Conceptual Change: Bridging the Gap Between the History and Philosophy of Science (HPS) and Science Education

Keynotes

• Prof. Stella Vosniadou (Flinders University)
• Prof. Paul Hoyningen-Huene (Leibniz Universität Hannover)

Aims and scope

Since the 1970s, conceptual change counts as a major topic in both the history and philosophy of science (HPS) and science education research. From around that same time, it has become widely recognized that HPS scholars and science educators have much to offer each other. There is currently an increased interest in the further exploration of this relationship, especially with an eye to improving scientific literacy. An important challenge in this regard is to bridge the gap between HPS research on conceptual change in science, on the one hand, and science education approaches to conceptual change at the level of instructional practice, on the other.

Following the emerging consensus that HPS-informed science education is crucial for students’ understanding of the methods, concepts and nature of science, this workshop brings together HPS scholars and science education researchers around the topic of conceptual change. Its purpose is twofold. First, looking backward in time, it attempts to capture the differences and overlaps between HPS and science education in understanding conceptual change. Second, projecting into the future, it seeks to identify the relationship between the main problems and prospects of HPS and science education research on conceptual change and to turn these into new research agendas for collaboration.

This workshop invites HPS scholars, science education researchers as well as, for instance, cognitive psychologists with an interest in history and philosophy, to reflect on these issues. In particular, we aim to address the following main questions:

• How have HPS and science education research informed and/or influenced each other’s views on conceptual change over the past decades until the present?
• What is the relation between recent debates in HPS and science education research on theories and models of conceptual change?
• What is required to make their respective insights into conceptual change of mutual benefits?

Practicalities

Please register for the workshop by filling in our online registration form. Once registered as a participant, you will receive the abstracts of the talks and keynotes as well as information and instructions for how to participate.

In order to secure orderly plenary discussion, only the first 35 participants will be able to switch on their camera and microphone to engage in the discussion. Participants outside of this group will be able to submit written questions before and during the sessions, however their camera and microphone will be disabled by default.