Cognitive Processes During Reading and Conceptual Change

• In Event: Poster Session 4
  In Poster Session: Science Curriculum and Instructional Interventions

Abstract

This study investigated middle school readers’ cognitive processes while reading a refutational text about biological fitness. Middle school students frequently equate fitness with physical fitness, whereas biological fitness refers to reproductive success. Readers whose initial conceptions of fitness were equated with physical fitness and differed from the biological conception of fitness read a refutational text while thinking-aloud, completed a posttest, and participated in an interview. Readers who underwent greater conceptual change displayed six commonalities that distinguished them from the readers who did not. This study provided evidence that readers who do and do not undergo conceptual change use different cognitive processes during reading.

Authors

• Matthew T. McCrudden, Victoria University of Wellington

• Julie Brockman Smart, Presbyterian College

• Blair Daniel Northcott, Victoria University of Wellington