Res Sci Educ (2013) 43:529–550
DOI 10.1007/s11165-011-9274-x
“Pluto Has Been a Planet My Whole Life!” Emotions,
Attitudes, and Conceptual Change in Elementary
Students’ Learning about Pluto’s Reclassification
Suzanne H. Broughton & Gale M. Sinatra &
E. Michael Nussbaum
Published online: 7 December 2011
# Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2011
Abstract Learning about certain scientific topics has potential to spark strong emotions
among students. We investigated whether emotions predicted students’ attitudes after
engaging in independent rereading and/or rereading plus discussion about Pluto’s
reclassification. Fifth and sixth grade students read a refutation text on Pluto’s
reclassification. Participants were randomly assigned to either the reread independently
or the reread plus discussion group. Results showed that students in both groups
experienced attitude change and that change was sustained over time. Students reported
experiencing more negative than positive emotions at pretest. Emotions, which became
more positive after intervention, were predictive of students’ attitudes and attitude
change. Implications for the role of emotions when learning about controversial topics
are discussed.
Keywords Emotions . Attitudes . Refutation text . Elementary science learning . Small group
discussions
On August 24, 2006, the International Astronomical Union (IAU) General Assembly
passed a resolution that changed the definition of “planet.” The IAU agreed that “a
planet is defined as a celestial body that is (a) in orbit around the Sun, (b) has
sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces that it assumes a
hydrostatic equilibrium (nearly round) shape, and (c) has cleared the neighborhood
around its orbit” (IAU, 2006). As a result, scientists now explain that the Solar
System consists of eight planets: Mercury, Venus, Mars, Earth, Jupiter, Uranus,
Saturn, and Neptune. Pluto was reclassified as a dwarf planet. All members of the
S. H. Broughton (*)
Utah State University, 2805 Old Main Hill, Logan, UT 84322-2805, USA
e-mail: [email protected]
G. M. Sinatra : E. M. Nussbaum
University of Nevada, Las Vegas, NV, USA
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IAU did not support this resolution. Indeed, according to Newsweek (2006) this decision
has spawned an emotionally charged debate among members of the IAU and others who
believe this decision was a mistake . . . (Vignette written by Broughton 2008)
It is often the case that issues in science trigger highly emotional responses. Global
warming, stem cell research, and genetically altered food could each be considered “hot”
topics in science. Even the change in the definition of the term planet and the subsequent
change in Pluto’s status as a planet sparked a highly emotional debate among astronomers,
scientists, and many individuals in the public at large (Brown 2010; Tyson 2009). News
reports described a general sense of disagreement with the reclassification of Pluto among
many scientists, astronomers, and individuals in the general public (see National
Geographic News 2006). Hundreds of second and third grade students sent emails to the
American Museum of Natural History in New York in protest of the demotion (Tyson
2009). Further, resistance towards Pluto’s reclassification was evidenced among some
lawmakers in the United States. The New Mexico state legislature felt the demotion of
Pluto was unjustified and consequently passed a bill in March 2007 declaring Pluto to be
recognized a planet within the state boundaries (Tyson 2009). Indeed, a professor of
planetary science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology who helped construct the
new definition of planet explains, “The word ‘planet’ and the idea of planets can be
emotional because they’re something we learn as children” (Adler 2006).
In similar ways learning about certain scientific topics in school has the potential to
spark strong emotions among students. This may especially be the case when students learn
that scientists have changed an explanation of a phenomenon or a definition of an object or
event that is familiar to them. Learning about familiar topics in science involves a complex
system encompassing students’ attitudes and knowledge of the phenomenon. The purpose
of this study was to explore the relationship between emotions and the possible change in
elementary students’ attitudes and conceptions about Pluto’s reclassification. In addition,
our aim was to investigate whether an intervention designed to enhance engagement would
promote attitude and conceptual change about a controversial science topic. One such
intervention, refutation text, has been shown to be an effective tool for promoting
conceptual change (Guzzetti et al. 1993). In the following sections we review the research
on academic emotions, attitude change, and conceptual change as it relates to the goals and
purposes of our study. We then review research on refutation text and discussion.
Academic Emotions
Over the past several decades researchers in social psychology have been investigating the
influences of affect, including moods and emotions, on cognitive processing (Bless 2000;
Lazarus 1984; Rosenberg 1998; Zajonc 1980). Specifically, emotions are “brief,
psychophysiological changes that result from a response to a meaningful situation in one’s
environment” (Rosenberg 1998, p. 250) and typically happen in response to a specific
person or event (Linnenbrink and Pintrich 2004). Emotional responses are quick, automatic,
and can occur unconsciously (Rosenberg 1998) and are powerful influences on how we
think and interpret events (Kagan 2007; Lazarus 1984).
Past research examining emotions in academic settings has primarily focused on test
anxiety (Goetz et al. 2008; Linnenbrink 2006; Pekrun et al. 2002a). However, cognitive and
educational researchers have begun to investigate a broader spectrum of emotions in
learning contexts. For example, Pekrun et al. (2002a); b) have investigated positive and
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negative emotions and the various influences these emotions exert on academic outcomes.
The work by Pekrun and colleagues has focused on emotions at general classroom levels,
thus providing a useful perspective for the current study. Emotions that relate specifically to
academic learning and classroom instruction have been defined as academic emotions
(Pekrun et al. 2002a; b). This category of emotions focuses on students’ emotions in
relation to studying, test taking, and attending class. In contrast to Pekrun’s research on
emotions at the classroom level our interest is in examining topic emotions, those emotions
related to a specific topic within a classroom. It may be that a student enjoys learning about
science and attending science class; however, they may experience frustration or anger
when asked to learn the scientific viewpoint of evolutionary biology.
