When
students are presented with scientific content, they do not function as
“empty vessels” or “tabula rasa”. Rather, they bring the
conceptions constructed from both informal and formal experiences into the
classroom. Very often these preexisting conceptions are naive and limited, that
is in stark contrast to the scientific knowledge taught in school. The term
“misconceptions” is used to refer to representations that are incorrect from
the point of view of established disciplinary knowledge. When misconceptions
exist, meaningful classroom learning requires restructuring existing knowledge.
Conceptual change means the revision of personal mental representations, which
are induced by purposeful educational experiences. In this area of research
we
investigate instruction-induced conceptual development and change in various science
domains (e.g. biology, physics) in students of different grade levels by
considering reader, text, and task characteristics. Recently, we also focused
on the role that inhibition, as an executive function, plays in conceptual
change learning, in particular in learning from refutation texts. They are
texts that have been proven more effective in supporting conceptual change.
Selected Publications
Mason, L., & Zaccoletti, S. (2021). Inhibition and conceptual learning in science: A review of studies. Educational Psychology Review, 33(1), 181-212. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-020-09529-x
Mason,L., Borella, E., Diakidoy, I. A., Butterfuss, R., Kendeou, P., & Carretti, B. (2020).Learning from refutation and standard expository science texts: the contribution of inhibitory functions in relation to text type. Discourse Processes, 57(10), 921-939.
Mason, L. (2020). Conceptual change. In The Oxford Encyclopedia of Educational Psychology.Ed. Li-fang Zhang. New York: Oxford University Press.
Mason, L., Zaccoletti, S., Carretti, B., Scrimin, S., & Diakidoy, I. A. (2018). The role of inhibition in conceptual learning from refutation and standard expository texts. International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, 17, 483-501.
Mason, L., Baldi, R., Di Ronco, S., Scrimin, S., Danielson, R. W., & Sinatra, G. M. (2017). Refutation text and graphics: Effects on conceptual change learning. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 49, 275-288. doi:10.1016/j.cedpsych.2017.03.007
Ariasi, N., Hyönä, J., Kaakinen, J., & Mason, L. (2017). An eye-movement analysis of the refutation effect in reading science text. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 33(3), 202-221. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcal.12151