Chapter 12 page 270
Uncertainty The student looks confused when
seeing the map. He says, “I don’t
know what to make of that. I
don’t know whether I believe it or
not.”
He is unsure about
whether to believe
the map.No, he hasn’t tried to
explain why the map
shows a river going
from south to north.No, he still thinks
that rivers flow from
north to south.Abeyance The student says, “Well, I guess
there must be a river there if the
map shows it there. I still think
that rivers in general flow from
north to south, but I can’t explain
why the river looks like that on
the map right now.”
Yes, he believes
that the map is
drawn correctly.No, not yet. He seems
to leave open the
possibility that he will
be able to explain the
data later without
totally giving up his
theory.”No, he says he still
thinks that rivers
flow from north to
south.Reinter-
pretation
The student agrees that the line of
the river has one end in the Rocky
Mountains and the other end in
Hudson Bay, but he says, “It’s
obvious that the water in this river
must be flowing from the Hudson
Bay to the south.”Yes, he agrees that
the map is drawn
correctly.Yes, he explains why
it is that the river is
drawn the way it is:
there is water flowing
from the Hudson Bay
to the other end of the
river.No, he still thinks
that rivers flow from
north to south.Peripheral
theory
change
The student says, “OK, it’s
possible that rivers could
occasionally go from south to
north, but that’s only when they
start out really really high in the
mountains. Otherwise, they flow
from north to south.”Yes, he agrees that
the map is drawn
correctly.Yes, he explains the
map by saying that
water can flow from
south to north under a
certain circumstance.Yes, but only partly.
He still thinks that
rivers flow mainly
from north to south,
but he is willing to
make an exception if
the river starts out at
a very high
elevation.
Theory
change
The student says, “I guess I was
wrong. Rivers can go any
direction.”Yes, he believes
the data he sees.Yes, he thinks that the
river is drawn as it is
because water is
flowing from south to
north.Yes, he abandons
his original theory.Implications for Teaching
One very important implication for teachers is this: Once you realize that students have strong beliefs
that are relevant to what they are learning in school, it becomes clear that sometimes good teaching will
involve trying to persuade students to change their beliefs. As a teacher, you will frequently have to make
ethical decisions about how to deal with students’ beliefs.
In many instance, you may rightly decide to try to persuade students to change their beliefs. Here are
some examples of situations in which you might attempt to persuade students to change their beliefs.
--A student believes that he can never be good at math. You want to persuade the student that he can be
good at math.
--Students believe that heavy objects fall faster than light objects. You want to persuade the students that
the objects fall at the same speed.