Pekrun et al. (2002a) describe a two-dimensional model of academic emotions that includes
valence (positive/negative) and activation (activating/deactivating). In this study we focused on
the valance as that was our interest. Positive emotions include enjoyment, pride, and hope,
whereas negative emotions include anxiety, anger, shame, boredom, and hopelessness.
It is hypothesized that positive emotions increase motivation, critical thinking,
elaboration, and metacognitive strategy use (Pekrun et al. 2002a; 2007). Additionally,
positive emotions can facilitate creative thinking and enhance deeper levels of cognitive
processing, thereby facilitating problem solving, even when the information is negative
(Pekrun et al. 2002b). Individuals experiencing positive emotions may initially use less
complex processing strategies until they notice a discrepancy between their prior
knowledge and the new information (Bless 2000). Once the discrepancy is noticed the
individual is likely to engage in deeper level processing of the conflicting information. It is
possible that an individual who experiences positive emotional responses to anomalous
information may be willing to give thoughtful consideration of that information even when
it conflicts with their prior knowledge (Linnenbrink and Pintrich 2002). For example, if a
student enjoys learning about the solar system she may be willing to thoughtfully weigh the
scientists’ rationale for reclassifying Pluto to a dwarf planet.
In contrast, negative emotions are commonly associated with lower levels of academic
achievement than positive emotions. Negative emotions diminish motivation, directing
attention away from the task, resulting in superficial cognitive processing (Goetz et al.
2006; Pekrun 2006). Negative emotions, such as fear and anger, may lead to the individual
perceiving the anomalous information as a threat and thus resist change (Linnenbrink
and Pintrich 2002). Under this view negative emotions may hinder conceptual change.
It may be that if a student is angry about Pluto’s reclassification they will resist
considering the scientists’ rationale, which in turn may decrease the likelihood of
conceptual change.
Few empirical studies have investigated the effect of emotions on attitude change and
conceptual change learning. For example, Linnenbrink and Pintrich (2002) found that
negative emotions exerted a partial meditational effect on the relationship between mastery
goal orientation and conceptual change in undergraduate students’ understanding of
Newtonian physics. Limon and Carretero (1998) argue that confusion is an affective factor
related to reasoning, which in turn, can influence the likelihood of conceptual change. In an
investigation of undergraduate students’ reasoning strategies, Limon and Carretero found
that confusion impeded conceptual change among participants who had low domainspecific knowledge of historical events. The paucity of research examining the relationship
between emotions and attitude change and conceptual change motivated our interest in this
emerging field of research.
Based on the research by Pekrun and colleagues described above we were interested in
how academic emotions may influence conceptual change learning and attitude change
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relative to specific “hot” science topics. We purposefully selected the recent reclassification
of Pluto’s planetary status due to its controversial and highly emotional nature. Elementary
age students are quite resistant to Pluto’s dwarf planet status (Brown 2010; Tyson 2009).
Consequently, young students may be resistant to engage in attitude and conceptual change
learning activities regarding the new definition of planet and the subsequent reclassification
of Pluto.
Changing Students’ Attitudes about Pluto’s Reclassification
Students, citizens, and even some members of the IAU held negative attitudes about Pluto’s
reclassification (see Tyson 2009, Brown 2010). Attitudes have been described as evaluative
judgments towards an object or event (Crano and Prislin 2006) and are viewed as a
combination of cognitive and affective responses in favor of or in opposition to the object
or event. Opposing views towards Pluto’s reclassification ranged from reasoned arguments
based on specific characteristics of Pluto to impassioned pleas that it remains a planet.
Changing one’s attitudes is most likely to occur through the pathway of persuasion
(Petty and Cacioppo 1986). The process of persuasion involves initiating a shift in an
individual’s beliefs by fostering deep engagement through argument and reasoning
(Alexander et al. 2001; Hynd 2003). However, not all messages, including those conveyed
through text, will result in attitude change. The Elaboration Likelihood Model (ELM) (Petty
and Cacioppo 1986) proposes two routes to attitude change through persuasion: the central
route and the peripheral route. The central route is linked to deep cognitive processing of
the message as the individual weighs its merits, resulting in a general evaluation of, or
attitude toward, the persuasive message. In contrast, the peripheral route is associated with
superficial processing where the individual is less likely to scrutinize the merits of the
message.
A primary factor that influences whether lasting attitude change will occur is elaboration,
“the extent to which a person thinks about the issue-relevant arguments contained in a
message” (Petty and Cacioppo 1986, p. 128). It is important to note that a seeming paradox
exists in relation to elaboration. On one hand, deep elaboration with a message increases the
likelihood of change (Dole and Sinatra 1998; Gregoire 2003; Petty and Cacioppo 1986).
However, deep elaboration may also result in resistance to persuasion with the individual
maintaining their original attitudes (Chambliss and Garner 1996; Kardash and Scholes
1996). This may especially be the case with controversial issues such as Pluto’s
reclassification.
