Barriers to Conceptual Change in Learning Science Concepts: A Theoretical Conjecture

This paper identifies and characterizes the existence of a specific class of “constructs” which may be particularly difficult to learn and understand. Their difficulty necessitates conceptual change, which is a form of learning which we define in the context of this class of constructs. Our explanation seems to fit a diverse set of data concerning the difficulty in learning science concepts of this nature. Instructional implications for how we can overcome this barrier to conceptual change will also be entertained.