Teachers ‘professional development and conceptual change through the knowledge building environment

This study aimed to investigate conceptual change as a fruitful framework in teachers’ professional development through knowledge building environment. In cognitive approaches towards education, the quality of education is seen as a result of teachers’ actions and teachers’ action is seen as a result of their cognition. Thereby the goal of many teachers’ professional development programs is to educate teachers whose cognition is consistent with the latest research findings from educational researches while many of them failed to do so. In this study the research synthesis was used to develop basic statements for salient characteristics of conceptual change framework. The analysis of the results showed that pedagogical belief system, teachers’ preconceptions, cognition coherence, metaconceptual awareness and experience-based belief system need to be considered in teachers’ professional development. Finally the efficiency of knowledge building environment has been discussed.