1Third Misconceptions Seminar Proceedings (1993) Paper Title: CHILDREN'S CONSTRUCTION OF EXPLANATIONS IN SCIENCE

Abstract: A considerable amount of work has focussed on children’s ‘alternative conceptions ’ in science and their resistance to change. The nature of conceptual change is still, however, the subject of debate. The related question of the stability of children’s conceptions across contexts has not been satisfactorily answered. In this study, small groups of children, ranging in age from 5 to 13, experimented with a range of activities illustrative of ‘air pressure’. Transcripts of their discussions and resulting explanations, together with interview data, indicate the fluidity and context-dependence of children’s ideas. Analysis of these and a sequence of written probes indicates a developmental factor in children’s knowledge transactions within small groups, in their explanatory styles and conceptions, and in the consistency of their explanations across contexts. The impression this data gives is one of incremental growth in explanatory conceptions, and in the range of contexts to which they are applied