Changing Students’ Conceptual Knowledge about the Definition of Planet
Children form conceptions about scientific phenomena through their everyday life
experiences, which often contradict accepted scientific explanations (Vosniadou and
Brewer 1992). In regards to astronomical knowledge, young children may hold a naïve
conception of the earth as flat with people living on the surface and solar objects located
above it (Vosniadou 2003). In concert with Murphy and Alexander (2008), we view a
concept as “an idea that is stable over time, the result of a constructive process, connected
to other aspects of students’ knowledge system, robust when confronted with other
conceptions, and widespread” (p. 606). In the present study we examined the concept of
planet. Specifically, students’ conception of Pluto as a planet is an idea that is stable over
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time, is constructed through in and out-of-school experiences learning about solar
system, is connected to their views of solar system and other astronomical objects,
and is widely held by many school children. (See the opening vignette for the current
definition of planet.)
Conceptual change can be described as a complex process, gradually occurring over an
extended period of time, through which an individual revises his/her mental representations to
align with the accepted scientific perspective (Hatano and Inagaki 2003; Murphy and Mason
2006). Conceptual change often involves the addition or deletion of beliefs during the process
of reorganizing the framework theories in which the beliefs are embedded (Vosniadou 2002;
2004), such as the belief that planet is a fixed, unchanging construct. Those concepts that are
deeply embedded, such as the notion that our solar system contains nine and only nine planets,
are most likely to be difficult to change (Chinn and Brewer 1993). This may especially be the
case for concepts that individuals formed from childhood that have been reinforced through
everyday experiences (Vosniadou 2003). Most children learn the names of the nine planets at
an early age and as noted earlier, have a strong emotional attachment to Pluto.
Contemporary models of conceptual change acknowledge the role of affect in the change
process. For example, the Cognitive Reconstruction of Knowledge Model (CRKM) (Dole
and Sinatra 1998) predicts that the stronger the emotional commitment a learner has to their
prior beliefs, the less likely change will occur. It may be the case that young children hold
deeply seated emotions towards Pluto and will be less willing to change their existing
conceptions about its planetary status.
In addition, the Cognitive Affective Model of Conceptual Change (CAMCC) (Gregoire
2003) hypothesizes that emotional responses to messages direct the level of engagement.
According to Gregoire (2003), emotional responses occur prior to processing the message
and “as part of the appraisal process, serve as additional information for individuals as they
interact with a complex, stressful message” (p. 168). Positive and neutral emotions can lead
to shallow, heuristic processing of the message. In contrast, negative emotions, such as fear
and anxiety, promote deeper, systematic processing of the message.
Gregoire’s (2003) explanation of how emotions may influence conceptual change
conflicts with other research that suggests positive emotions facilitate creative thinking,
problem solving (Pekrun et al. 2002a), and deeper cognitive processing of the conflicting
information (Bless 2000). In addition, Gregoire hypothesized that negative emotions would
foster carefully weighing of the conflicting information. However, researchers have also
found that negative emotions are related to attitudes of resistance (Linnenbrink and Pintrich
2002). The majority of research on negative emotions supports Pekrun’s model (2002a) but
Gregoire’s model raises the possibility that negative emotions may be beneficial for
learning. This area of research on how emotions may influence attitude and conceptual
change is relatively new and in need of further exploration.
One tool that has been effective for promoting attitude change as well as conceptual
change is the use of refutation texts. In the following section we describe the structure of
refutation texts and the research that shows its fruitfulness in facilitating conceptual change.
Refutation Text as a Conceptual Change Intervention
Students’ willingness to engage with a highly emotional topic like Pluto’s reclassification
may be facilitated by the use of a pedagogical approach that is designed to promote attitude
and conceptual change. Carefully crafted texts and/or discussion can promote both
conceptual change and attitude change (Alexander et al. 1997; Chambliss and Garner
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1996; Hynd 2003). Refutation texts are designed to state common misconceptions about a
phenomenon, refute those ideas, and then present the scientific explanations as
plausible and fruitful alternatives (Guzzetti et al. 1993; Hynd 2001). The refutation
sentence may serve to make explicit the difference between the readers’ prior beliefs and
the scientific explanation thereby increasing the likelihood of conceptual change
(Vosniadou 2001). Refutation texts can also be persuasive because they are written in
causal-explanatory style (Broughton and Sinatra 2010).
The refutation format may increase the reader’s engagement with the text (Murphy
2001). Deeper engagement may result from the individual finding the refutation segment
personally relevant because the misconception presented in the text is similar to that which
the individual holds. The refutation sentence directly rejects the misconception, which may
lead the individual to consider the ensuing scientific explanation more thoughtfully and
critically. This deeper engagement often increases the likelihood of attitude change through
persuasion or conceptual change (Dole and Sinatra 1998) and may be more critical when
students are reading about controversial topics.
Enhancing Reading of Refutation Text Conceptual change can be facilitated when the
refutation text is read in conjunction with other instructional activities (Guzzetti et al.
1993). One instructional intervention is repeated readings of a text as an avenue for
increasing comprehension (Amlund et al. 1986; Morrow and Gambrell 2000). Reading a
text passage, then rereading it at a later date, referred to as distributed repeated readings,
have been shown to be more effective with promoting comprehension and recall than mass
repeated readings (Krug et al. 1990). Mass repeated readings occur when learners read and
immediately reread that same passage. The likelihood of attitude and conceptual change
among young students regarding scientists’ rationale for rewriting the definition of planet
and Pluto’s reclassification may be increased through repeated readings of a refutation text.
