Scaffolding Reflective Assessment for Conceptual and Epistemic Changes Among Chemistry Students in Hong Kong

This study examined the design and process of how students’ reflective assessment promoted collaborative metacognition for conceptual and epistemic changes, mediated by Knowledge Forum. The design involved knowledge-building inquiry with reflective assessment – Students wrote reflective summaries to track their initial understanding and trajectories of growth toward scientific understanding in the domain of electrochemistry. Two classes of 10 grade students in Hong Kong participated and results indicated stronger effects for the instructional class emphasizing knowledge-creation and reflective assessment compared to the Knowledge Forum class. Qualitative analyses showed how students’ reflective assessment and collaboration helped them to develop metaconceptual and epistemic awareness as they examined their own and others’ understanding. The analysis of inquiry threads highlighted the collaborative knowledge-building processes and the growth of community knowledge. A path analysis indicated that students’ engagement on Forum predicted reflective collaboration that in turn exerted effects on their changes in conceptual understanding and epistemic beliefs. Introduction It is now widely accepted that science learning can be facilitated when students articulate their prior ideas and explain their understanding to each other. Conceptual change is examined emphasizing the social construction of knowledge and discursive interactions in the classroom (Scott, Asoko & Leach, 2007). Furthermore, researchers now question conceptual change as a sudden change or replacement of misconceptions with scientific ones through externally-driven conceptual conflict (Chan, Burtis & Bereiter, 1997). Instead, the conceptual change involves a gradual and complex process – the gradual revision of students’ initial conceptual structures is mediated by students’ intentional learning strategies (Sinatra & Pintrich, 2003). Current research on intentional conceptual change emphasizes the role of learners’ metacognitive strategies, epistemic beliefs and agency in knowledge restructuring (Sinatra & Pintrich, 2003). It also points to the need to designing learning environments that encourage learners to employ goaldirected, reflective strategies and to develop metaconceptual awareness. Researchers have argued that conceptual change involves not only changes in concepts; there needs to be changes in students’ epistemic cognition and views about the nature of science (Duit & Treagust, 2003). Cognitive research has shown that students’ epistemic beliefs can constrain or facilitate student thinking, reasoning, and science learning. For example, Stathopoulou & Vosniadou (2007) examined the relationship between physics-related epistemic beliefs and physics conceptual understanding amongst 10 grade students. Conley et al. (2004) attempted to investigate the changes in 5 grade students’ epistemic beliefs in science, and findings indicated that students became more sophisticated in their beliefs about source and certainty of knowledge. Vosniadou (2008) noted that conceptual change involves metaconceptual awareness – Students will be able to learn science concepts and principles only if they are aware of their prior understanding and the shift of their initial views toward scientific explanations. Therefore, it is necessary to design learning environments that facilitate students to become aware of their existing internal explanatory frameworks and