Taking Up Thagard’s Challenge: A Formal Model of Conceptual Revision

Thagard (1992) presented a framework for conceptual change in science based on conceptual systems. Thagard challenged belief revision theorists, claiming that traditional belief-revision systems are able to model only the two most conservative types of changes in his framework, but not the more radical ones. The main aim of this work is to take up Thagard’s challenge, presenting a belief-revision-like system able to mirror radical types of conceptual change. We will do that with a conceptual revision system, i.e. a belief-revision-like system that takes conceptual structures as units of revisions. We will show how our conceptual revision and contraction operations satisfy analogous of the AGM postulates at the conceptual level and are able to mimic Thagard’s radical types of conceptual change.

Correcting Students’ Understanding about Simple Direct Current (DC) Circuits through Scientific Approach

This paper reports the effect of teaching electricity in simple DC circuits using a scientific approach on students’ understanding. The study was a pre-experimental design using 12 students. They were all studying in specific first secondary schools in the sub-urban area in Kasongan City, Katingan Regency, Central Kalimantan Province. This work used the multiple-choice tests to combine reasoning and certainty of response index (CRI). This test was used as pre and post-test, respectively, to assess students’ understanding of electricity in simple DC circuits. As a result, it is found that the secondary students have alternate conceptions about simple DC circuits, such as “electricity comes out of both ends of a cell” and “a circuit uses up the electric current”. On the other hand, the results of this study showed that the use of a scientific approach in learning could help students achieve conceptual change about electricity in simple DC circuits. The findings from the study suggested that there was a difference in students’ understanding of simple DC circuits between pre-test and post-test. The scientific approach to learning seemed to help students achieve conceptual change about electricity in simple DC circuits.

Concept Creep and Psychiatrization

Some aspects of psychiatrization can be understood as forms of concept creep, the progressive expansion of concepts of harm. This article compares the two concepts and explores how concept creep sheds light on psychiatrization. We argue that although psychiatrization is in some respects a broader concept than concept creep, addressing institutional and societal dimensions of the expanding reach of psychiatry in addition to conceptual change, concept creep is broader in other respects, viewing the expansion of psychiatric concepts as examples of the broadening of a more extensive range of harm-related concepts. A concept creep perspective on psychiatrization clarifies the different forms of expansion it involves, the centrality of harm to it, its benefits as well as its costs, its variations across individuals and groups, and the drivers of psychiatrization in the general public and in fields beyond psychiatry.

The Effect of the 5E Learning Model Supported with Material Ensuring Conceptual Change on Science Achievement: The Example of “Heat and Temperature”

This study seeks to examine the effect of the 5E learning model, as one of the constructivist learning approach models, supported by conceptual change texts and enriched with relevant guidance materials on eliminating the fifth-grade students' (n=42) misconceptions about "Heat and Temperature". A quantitative research approach was employed by conducting the pre-test and post-test quasi-experimental design of the non-equivalent groups, namely the experimental and control groups. Before the implications, the Heat and Temperature Achievement Test (HTAT) was used to determine the academic achievement levels of the students in the experimental and control groups in the topic of heat and temperature. The pre-test results between both group students did not find a significant difference. There was a significant difference in favor of the experimental group between the HTAT post-test results. From the results obtained within the scope of the study, it was concluded that this learning model was effective in eliminating the fifth-grade students' misconceptions about the topic of heat and temperature.

Implementation of Interactive Conceptual Instruction (ICI) Learning Model Assisted by Computer Simulation: Impact of Students’ Conceptual Changes on Force and Vibration

Misconception can be interpreted as incorrect conceptual understanding be-cause it is not in accordance with scientific conceptions but is believed to be the correct conception within students’ minds. Misconception often happens in understanding the concept of Physics, one of which is the concept of Force and Vibration. Misconceptions can be an obstacle in achieving the objectives of learning Physics. One of the causes of the misconception is that the learning model used has not been able to encourage students’ conceptual change. One of the learning models that can promote conceptual change is Interactive Conceptual Instruction (ICI) assisted by computer simulation. The aim of this research was to find out the effectivity of ICI assisted by computer simulation learning model implementation in the change of high school students’ conception on Force and Vibration. Mixed method research with concurrent embedded research design was used in this study. The re-search was conducted on 60 students of class X in one public high school in Cimahi City, which were divided into experimental class and control class with 30 students in each class. The experimental class took part in ICI learning assisted by computer simulations, while the control class participated in conventional learning. The instruments used in this study were 20 items of four-tier test to determine students’ conception level and observation sheets to determine the implementation of ICI learning assisted by computer simulations. The effectivity of ICI assisted by computer simulation in the change of high school students’ conception was measured by effect size. The data processing revealed that the effect size obtained was 0.99 with a "large" interpretation. The change of students’ conception could be seen from the declining of misconception percentage of 9.3% in experimental class. Thus, it can be concluded that the application of the ICI learning model assisted by computer simulations can be done as an effort to change the conceptions of high school students to be better at the concept of Force and Vibration.

W. QUINE, NATURALIZATION, SKEPTICISM AND CONCEPTUAL CHANGE PROBLEM

The paper aims to show the relationship between the W. Alston’s idea about the formal independence of the contexts of “being justified” and of “knowing that one is justified” and the means to overcome the problems of skepticism within the naturalized epistemology by W. Quine. Based on some works – “From a Logical Point of View” (1963), “The Ways of Paradox” (1966), “Ontological Relativity” (1969) etc. – an attempt is made to reconstruct close to the text the possible answers that W. Quine may give to the skeptical challenge of the problem of justification of standards of justification and of the “conceptual change” problem. It is shown that W. Quine's response to the skeptical “challenge to natural science that arises from within natural science” can be understood as a reference of the independence of different “epistemic levels”, one of which is set by the “background” theory that provides the understanding of terms such “reality”, “evidence” and “justification”, and the other is related to the search for a more effective representation of the theory and determines the possibility of its change.