Conceptual classroom environment - a system view of learning

This paper examines the relations between changes in the beliefs of an indi vidual student and the distribution of beliefs in a classroom. The distribu tion of beliefs among students is termed here 'conceptual environment'. Bas ed on social views of learning, we suggest that conceptual environment is a n indicator of the conceptual tension in a group. We show that conceptual change of individuals does not necessarily result i n changes in the classroom conceptual environment. Conceptual change is nor mally viewed as a personal process. We look at the relations between indivi dual conceptual change (a microscopic view) and total classroom conceptual change (a macroscopic, system view). We study changes in students' ideas of a food chain. Then we look for under lying ontological beliefs that may explain students' ideas, and examine cha nges in students' responses prior and consequent to the instruction session s. Classroom concepts of a food chain reflect an underlying set of beliefs of a mechanistic nature. For instance the metaphor of a 'chain of beads' is employed to explain the relations among elements of a food chain. Though more than half of the students changed their responses, ontological beliefs were hardly changed. Changes in students' responses apparently canc elled each other, thus from the classroom point of view, only a minor chang e was identified in the overall conceptual environment. The social-conceptu al tension involved in conceptual change is not necessarily changed.