RECONCEPTUALIZING CHANGE IN THE COGNITIVE CONSTRUCTION OF KNOWLEDGE

How is knowledge acquired and represented in memory? By what process d o individuals come to change their ideas, conceptions, or knowledge? A lthough the first question has been central to cognitive psychologists ' research agendas for many years, relatively less is known about the change process. We examine 3 research literatures to broaden our under standing of the process of knowledge change. In particular, we draw on models of conceptual change from cognitive psychology, social psychol ogy, and science education. Each model adds a new perspective on the c hange process. Based on the literature from these models of change, we developed a new model that represents our reconceptualization of the change process. We describe the model and use it to point out new area s of research to be addressed.