A second instructional intervention for deepening engagement, increasing comprehension, and promoting critical analysis of text is the use of small group literature
discussions (Beck & McKeown 2001, 2006; Raphael 1998; McKeown et al. 1993). One
technique intended to promote cognitive engagement through small group discussions is
Questioning the Author (QtA) (Beck & McKeown 2001, 2006; Beck et al. 1996). The
collaborative meaning-making discussions take place as the teacher and students read the
text together, pausing at key points in the text to grapple with ideas in order to make sense
of the ideas presented. The intent of QtA is to have students’ challenge the perceived
authority of a text by questioning the ideas presented and critically reflect on the meaning
of those ideas. Queries are intended to help students retrieve information from and
expand discussion around the text by incorporating students’ responses into the
discussion (Beck and McKeown 2006; Beck et al. 1996). Research by Beck and
McKeown (2001) demonstrated that deeper levels of engagement with text occurred
when students connected ideas, integrated their prior knowledge with the new
information, and used their own words to convey their thoughts rather than the language
of the author.
Each of these factors associated with QtA discussions may help to promote deep
cognitive engagement with ideas in a refutation text. The researcher-developed
queries may also help increase the likelihood of student’s awareness of conflicts that
may exist between their prior knowledge and the scientific view of the characteristics of planet. It is through these higher levels of cognitive engagement with the
ideas in a text that the likelihood of conceptual change may occur (Dole and Sinatra
1998).
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Present Research
Three goals directed the current investigation. First, we wanted to test whether we could
enhance the likelihood of attitude change in students studying a controversial topic through
interventions designed to increase engagement. Our second goal was to promote conceptual
change through our interventions. Finally, we wanted to explore the relationship between
students’ emotions on attitude change and/or conceptual knowledge change about a
controversial topic.
More specifically, four research questions guided this study:
1) Does rereading a refutation text through small group discussions promote greater
change in students’ attitudes about Pluto’s reclassification towards the accepted
scientific perspective than independent rereading?
2) Does rereading a refutation text through small group discussions promote greater
change in students’ conceptual knowledge about the revised scientific concept of planet
than independent rereading?
3) How do emotions relate to change in students’ attitudes about the reclassification of Pluto?
4) How do emotions relate to change in conceptual knowledge about the reclassification
of Pluto?
For Question 1, we hypothesized that students who both reread the refutation text and
engaged in small group discussions would experience greater change in attitudes towards
Pluto’s reclassification than students who reread the text independently.
Similarly, for Question 2, we expected that students in the reread plus QtA discussions
would experience higher levels of conceptual change regarding Pluto’s reclassification and
the new definition of planet than students who reread the text independently.
For Questions 3 and 4, we predicted that positive emotions in relation to Pluto’s
reclassification would be related to change in attitudes and conceptual knowledge because
of a willingness to engage with the topic. We also hypothesized that negative emotions
would be related to resistance to attitude and conceptual change about the characteristics of
planet and Pluto’s reclassification.
Method
Participants
Fifth and sixth grade students (N=62) enrolled in a private school located in the western
United States participated in this study. These students came primarily from White, uppermiddle class families. Of those who completed the demographics survey, 24 students were
fifth graders and 31 students were sixth graders with approximately the same number of males
(n=27) and females (n=28). Students’ ages ranged from 10 to 12 years (mean age =10.84).
Participants were primarily Caucasian (n=43), with Asian American (n=5), and
Hispanic (n=2) students. Three students reported speaking English as a second language.
Students’ scores on the Standford Achievement Test Series, 10th Edition, (SAT 10), total
reading portion averaged around the 88-percentile during their second through sixth grade
years (Personal communication, K. J. Brown, December 15, 2010). The SAT 10 is a
norm-referenced test commonly used by school districts across the U.S. to measure
student achievement across domains, including reading comprehension. Seven students
did not complete the demographic survey.
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Measures
Two scales were developed to assess students’ emotions and attitudes. Additional series of
generative questions were developed to identify students’ conceptual knowledge regarding
planets and Pluto’s reclassification. Each is described below.
Emotions Students’ emotions towards the reclassification of Pluto to a dwarf planet were
assessed using an 18 item Emotions about Pluto’s Reclassification Survey. We constructed
the survey informed by the Class-Related Emotions Scales (CRES) (Pekrun et al. 2005).
The CRES measures emotions at the general classroom level. In contrast, our goal was to
measure emotions related to a specific topic, Pluto’s reclassification. We focused on the
valance aspect of emotions from the CRES (Pekrun et al. 2005) that characterized the
positive and negative emotions students would most likely experience in relation to Pluto’s
dwarf status.
Students rated their emotional experiences on a 5-point Likert scale (1 = strongly
disagree to 5 = strongly agree). A sample item is “When I first heard that Pluto was no
longer a planet I felt sad.” Scoring of the Emotions Survey was calculated by summing the
students’ responses on each subscale and calculating their mean. Cronbach’s alpha tests of
reliability for this measure are reported in Table 1.
Attitudes Students’ attitudes about the change in Pluto’s planetary status were assessed with
the researcher developed Attitudes about Pluto Survey (Appendix A). The survey consisted
of five Likert-scale items ranging from 1 = strongly disagree to 5 = strongly agree. Higher
responses indicated higher levels of acceptance. Examples of items include “The scientists’
decision to change Pluto from a planet to a dwarf planet was a good one,” and “Pluto
should remain a planet.” For data analysis, Items 2 and 5 were reverse coded so that higher
scores reflected lower levels of acceptance towards the change in the definition of planets as
well as Pluto’s dwarf-planet classification. Cronbach’s alpha tests of reliability for this
measure are reported in Table 1.
