Conceptions of Learning and Knowledge: Does Training Make a Difference?

Abstract

Two studies examine the conceptions of learning held by people at varying levels of expertise. In Study 1, we compared the conceptions of participants who ranged in expertise in educational psychology. Laypeople, novices, teachers, and experts answered open-ended questions, in which they were asked to definelearningand to give a solution to an applied problem. Results indicate that a constructivist approach to learning was associated with expertise in this domain, as assessed by participants' definitions of learning. However, only experts produced solutions to the applied problem that were consistent with their definitions. In Study 2, we examined changes in conceptions that occurred in novice students over a 6-week period, as they completed their first course in educational psychology in a teacher training program. The results of Study 2 are consistent with those of Study 1 and support the idea that formal education in educational psychology has a significant impact on students' expressed conceptions of central concepts in the domain. However, even after a 6-week course, students' solutions to an applied problem did not change. Results are discussed in terms of the changes in conceptual knowledge that develop with increasing expertise in psychology. There appear to be both domain-general and domain-specific aspects in conceptions of learning: an active epistemology seems to develop during academic studies in general, whereas a constructivist epistemology is typical of those having formal training in psychology.