemistry, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN 47907
J. Chem. Educ., 2001, 78 (8), p 1107
DOI: 10.1021/ed078p1107.5
Publication Date (Web): August 1, 2001

Abstract

Do novice science learners have naive but coherent theories about the world or do they have only fragmented, disconnected ideas about science concepts? This is the crux of the debate currently being fought out among cognitive scientists. This paper briefly reviews that debate and then shows how both the 'knowledge in pieces' ideas of Andrea diSessa and the concept of naive theories can be applied to chemistry instruction. Data from two recent studies of learners' ideas about bonding and the nature of matter are also presented as illustrations of both naive theories and diSessa's ideas.

Keywords (Audience):

General Public

Keywords (Domain):

Chemical Education Research

Keywords (Feature):

Symposium Report

Keywords (Pedagogy):

Misconceptions / Discrepant Events

Keywords (Subject):

Learning Theories
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  • Received: August 03, 2009

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