Skip to main content

Constructing Mental Models during Learning from Science Text

Eye Tracking Methodology Meets Conceptual Change

  • Chapter
Understanding Models for Learning and Instruction

The purpose of this chapter is to examine the process of mental model construction while reading science text. This is done by bringing together three research traditions: conceptual change, text comprehension, and eye-tracking re- search. The results of our experimental pilot study show the usefulness of the eyetracking methodology in conceptual change research. This line of study can be beneficial for developing science texts and other learning materials.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 129.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  • Anto, E., & Penttinen, M. (2006). Kognitiivinen konflikti ja silmänliikkeet oppikirjatekstin lukemisprosessissa. [Cognitive conflict and eye movements in reading textbook text.] Master’s Thesis, University of Turku, Department of Teacher Education.

    Google Scholar 

  • Anto, E., Penttinen, M., & Mikkilä-Erdmann, M. (in press). Käsitteellinen muutos jasilmänliikkeet tekstiymmärtämisprosessissa. [Conceptual change and eye movements in text comprehension process.] Psykologia.

    Google Scholar 

  • Alvermann, D.E., & Hague, S.A. (1989). Comprehension of counterintuitive science text: Effects of prior knowledge and text structure. Journal of Educational Research, 82, 197-202.

    Google Scholar 

  • Armand, F. (2001). Learning from expository texts: effects of the interaction of prior knowledge and text structure on responses to different question types. European Journal of Psychology of Education, 16, 67-86.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Carey, S. (1985). Conceptual change in childhood. Cambridge, MA: MIT press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chann, C., Burtis, J., & Bereiter, C. (1997). Knowledge building as a mediator of conflict in conceptual change. Cognition and Instruction, 15, 1-40.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • diSessa, A.A. (2006). A history of conceptual change research. Threads and fault lines. In R.K. Sawyer (Ed.), The Cambridge handbook of the learning sciences (pp. 265-281). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Duit, R., & Treagust, D.F. (2003). Conceptual change: A powerful framework for improving science teaching and learning. International Journal of Science Education, 25, 671-688.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gilabert, R., Martinez, G., & Vidal-Abarca, E. (2005). Some good texts are always better: Text revision to foster inferences of readers with high and low prior background knowledge. Learning and Instruction, 15, 45-68.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Guzzetti, B.J., Snyder, T.S., Glass, G.V., & Gamas, W.S. (1993). Promoting conceptual change in science: A comparative meta-analysis of instructional interventions from reading education and science education. Reading Research Quarterly, 28, 117-159.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hatano, G., & Inagaki, K. (1997). Qualitative changes in intuitive biology. European Journal of Psychology of Education, 12, 111-130.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hewson, P.W. (1981). A conceptual change approach to learning science. European Journal of Science Education, 3, 383-396.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hynd, C.R. (2001). Refutational texts and the change process. International Journal of Educational Research, 35, 699-714.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hynd, C., & Alvermann, D.E. (1986). The role of refutation text in overcoming difficulty with science concepts. Journal of Reading, 29, 440-446.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hynd, C., Holschuh, J., & Sherrie, N. (2000). Learning complex scientific information: motivation theory and its relation to student perceptions. Reading and Writing Quarterly, 16 (1), 23-57.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hyönä, J. (1998). Lukeminen havaintoprosessina. [Reading as a perceptual process.] Psykologia, 4-5, 276-282.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hyönä, J., Kaakinen, J.K., & Lorch, R.F. Jr. (2002). Individual differences in reading to summarize expository text: Evidence from eye fixation patterns. Journal of Education Psychology, 94, 44-55.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hyönä, J., Lorch, R.F. Jr & Rinck, M. (2003). Eye movement measures to study global text processing. In J. Hyönä, R. Radach & H. Deubel (Eds.), The mind’s eye: Cognitive and applied aspects of eye movement research (pp. 313-334). Amsterdam: Elsevier Science.

    Google Scholar 

  • Johnson-Laird, P.N. (1980). Mental models in cognitive science. Cognitive Science, 4, 71-115.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Johnson-Laird, P.N. (1983). Mental models. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kaakinen, J. (2004). Perspective effects on text comprehension: Evidence from recall, eyetracking and think-alouds. Annales Universitatis Turkuensis, ser. B, tom. 275.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kaakinen, J., Bertram, R., & Hyönä, J. (2004). Lukijoiden silmänliiketutkimus. Sanojen tunnistamisesta tekstinymmärtämisstrategioihin. [Eye tracking research of readers. From word recognition to text comprehension strategies.] Psykologia, 2, 92-103.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kang, S., Scharmann, L.C., & Noh, T. (2004). Reexamining the role of cognitive conflict in science concept learning. Research in Science Education, 34, 71-96.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kintsch, W. (1986). Learning from text. Cognition and Instruction, 3 (2), 87-108.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kintsch, W. (1988). The role of knowledge in discourse comprehension: A constructionintegration model. Psychological Review, 95, 163-182.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kintsch, W., & van Dijk, T.A. (1978). Toward a model of text comprehension and production. Psychological Review, 85, 363-394.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Limón, M. (2001). On the cognitive conflict as an instructional strategy for conceptual change: A critical appraisal. Learning and Instruction, 11, 357-380.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Limón, M., & Mason, L. (2002). Introduction. In M. Limón & L. Mason (Eds.), Reconsidering conceptual change. Issues in theory and practice (pp. 15-20). Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Mandl, H., & Schnotz, W. (1987). New directions in text processing. In E. De Corte, H.G.L.C. Lodewijks, R. Parmentier & P. Span (Eds.), Learning and instruction. European research in an international context: Vol. 1 (pp. 321-338). Leuven/Oxford: Leuven University Press/Pergamon Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mason, L. (1994). Analogy, metaconceptual awareness and conceptual change. A classroom study. Educational Studies, 20 (2), 267-291.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mason, L. (2001). Introduction. In L. Mason (Ed.), Instructional practices for conceptual change in science domains. Learning and Instruction, 11 (4-5), 259-262.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mayer, R.E. (2002). Understanding conceptual change: A commentary. In M. Limón & L. Mason (Eds.), Reconsidering conceptual change. Issues in theory and practice (pp. 101-111). Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • McNamara, D.S., Kintsch, E., Butler Songer, N. & Kintsch, W. (1996). Are good texts always better? Interactions of text coherence, backround knowledge, and levels of understanding in learning from text. Cognition and Instruction, 14, 1-43