Table 1 Correlation matrix, means, standard deviations, skewness, and kurtosis for emotions and attitudes
Variable
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
1. Positive emotions, pretest
2. Positive emotions, posttest
0.15
3. Negative emotions, pretest
−0.53**
0.08
4. Negative emotions, posttest
−0.32*
−0.23
0.66**
5. Pre-attitude
6. Post-attitude
0.61**
0.31*
0.30*
0.48**
0.53**
−0.44**
−0.41**
−0.62**
7. Delayed-attitude
0.39**
0.37**
−0.61**
−0.65**
0.65**
0.87**
M
1.90
2.24
3.02
2.77
2.48
2.88
SD
0.63
0.74
0.70
0.83
0.99
1.15
1.05
Skewness
0.37
0.54
−0.49
0.25
0.24
−0.20
−0.35
0.64**
2.99
Kurtosis
0.66
0.64
−0.49
−0.69
−0.62
−1.16
−0.94
Alpha
0.82
0.77
0.89
0.92
0.94
0.94
0.92
*p<.05. ** p<.01
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Knowledge Students’ knowledge about planets and Pluto was assessed using six openended items (Appendix B). The use of open-ended items to assess student’s background
knowledge is common among conceptual change researchers (see for example Hynd 2001;
Mason 2001; Vosniadou and Brewer 1992; Vosniadou and Skopeliti 2005). The items did
not form a scale but rather assessed different aspects of the revised planetary definition. For
example, Item 1 stated, “List the planets in our solar system,” and was intended to tap into
student’s knowledge about the number of planets in our solar system. In contrast, Item 5
asked, “Why did scientists change the definition of planet?” with the purpose of eliciting
students’ concepts about scientists’ rationale for rewriting the definition of planet. These
items are clearly addressing different types of information and conceptions.
To ascertain students’ knowledge about planets in our solar system at a general level we
asked, “How many planets are in our solar system?” Student responses for this item were
scored on a scale: 2 = 8 planets, 1 = 9 planets, and 0 = all other numerical responses. A
score of 2 reflected a correct understanding of the current scientific view on the number of
planets in our solar system. To further elicit students’ knowledge about planets in our solar
system, we asked them to “List the planets in our solar system.” Student responses to this
item scored on scale of 0 (named less than two planets) to 3 (named seven or eight planets).
We elicited student opinions of Pluto as a planet by first asking whether or not it should
be a planet. We then elicited their conceptions of Pluto by asking students to provide a
rationale for their response. Our goal for these two questions was to determine whether
student conceptions of Pluto’s planetary characteristics aligned with the scientific
description. It was likely that most students would not hold the scientific conception that
Pluto is small in comparison to the other planets and has an odd orbit. Each of these
conceptions about Pluto is central to the scientists’ rationale for reclassifying Pluto to a
dwarf planet. Consequently, we wanted to examine students’ prior knowledge to uncover
any misconceptions they held regarding Pluto in hopes of changing those misconceptions
toward the scientific description through the intervention.
We scored student responses to the remaining questions using a scale based on Mason et
al. (2008) for assessing open-ended items. The scale was as follows: 0 for non-scientific, 1
for scientific, not elaborated, and 2 for scientific, elaborated. We considered non-scientific
responses to be misconceptions. Responses that were correct but incomplete were given a
lower score than answers that were correct and well detailed. For example, for the question,
“Why do scientists no longer call Pluto a planet?” the answer “I think that scientists think
Pluto is a meteorite or asteroid from Saturn’s ring” scored a 0. The answer “The scientists
no longer call Pluto a planet because of its size” scored a 1. The answer “Because of its
size, shape, and orbit they think it is a dwarf planet” scored a 2.
Students’ answers on the pretest, posttest, and delayed posttest were coded by the same
two independent raters. Each rater read and scored answers independently. Inter-rater
agreement, calculated as the percentage of agreement on the total of the answers, was 82%.
Disagreements were resolved through conference.
Design and Procedure
The study was a classroom-based comparison group design. Participants in both classrooms
were randomly assigned to one of the two conditions, independent rereading (independent
reread) or rereading plus small group discussion about the text (reread plus discussion). All
instruments were piloted and minor changes made to the instruments in terms of question
wording. Data collection occurred over a 2 week period during 4 one-hour sessions per
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classroom. In the following, we first describe the interventions used for the study. We then
describe the procedure employed for this investigation.
Refutation Text We constructed a refutation text based on information from magazine
articles (National Geographic News 2006; Scientific American 2006; Time for Kids 2006)
to explain the changing nature of science, the role of evidence in making scientific
decisions, and the history of Pluto’s status as a planet. We included two refutation segments
in the text. The first segment described the changeability of science knowledge. The second
segment provided information on the reclassification of Pluto as a dwarf-planet (IAU 2006).
Specifically, the text addressed the difference between the traditional and current definition
of planet, including the scientists’ rationale for the definitional changes. Each refutation
segment stated a common misconception followed by the second sentence that explicitly
refuted the misconception. The sentences and paragraphs that followed the refutation
sentences provided the scientific explanation related to that topic.
The text consisted of 556 words, eight paragraphs, with an average of 10.9 words per
sentence. Flesch-Kincaid readability showed the text was at the 6.4 grade reading level. The
passage was reviewed by experts in science education and text structure. Revisions were
made to the text based on their recommendations.
Discussion Intervention The format of the small group discussions was based on
Questioning the Author (QtA) (Beck and McKeown 2006; Beck, et al. 1996). The
researcher assumed the role of facilitator to ensure the discussion stayed focused on the
central ideas of the text.
