Alternative Conceptions and P-Prims

Setting the Scene

The discovery of students’ alternative conceptions constitutes one of the major landmarks of science education. No longer is it sufficient to study only “effective methods,” or general learning processes. Instead, the field came to understand that students had particular and resilient ideas about various scientific domains, which strongly affect learning.

Few doubt this constructivist presumption today. However, there is still much debate about how to construe these phenomena. As a result, there is also debate concerning how one should best pursue good instruction in the light of alternative conceptions. P-prims theory offers a carefully articulated and systematic approach to understanding the nature of students’ naïve ideas, their origins, and their role in coming to understand science concepts deeply.

P-prims theory is part of a broader approach, called “Knowledge in Pieces” (KiP), to understanding the nature of students’ intuitive ideas and their role in learning....