Making claims about learning: a microgenetic multiple case study of temporal patterns of conceptual change in learners’ activation of force conceptions

Representing conceptual change is challenging. Claims that conceptual change has occurred are sometimes based on data from a small number of probes given over a relatively long interval. Data collected in this way do not allow short-lived variability to be distinguished from more stable conceptual change and can lead to mistaken conclusions about learning. Different forms of variability can be distinguished by reporting temporal patterns of conceptual change, representations of the activations of different conceptions over an interval. In this paper, temporal patterns are constructed from a microgenetic, multiple case study of four 16-17-year-old students’ learning in a school in England. The students were interviewed once a week for twenty-two weeks using various probes related to force. The learners’ activation of two force conceptions showed a high degree of variability over time and to different contexts. Three temporal patterns are discussed, leading to recommendations for teachers and researchers interested in making claims about learning: change should be described by reference to data collected at multiple points over an extended period and claims that conceptual change has occurred require evidence that change has reached a relatively stable state. Future directions for investigations of temporal patterns of conceptual change are proposed.