Conceptual change : Some epistemological considerations

Ninety-seven participants (43 third grad completers, 40 sixth grade completers, and 14 ninth grade completers) were interviewed to discover their conceptions about eight science topics and the warrants they used to justify their beliefs in those conceptions. Results revealed eight warrants. The effect of the topic on the choice of warrant (topic-context effect) and the effect of the participant on the choice of the warrant (conceptual ecology-context effect) were examined. The topic-context effect was considerable, ranging from 0.25 to 1.00. The conceptual ecology-context effect was minimal. This study supports the hypothesis that the epistemological warrants people use to justify their conceptions are sensitive to contextual factors such as the nature of the topic. This has implications for conceptual change teaching strategies.