Peer conflicts did not always produce conceptual change; they appeared to work only for students prepared to reflect on and reconstruct their conceptions¶
Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · qualitativer2·q2
Currency · newest study 1997 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person
Subclaims¶
Reading the evidence codes
q is the design tier, i the impact, n the sample, and the kind with its r
the rigour judged within that kind: what each code means.
This claim: no standardized effect is recorded in observations/ for it yet, so no benchmark reading is possible.
q2 i? Peer conflicts had impact on some students but not others, and some students achieved conceptual change without experiencing any peer conflicts at all. → Tao 1997
Evidence¶
Tao 1997¶
Tao, Ping-Kee; Gunstone, Richard F. (1997). Conceptual Change in Science through Collaborative Learning at the Computer. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the National Association for Research in Science Teaching (70th, Oak Brook, IL, March 21-24, 1997). https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED406151
q2 · i? · qualitative · r2
Analysis of peer-conflict instances across the 7 dyads (Table 4), where the number of conflicts ranged from 0 to 8. Sid, Colin and Nigel achieved substantial conceptual change without peer conflicts, while Mick, Terry and Don experienced conflicts but showed no conceptual change.
"Peer conflicts appeared to have impact on some students but not on others, and some students achieved conceptual change without experiencing any peer conflicts at all.It appeared that the crucial factor was whether students were prepared to reflect on and reconstruct their conceptions."
Studies bearing on this claim¶
When does a conflict fail to change the learner's model? This table gathers the studies behind this claim and the 7 narrower claims that bear on it: 4 distinct studies (2 causal, 1 qualitative, 1 design), q2–q3, 1 of 4 with an effect size coded. One row per study, codes as each entry records them; no effect is averaged and no verdict is drawn. Built by scripts/synthesize_claim.py from eval/synthesis/; a row that looks wrong is fixed on the claim it comes from.
| Study | Design | Effect as recorded | Bears on this claim through |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tao 1997 | q2 · qualitative · r2 | i? | this claim; Computer-supported collaborative learning with simulation programs fostered conceptual cha (qualifies); High joint on-task engagement with high equality and mutuality of engagement did not neces (qualifies); Co-construction of shared understanding needed to be accompanied by students' personal con (qualifies); Alternative conceptions in force and motion were very difficult to change: of 14 students, (qualifies) |
| Maass 2016 | q2 · causal · r2 | i? | Higher self-reported confusion predicts a much larger negative effect on future performanc (qualifies) |
| Suleiman 2026 | q2 · design · r3 | i? | Scaffolding must be balanced: too little led to confusion and overload, while too much red (qualifies) |
| Sinha 2022 | q3 · causal · r? | i1 | Emotion dynamics during problem-solving predict learning outcomes in a manner that depends (qualifies) |
Discussion¶
Related Claims¶
- Instruction that confronts science misconceptions (conceptual-conflict interventions, refutation text) produces conceptual change more often than standard exposition — the general claim this finding bears on, with the studies behind it
- Computer-supported collaborative learning with simulation programs fostered conceptual change for students who were cognitively engaged and prepared to reflect on and reconstruct their conceptions — related
- Alternative conceptions in force and motion were very difficult to change: of 14 students, 6 showed substantial conceptual change, 1 some change, and 7 no change — related
- High joint on-task engagement with high equality and mutuality of engagement did not necessarily mean cognitive engagement or ensure conceptual change — related
- Conflict-based instruction improves science conceptual learning, though staged contradictions helped only learners who reported being confused, and no study isolates disequilibrium as the mechanism — a broader claim this one bears on
- Peer Discussion Improves Conceptual Understanding — related
- Students report that peer collaboration and group work support their learning, and many want teachers to offer more group work — related
- Co-construction of shared understanding needed to be accompanied by students' personal construction and sense making for conceptual change to be stable over time — related
Page metadata
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
type |
claim |
id |
peer-conflicts-conditional-on-reflection |
title |
Peer conflicts did not always produce conceptual change; they appeared to work only for students prepared to reflect on and reconstruct their conceptions |
description |
Peer conflicts did not always produce conceptual change; they appeared to work only for students prepared to reflect on and reconstruct their conceptions |
status |
review |
evidence_strength |
moderate |
newest_evidence |
1997 |
generated |
by process:wiki-ingest on 2026-10-02 |
trust |
unverified — no one has confirmed this page's content |
sources |
1 — tao-1997 |
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