Conceptual Development and the Growth of Understanding Among University Students
Funding source: Swedish Research Council - Vetenskapsrådet (VR)
Period: 1/1/07 - 12/31/09
Funding: 2040000 SEK
Description:
It builds on previous research on conceptions of knowledge, learning and learning tasks, and will draw on several theoretical frameworks used in previous studies to describe developments in conceptions of knowledge conceptions of learning, interpretations of tasks and of instruction. The aims are to 1)investigate, through extensive interviews, students´ beliefs about learning and knowledge in an academic setting, 2) explore through analysis of naturalistic problem sessions students´ understandings of ´threshold concepts´ of topical importance to the subject under study, and 3) examine the relation between students´ conceptions of knowledge and learning, and the development of conceptual understandings manifested in students´ explanations of threshold concepts. Analyses will focus on the relations between, at one level, students´ conceptions of learning and conceptions of knowledge in relation to a discipline, and at another level, students´ conceptions of tasks and of threshold concepts and their emerging conceptual understanding of these. The project will investigate the interplay of these conceptual levels, bringing forth a theoretical framework describing the conceptual development and growth of understanding in university students. It will contribute to research on learning and conceptual change, offering a structure for thinking about how to best provide feedback to students to help them develop better conceptual understanding of difficult concepts in their subject area.
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