The discussion format was semi-structured, and included questions such as “What is the
author trying to tell us?” and “What do you think the author wants us to know?” The queries
used during QtA discussions were intended to support students building a coherent
understanding rather than retrieving information from the text (Beck and McKeown 2006).
For example, the text presents a description of the current definition of planet including the
three key features of a planet. Immediately after reading this section of text, the researcher
posed the queries, “What has the author told us about planets?” The aim for this query was to
make the three key features of planets under the new definition explicit to the students. Later
in the text a refutation segment is presented describing Pluto’s unique orbital path and Pluto’s
small size in comparison to the other planets. The queries posed after reading this section
included “What is the author telling us about Pluto?” and “How does this fit in with the new
definition of planet?” The purpose for these queries was to help students understand the
relationship between the new definition of planet and Pluto’s characteristics. We viewed this
association between Pluto and the new definition as central to fostering attitude change
towards Pluto’s reclassification as well as to students’ conceptions of Pluto as a dwarf-planet.
Students’ prior knowledge was elicited throughout the small group discussion. For
example, after reading the section of text describing the historical flat earth perspective and
how that perspective changed based on empirical evidence, the QtA query posed was,
“What is the author telling us about science theories?” This query was intended to help
students activate their background knowledge of science theories and to connect their
understandings with the information presented in the text. This was an important
component of the QtA discussions because it may have helped students recognize the
differences between their existing ideas and the new information presented in the text. The
likelihood of change in attitudes and conceptions may have increased as students compared
and contrasted the differences between their prior knowledge and the information in the text
(Chinn and Brewer 1993; Chi 2008; Dole and Sinatra 1998).
Res Sci Educ (2013) 43:529–550
539
Procedure Session 1 began by having participants complete the demographics survey.
Next, the researcher read aloud a brief announcement regarding the reclassification of Pluto
to a dwarf planet. The purpose of this announcement was two-fold; first, it served to inform
those students who were unaware of Astronomical Society’s decision that Pluto was
reclassified, and second, it served to remind those who had heard about it previously in
attempt to bring their emotions regarding the decision back to the surface. Following the
announcement, the researcher then immediately asked students to think about how they felt
when they heard that Pluto was no longer categorized as a planet. Then, students completed
the Emotions Survey. The goal was to assess students’ emotions as close to the moment that
they experienced them as possible. It is important to note that the announcement did not
provide any of the Astronomical Society’s rationale for their decision, as this was the
subject of the intervention. Next, students completed the Attitudes Survey, and the
Concepts about Planets Assessment as pretests.
Session 2 occurred 2 days after Session 1. All participants read the refutation text
individually and silently while seated at their desks.
Session 3 took place 1 day after Session 2. Participants in the independent reread group
reread the refutation text silently and independently at their desks. Next, they were asked to
complete the Emotions Survey again. The purpose of re-administering the Emotions Survey
post reading was to assess students’ emotional reaction to the content they had just read.
Participants in the reread plus discussion group engaged in QtA-style small group
discussions while rereading the text. QtA is a discussion technique intended to occur during
reading or rereading. At the conclusion of the discussion, these students again completed
the Emotions Survey, the Attitudes Survey, and Concepts about Planets Assessment as
posttests.
Session 4 took place 2 weeks after Session 3. Students completed the Attitudes Survey
and Concepts about Planets Assessment as delayed posttests. Students did not complete the
Emotions Survey as delayed posttest because too much time had lapsed since they reread
the text to ask them to reflect on their emotions about the text content.
Results
Preliminary Analyses
We performed multivariate analyses of variance to test the equivalence of Grade 6 and
Grade 5 students on each of the measures at pretest, posttest, and delayed posttest. The
alpha level was set a priori at .001. Box’s test of equality of covariances revealed no
significant difference between groups, as did Levene’s test for equality of variances (all
p>.001). We then conducted multivariate analyses of variance to test the equivalence of
students across the conditions (rereading, rereading plus discussion). Alpha was set at .001
a priori. Levene’s test for equality of variances and Box’s test of equality of covariance
showed significant differences between the two groups (all p<.001). All subsequent
analyses were conducted using data from all participants. Table 1 reports the means,
standard deviations, skewness, and kurtosis for the outcome variables. Intercorrelations
among variables of interest for research Question 1 are also reported in Table 1.
