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Cognitive Dissonance as an Instructional Tool for Understanding Chemical Representations

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Abstract

Previous research on multiple external representations (MER) indicates that sequencing representations (compared with presenting them as a whole) can, in some cases, increase conceptual understanding if there is interference between internal and external representations. We tested this mechanism by sequencing different combinations of scientific and abstract chemical representations and presenting them to 133 learners with low prior knowledge of the represented domain. The results provide insight into three separate mechanisms of learning with MER. (1) A memory (number of ideas reproduced) and (2) an accuracy (correctness of these ideas) effects occur when two representations are presented in a sequence. An accuracy and a (3) redundancy (number of redundant ideas remembered) effects occur when three representations are presented in a sequence. A necessary precondition for these effects is that descriptive formats are placed before depictive formats. The identified effects are analyzed in terms of the concept of cognitive dissonance.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank Ingrid De Ridder and Patrick Verbeke, lecturers in chemistry (education), to support us with the creation of the instruments and the material. This research was funded by the Flemish Fund for Scientific Research (FWO, Project Number: G.0637.09).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Education and Training Research Unit, Centre for Instructional Psychology and Technology, KU Leuven, Dekenstraat 2, Bus 3773, 3000, Louvain, Belgium

    David Corradi & Jan Elen

  2. Centre for Medical Education, Herestraat 49 – Box 400, 3000, Louvain, Belgium

    Geraldine Clarebout

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  1. David Corradi
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  2. Geraldine Clarebout
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Correspondence to David Corradi.

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Corradi, D., Clarebout, G. & Elen, J. Cognitive Dissonance as an Instructional Tool for Understanding Chemical Representations. J Sci Educ Technol 24, 684–695 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10956-015-9557-5

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