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mikkilä-Erdmann, M. (2002). Textbook text as a tool for promoting conceptual change in science. Annales Universitatis Turkuensis, ser. B, tom. 249.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mikkilä-Erdmann, M., Anto, E., & Penttinen M. (2006). Learning from science text - Eye movement measurement as a method for investigating science text comprehension. Poster presentation. In Proceedings of EARLI SIG 2 2006, August-September 2006.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mikkilä-Erdmann, M., & Lepola, J. (2004). Responsiveness vs. resistance to conceptual change concerning photosynthesis. Paper presented at EARLI Conceptual Change SIG meeting. Delphi, Greece, May 2004.

    Google Scholar 

  • Olkinuora, E., & Salonen, P. (1992). Adaptation, motivational orientation, and cognition in a subnormally performing child: a systemic perspective for training. In B.Y.L. Wong (Ed.), Contemporary intervention research in learning disabilities. An international perspective (pp. 190-213). New York: Springer-Verlag.

    Google Scholar 

  • Posner, G.J., Strike, K.A., Hewson, P.W., & Gertzog, W.A. (1982). Accommodation of a scientific conception: Toward a theory of conceptual change. Science Education, 66, 211-227.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rayner, K. (1998). Eye movements in reading and information processing: 20 years of research. Psychological Bulletin, 124, 372-422.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roth, K. (1990). Developing meaningful conceptual understanding in science. In B. Jones & L. Idol (Eds.), Dimensions of thinking and cognitive instruction (pp. 139-175). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schnotz, W. (1993). Brief research report. Adaptive construction of mental representations in understanding expository texts. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 18, 114-120.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schnotz, W., & Preuss, A. (1997). Task-dependent construction of mental models as a basis for conceptual change. European Journal of Psychology of Education, 12, 185-211.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Seel, N.M. (2004). Model-centered learning environments: Theory, instructional design, and effects. In N.M. Seel & S. Dijkstra (Eds.), Curriculum, plans, and processes in instructional design. International perspectives (pp. 49-74). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

    Google Scholar 

  • Siegler, R.S. (1996). Emerging minds: The process of change in children’s thinking. New York: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sinatra, G.M. (2002). Motivational, social, and contextual aspects of conceptual change: a commentary. In M. Limón & L. Mason (Eds.), Reconsidering conceptual change. Issues in theory and practice (pp. 187-197). Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Sinatra, G.M., & Mason, L. (in press). Beyond knowledge: learner characteristics influencing conceptual change. In S. Vosniadou (Ed.), Handbook on conceptual change. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sinatra, G.M., & Pintrich, P.R. (2003). The role of intentions in conceptual change. In G.M. Sinatra, & P.R. Pintrich (Eds.), Intentional conceptual change (pp. 1-18). Mahwah, NY: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith, J.P., diSessa, A.A., & Roschelle, J. (1993). Misconceptions reconceived: A constructivist analysis of knowledge in transition. The Journal of the Learning Sciences, 3 (2), 115-163.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sweller, J. (1994). Cognitive load theory, learning difficulty, and instructional design. Learning and Instruction, 4, 295-312.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • van Dijk, T., & Kintsch, W. (1983). Strategies of discourse comprehension. Orlando, FL: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vosniadou, S. (1994a). Capturing and modeling the process of conceptual change. Learning and Instruction, 4, 45-69.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vosniadou, S. (1994b). Introduction. Learning and Instruction, 4, 3-6.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vosniadou, S., & Brewer, W.F. (1992). Mental models of the earth: A study of conceptual change in childhood. Cognitive Psychology, 24, 535-585.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vosniadou, S., & Ioannides, C. (1998). From conceptual development to science education: A psychological point of view. International Journal of Science Education, 20 (10), 1213-1230.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vygotsky, L.S. (1962). Thought and language. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • White, R.T., & Gunstone, R.F. (1989). Metalearning and conceptual change. International Journal of Science Education, 11, special issue, 577-586.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • White, R.T. (1994). Conceptual and conceptional change. Learning and Instruction, 4, 117-121.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2008 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Mikkilä-Erdmann, M., Penttinen, M., Anto, E., Olkinuora, E. (2008). Constructing Mental Models during Learning from Science Text. In: Ifenthaler, D., Pirnay-Dummer, P., Spector, J.M. (eds) Understanding Models for Learning and Instruction. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-76898-4_4

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics