Centre for the Advancement of Science Teaching and Learning
Dublin City University, Faculty of Science & Health, Dublin 9
Conference Secretary: Eilish McLoughlin
ABSTRACT
International Conference
“Securing the foundations of Ireland’s knowledge-based economy:
Science and Mathematics Education for the new century” www.dcu.ie/smec
Title: MEASURING CONCEPTUAL CHANGE IN BIOLOGY WITH REPERTORY
GRID ANALYSIS
Authors: McCloughlin, Taeim
St. Patrick’s College, Dublin City University, Ireland
Email Address of Corresponding Author: ___________________________________________________
Abstract: (250 words)
Repertory Grid Analysis (RGA) provides an objective means for representing concepts using accepted mathematical protocols. In doing so a specific view of what concepts are is implied in the theoretical context underlying RGA; namely, that concepts exist as a personally constructed equilibrium between the mental significance of other concepts and features that can then be represented in a semantic space. Concepts are entities represented according to homeostatic processing. Mathematical protocols such as principal components analysis permits the researcher to transfer mental representations of concepts in semantic space to two (or three) dimensional representations of the same concepts in Euclidian space, for example in Cartesian planes. Similar techniques such as multivariate analysis have been employed in anthropology and folbiology.
Because such mathematical protocols provide a precise place-setting of concepts in the form of matrices, conventional statistics (such as Spearman’s

) can compare changes in the representations of the learner in time: whether as pre and post-testing around a learning intervention, and/or in cross-sectional and longitudinal studies. Previous work in this area examined conceptual change in physics, however this predated advances in computer technology that makes this technique more accessible to researchers and educators alike. This work examines the use of
RGA in a cross-sectional study of post-primary learners in biology and explores a range of related techniques with the RGA domain for examining conceptual change.
Type of Presentation Preferred
Student Presentation
Poster
No
Signed _________________________________ Date__________________________
Please complete and return along with the registration form to Dr. Eilish McLoughlin, School of Physical Sciences, Dublin
City University, Dublin 9 (email: Eilish.McLoughlin@dcu.ie
) before July 30 th 2004.
Conference Chairs: Paul van Kampen & Tom McCloughlin
Conference secretary: Eilish McLoughlin, Eilish.McLoughlin@dcu.ie