Conceptual Development and Critical Attitude in Physics Education: A Pathway in the Search for Coherence

Abstract

In recent years, the need to attract students towards physics has largely contributed to shape the objectives ascribed to physics teaching in many countries. Among these objectives, critical thinking is unanimously presented as of central importance. But at the same time a stress on competences jointly with this trend to simplify physics might lead to an underdevelopment of conceptual understanding. The following question then arises: can critical thinking be fostered in students without conceptual structuring and (still more importantly) without stressing the pivotal role of a search for coherence in science? This chapter briefly summarises some recent research on the joint development of a conceptual understanding and critical position among university students. In characterising students’ responses when confronted to various explanations of a physical phenomenon, these studies bring to bear conceptual markers as well as meta-cognitive, affective and critical indicators. Some profiles of co-development are characterised, including “delayed critique” and “expert anaesthesia of judgment”. The results strongly suggest that to disregard the objective of conceptual structuring is counterproductive for the development of students’ critical attitude. Through these exploratory studies, it appears that the conditions in which students can begin to search for coherence—whether in pursuit of conceptual understanding or to activate their critical potential—constitute a crucial objective for further research.