Participative Learning and Conceptual Change

Conceptual Change is a research tradition that relates to the learning of scientific concepts and theories that are anchored in the conception of learning as the acquisition of knowledge. This chapter attempts to illuminate another side of learning that of learning as a participatory process. The latter adheres to the learning process of a team of learners and illuminates the interactions that shape and drive the evolving dialogue and the process of knowledge construction. A conceptual framework for analysis of the process is offered. It is based on the analysis provided by Meyer and Woodruff (1997) that suggest three mechanisms involved in the process of consensus building; Mutual knowledge; Convergence; and Coherency, and on that suggested by Park (1999) that is using the concepts of representational, relational and reflective knowledge. On the basis of these a process related vocabulary is suggested, i.e. Interpretive learning, Relational learning, and Reflective learning.