- Alternative conception, misconception, naive conception, and pre-instructional conception are some of the names used to describe the phenomenon in which a learner has a strong commitment to an idea or explanation that differs from the scientific conception.
- Alternative conceptions are persistent, well embedded in an individual's cognitive ecology, and difficult to 'teach away,' especially by didactic methods.
- Frequent testing for conceptual understanding of an idea helps students and teachers monitor progress being made toward desired conceptual change.
- Various strategies are used to challenge alternative conceptions, such as the presentation of experiences and observations that cannot be adequately explained by the naive idea).
- Anomalous data by itself is not enough, however, since individuals are very good at ignoring or explaining away such data so as to preserve their personal theory (see Chinn & Brewer, 1993).
- Anchoring concepts, bridging strategies, and analogies can help learners move from their naive conceptions to more scientific conceptions. (see Clement, 1987; Clement, Brown, & Zeitman, 1989; Brown & Clement, 1989; Gentner, 1983; Vosniadou & Ortony, 1989).
- Alternative conceptions are not readily detected by conventional testing methods.
- A teacher cannot effectively teach away alternative conceptions without first being aware of their existence.