Correlational analyses of the Emotions Survey at pretest and posttest were used to
determine the emotions subscales for the present study. The correlations at pretest are
presented in Table 2. Similar trends were identified among the emotions at posttest. A factor
analysis of the emotions was not appropriate for the present study based on number of
b
a
−.42b
.14
−.24
−.41
Mad
Scare
Irrit
Sad
a
−.35
−.02
−.43b
Upset
Nerv
Angry
b
a
−.23
Annoy
.16
.22
.17
.24
.40b
.24
.22
.32
a
.15
.17
Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed)
Correlation is significant at the 0.05 level (2-tailed)
.52
b
b
.42
.57b
.41b
.33
−.31a
.04
.55
.39b
b
b
b
b
Bored
.14
.31
.29a
.55
.42
.40
.41
Frust
a
a
b
.31
b
b
.41
.48
b
.31
.43b
.37b
.62b
Glad
−.32a
−.26
.09
−.29a
.41b
Disap
Excited
−.10
.22
.20
.60b
Happy
.35b
−.17
−.03
−.29a
Surpr
Surpr
.30a
.04
.06
−.05
.19
.01
.05
−.17
Worry
Worry
Uneasy
Uneasy
Joy
Table 2 Correlations between emotions at pretest
−.29
.35b
b
−.26
.39
−.09
.24
.19
.38b
.56
b
−.24
.14
−.34a
a
−.30
.45
b
.39
a
.33
−.01
−.15
a
.12
−.16
−.21
−.12
.01
.14
−.05
−.26
–.32a
.58b
Excite
.46b
−.13
−.07
Disap
b
.25
−.32a
.80b
−.26
.60b
Happy
.39
−.16
−.17
b
.04
−.31a
−.31
a
−.27
a
−.12
.20
–.33a
Glad
.47
b
.65b
.02
.34
.78b
a
.75
b
.54
b
.52b
.29a
Mad
.28
.30
a
.37b
a
.62
.38b
b
.27
a
.20
.35b
Scare
.69
b
.55b
.14
.38
.58b
b
.57b
.68b
Irritate
.51
b
.47b
−.12
.25
.63b
.67b
Sad
.61
b
.68b
−.12
.49b
.70b
Upset
.43
b
.49b
.06
.45b
Nerv
.44b
.68b
.16
Angry
.70b
Frust
540
Res Sci Educ (2013) 43:529–550
Res Sci Educ (2013) 43:529–550
541
participants (n=62). We identified two emotion subscales based on valence, positive and
negative. The negative emotions (uneasy, worried, surprised, disappointed, mad, scared,
irritated, sad, upset, nervous, angry, frustrated, annoyed) showed a significant positive
correlation with one another. Similarly, positive emotions (joy, glad, happy, excited)
showed a significant positive association with one another. The analyses showed a
moderate positive correlation between bored and the positive emotions; however, bored is
not a positive emotion (Pekrun et al. 2002a) so it was dropped from further analyses.
Differences between the Groups
Attitude Change To address our first research question, Does enhancing the rereading of a
refutation text through small group discussions promote greater change in students’
attitudes about Pluto’s reclassification than independent rereading? a repeated measures
ANOVA was conducted. We compared attitudes towards Pluto’s reclassification using
condition (independent reread, reread plus discussion) as the between-subjects factor and
scores on the Attitudes Survey at Time 1 and Time 2 as a repeated measure. The means and
standard deviations of students’ attitudes towards the reclassification are presented in
Table 3. The results showed a non-significant interaction, therefore main effects were
examined. Main effects are not interpretable in the presence of a statistical interaction.
Because the interaction was non-significant, we therefore, interpret the main effects. A
significant main effect of change in attitudes over time was found indicating that students’
attitudes shifted towards greater acceptance of Pluto’s reclassification [F(1, 46) =7.694,
p<.01, with η2 =.14] after having read the refutation text twice.
A second repeated measures ANOVA was conducted to compare students’ attitudes
from pretest to delayed posttest using group as the between-subjects factor and Time 1 and
Time 3 as the within-subjects factor. The rationale for conducting these separate ANOVAs
is that we did not expect a linear trend from Time 1 to Time 2 to Time 3. Consistent with
the literature on attitude, belief, and conceptual change, we expected a stable or even
backward shift in students’ attitudes at delayed posttest (see Diakodoy et al. 2011). The
results showed a non-significant interaction, therefore main effects were examined. A
significant main effect was revealed in students’ attitudes from pretest to delayed posttest
[F(1, 47) =14.711, p=.000, with η2 =.29].1 This indicates that attitude shifts were
maintained at delayed posttest.
Change in knowledge To address the question of whether there was change in students’
conceptual knowledge about the definition of planet six knowledge items were analyzed
separately (recall that they did not form a scale). The means, standard deviations for each of
the six knowledge items are shown in Table 4.
We used the same analysis strategy for each of the six knowledge items to examine
attitudes, that is, a repeated measures ANOVA was used to compare groups across time.
The means and standard deviations for each group at pretest, posttest, and delayed posttest
are displayed in Table 5. Beginning with the critical “why” question that taps students’
understanding of the change in planetary status, a repeated measures ANOVA was used to
analyze Knowledge Item 6, “Why did scientists change the definition of planet?” Similar to
the analysis of student attitudes, group was used as the between-subjects factor and Time 1
and Time 2 served as the within-subjects factor. Main effects were examined due to the
1
We conducted a repeated measures ANOVA of time (pretest, posttest, delayed posttest) entered into the
same equation. A similar pattern was revealed with an overall change over time (p<.01).
542
Res Sci Educ (2013) 43:529–550
Table 3 attitudes means and standard deviations by group
Time, group
M
SD
N
Attitudes
Pretest
Independent reread
2.66
Reread plus discussion
Posttest
2.27
1.01
.923
25
23
Independent reread
3.03
1.09
25
Reread plus discussion
2.65
1.28
23
Independent reread
3.08
1.07
26
Reread plus discussion
2.83
1.11
23
Delayed posttest
non-significant interaction. A main effect of time was found from pretest to posttest, [F(1,
46) =69.785, p=.000, with η2 =.60]. This main effect indicates that all students experienced
conceptual change from pretest to posttest in their understanding of why scientists changed
the definition of planet. No significant results were found among the remaining Knowledge
Items from pre- to posttest.
A second repeated measures ANOVA was conducted to compare students’ responses on
Knowledge Item 6 from pretest to delayed posttest using group as the between-subjects
factor and Time 1 and Time 3 as the within-subjects factor. The rationale for this analysis
was to examine whether this change in students’ conceptions was maintained over time.
