On the cognitive conflict as an instructional strategy for conceptual change: a critical appraisal

Abstract

The constructivist view of learning pays special attention to students' prior knowledge. One of the core statements of this view is the necessity of connecting students' prior knowledge with the new contents to be taught. Based on this idea, research on conceptual change explored students' prior conceptions overall about scientific phenomena, and instructional strategies were developed to promote conceptual change. One of the most common conceptual change instructional strategies implemented in the classroom was to induce cognitive conflict through presenting anomalous data or contradictory information. First, the paper presents a review of the conceptual change theoretical frameworks that support this strategy. Second, a review of the controversial results obtained in the application of the cognitive conflict strategy in the classroom is presented. Third, a discussion of the possible factors that may explain the difficulties to implement this strategy is introduced. Three kinds of problems may explain these difficulties. The first kind of problem is related to the question about how to make the cognitive conflict meaningful for students. Motivational factors, epistemological beliefs, prior knowledge, values and attitudes, learning strategies and cognitive engagement, and reasoning strategies, as well as social factors, seem to be relevant to lead students to a meaningful conflict. The second kind of problem is linked to more general theoretical and methodological aspects that research on conceptual change still has to solve. Finally, a third group of practical problems related to the implementation of the cognitive conflict strategy in real school settings is presented.