Hewson, 1996

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edited by Ken Howard

Contents 1 Summary: 2 There are two major components to the conceptual change model. 3 The learner has to decide either explicitly or implicitly whether the conditions of the CCM are met. 4 Activities aimed at raising the awareness of ideas will always be necessary for teaching the CCM. These activities might include: 5 Activities aimed at lowering the status of other ideas is also a part of the CCM. These include:

Summary:

Before first understanding the article the reader must first have a firm grasp on what conceptual change is. In order for conceptual change to occur one conception must have its priority lowered in order for another conception to rise in importance. The word change essentially refers to how the conception is prioritized in the learner's mind.

There are two major components to the conceptual change model.

     1 The conditions which need to be met in order for a person to experience conceptual change 
     2 The person's conceptual ecology which provides the context for the conceptual change, influences the conceptual change, and gives it meaning.  

The learner has to decide either explicitly or implicitly whether the conditions of the CCM are met.

    1. Is the condition intelligible? Does it make sense?
    2. is the conception plausible to the learner? Does the learner believe that it is true?
    3. Is the conception fruitful? Does it offer something of value to the learner?

The conceptual ecology plays a major role in determining whether a condition is met. In teaching for conceptual change it is important that the views of different learners be explored and made explicit.

Activities aimed at raising the awareness of ideas will always be necessary for teaching the CCM. These activities might include:

    1. Presenting and developing ideas
    2. Providing examples of them
    3. Application of ideas in other circumstances
    4. Providing different ways of thinking about them
    5. Linking them to other ideas

Activities aimed at lowering the status of other ideas is also a part of the CCM. These include:

    1. Exploring their unacceptable implications
    2. Considering situations in which they are not easily explained
    3. Finding ways of thinking about them that expose their inadequacies.

In teaching for conceptual change, different views must be elicited and in the process the status of some students views must change. This teaching is metacognitive. == Teachers have important roles to play in teaching for conceptual change:

    1. One role is that of a classroom manager who is responsible for establishing the classroom climate
    2. The second role is being an active participant in the classroom.
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