Claudia Sepulveda

Methodological Grounds of the Conceptual Profile Research Program

In this chapter we present the different methodological options that can inform the research on conceptual profiles. These options include studies aiming at identifying possible zones to build a conceptual profile model, investigations conducted in order to understand how the different zones of a conceptual profile model evolve in a specific population, or researches about how different zones of a profile emerge in discursive interactions in the classroom. The main methodological principle that guides researches carried out to identify possible zones in order to build a specific conceptual profile model resides in the Vygotskyan maxim that it is only possible to have a full picture of the genesis of a concept if we study it in different genetic domains. In the case of investigations about how the distribution of profile zones evolves in a specific population, we use questionnaires with a range of questions that makes it possible to produce different contexts, favoring the appearance of different zones. Finally, to discuss how different zones of a profile emerge in discursive interactions in the classroom, we model the discursive dynamics and meaning making in teaching episodes through the integrated application of a conceptual profile of a given concept and the analytical framework developed by Mortimer and Scott.

Conceptual Profile of Adaptation: A Tool to Investigate Evolution Learning in Biology Classrooms

In this chapter, we argue that a conceptual profile of adaptation may be a theoretical-methodological tool for investigations about the understanding of Darwinist explanatory models in the sociocultural sphere of the classroom, when used as a tool for classroom discourse analysis, integrated to the analytical structure developed by Mortimer and Scott (Meaning making in secondary science classrooms. Open University Press, Maidenhead, 2003). We report the process of construction of a conceptual profile model of adaptation, its application to the discursive analysis of episodes of evolution teaching produced in the context of high school biological education, and its improvement through the characterization of ways of speaking about adaptation employed by students and teachers when negotiating meanings around explanations for evolutionary changes. Contributions of this study to the research program on conceptual profiles and its implications to the construction of pedagogical practice in the science classroom are also discussed.

Historical Reconstruction of Membrane Theoretical Models: An Educative Curriculum Material

The authors present an educative material for the teaching of cell biology, through a historical reconstruction of membrane models, designed for tenth grade students (15–16 years old). The material, composed of a teaching sequence and associated extracts of primary sources, addresses the historical development of membrane theoretical models, with the goal of promoting learning about membrane structure and functions, and a more informed view of science. This material is part of a broader study, conducted according to the theoretical and methodological underpinnings of educational design research, in which the teaching sequence and source text were planned, constructed, and tested through an investigation of their outcomes in the science classroom.