Modeling and Representing Conceptual Change in the Learning of Successive Theories: The Case of the Classical-Quantum Transition

Most educational literature on conceptual change concerns the process by which introductory students acquire scientific knowledge. However, with modern developments in science and technology, the social significance of learning successive theories is steadily increasing, thus opening new areas of interest to discipline-based education research, e.g., quantum logic, quantum information, and communication. Here, we present an initial proposal for modeling the transition from the understanding of a theory to the understanding of its successor and explore its generative potential by applying it to a concrete case—the classical-quantum transition in physics. In pursue of such task, we make coordinated use of contributions from research not only on conceptual change in education, but also on the history and philosophy of science, on the teaching and learning of quantum mechanics, and on mathematics education. By means of analytical instruments developed for characterizing conceptual trajectories at different representational levels, we review empirical literature in the search for the connections between theory change and cognitive demands. The analysis shows a rich landscape of changes and new challenges that are absent in the traditionally considered cases of conceptual change. In order to fully disclose the educational potential of the analysis, we visualize categorical changes by means of dynamic frames, identifying recognizable patterns that answer to students’ need of comparability between the older and the new paradigm. Finally, we show how the frame representation can be used to suggest pattern-dependent strategies to promote the understanding of the new content, and may work as a guide to curricular design.