The interaction approached, but did not reach, significance, (p=.08) (see Fig. 1). This trend
is suggestive of an elusive finding in conceptual change research, in that students often
revert to the level of the prior conception at delayed posttest. We examined the main effects
because of the non-significant interaction. There was a significant effect of time from
pretest to delayed posttest, [F(1, 48) =64.19, p=.000, with η2 =.57]. This main effect
indicates that rereading the refutation text a second time helped students maintain the
change in their conceptual understanding of why scientists redefined “planet.” There was
also a significant main effect of group [F(1, 48) =6.79, p=.01, with η2 =.12]. Figure 1
makes this main effect more visible.
Examination of the marginal means revealed an advantage for the discussion group (M=
0.60, SD=0.07) compared to the independent reread group (M=0.35, SD=0.07). In sum,
students’ understandings of the scientists’ rationale changed significantly from pre- to postTable 4 Means (SDs), for concept items
Pretest
Posttest
Concept 1
8.44 (1.21)
8.22 (0.65)
8.15 (0.67)
Concept 2
7.65 (1.40)
7.90 (0.71)
7.71 (0.99)
Concept 3
0.17 (0.38)
0.45 (0.50)
0.47 (0.50)
a
0.35 (0.59)
0.82 (0.65)
0.72 (0.72)
a
1.08 (0.52)
1.35 (0.52)
1.08 (0.65)
a
0.08 (0.33)
0.92 (0.60)
0.89 (0.64)
Concept 4
Concept 5
Concept 6
a
Items scored on rubric (0 = non-scientific, 1 = scientific, 2 = scientific, elaborated)
Delayed posttest
Res Sci Educ (2013) 43:529–550
543
Table 5 Concept item 6 means and standard deviations by group
Time, group
M
SD
N
Pretest
Reread
.04
.20
25
Reread plus discussion
.13
.46
23
Posttest
Reread
.80
.70
25
Reread plus discussion
.96
.37
23
.65
.63
26
1.08
.58
24
Delayed posttest
Reread
Reread plus discussion
instruction and moreover, this change was sustained over the two-week delay period. The
analysis of the remaining Knowledge items revealed no significant differences from pretest
to delayed posttest.
Emotions
Emotions and Attitude Change To address our third research question, How do emotions
relate to change in students’ attitudes about the reclassification of Pluto? we followed
Pekrun’s analytic framework and employed a regression strategy to determine whether
emotions were related to students’ attitudes about Pluto’s reclassification. First, we
examined whether positive and negative emotions were predictive of students’ attitudes
about Pluto’s reclassification at the time of pretest. Positive and negative emotions were
correlated (r=−.53) so they were entered into the same regression equation. Emotions
accounted for a significant portion of the variance in students’ attitudes at the time of
pretest, [F(2,49) =17.84, p=.000, adjusted R2 =.41, positive emotions, B=0.73, negative
Fig. 1 Group means of
concept item 6
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Res Sci Educ (2013) 43:529–550
emotions, B=−0.41]. This suggests that positive emotions about Pluto’s reclassification
were associated with attitudes towards acceptance of the planet’s new status.
Next, we performed a second series of regression analyses to examine whether emotions
at posttest were predictive of change in students’ attitudes towards Pluto’s reclassification.
Researchers have argued that emotions must be measured in the moment (Linnenbrink
2006). Therefore, emotions at posttest were those most closely associated with students’
responses on these surveys at posttest so we used them as the predictor variables for this
series of analyses. Emotions at posttest were used to predict the change in attitudes at post
(posttest minus pretest). The results revealed that emotions at posttest accounted for a
significant (11%) portion of the variance in attitude change at posttest, [F(2, 46) =.83,
p<.01, Adjusted R2 =.17, positive emotions, B=0.31, negative emotions, B=−0.36]. This
suggests that positive emotions at posttest were related to a shift in students’ attitudes
towards acceptance of Pluto’s dwarf status.
Emotions and Change in Conceptual Knowledge We conducted a series of regression
analyses to examine our fourth research question, How do emotions relate to change in
students’ conceptual knowledge about the reclassification of Pluto? The conceptual
knowledge items were open-ended. The means and standard deviations of the Concept
Items at each time interval are presented in Table 4. Separate correlations and regressions
were conducted for individual Knowledge items.
We calculated the mean score for the individual concept items at pretest, posttest, and
delayed posttest. One outlier was identified on the concepts posttest with a score more than
three standard deviations below the mean. This participant was excluded from all further
analyses involving the concepts at posttest.
We performed logistic analyses on Knowledge Item 3 because it was a dichotomous
variable. The item asked students whether Pluto should still be a planet. Students who gave
a Yes response were given a 0 (non-scientific answer), and students who stated No were
given a 1 (scientific answer). The model using students’ responses to Knowledge Item 3 as
the dependent variable and positive emotions at pretest as the predictor showed that the
latter was a significant predictor of students’ Yes responses to Concept Item 3 at pretest (B=
1.28, Wald =3.76, df=1, SD=0.38, p≤.05). To interpret the beta estimate, it was converted
into an odds ratio. The findings of this analysis showed an odds ratio of 3.60 (e1.28 =3.60),
which suggests a 260% increase in the odds of students answering scientifically on
Knowledge Item 3 given a one unit increase in students’ positive emotions at pretest. The
analysis failed to show negative emotions at pretest as predictors of students’ responses at
pretest.
We used a rubric to score students’ responses to Knowledge Item 4. Consequently, we
used an ordinal regression strategy to examine whether emotions at pretest were predictors
of Item 4 at pretest. Positive emotions was found to be a significant positive predictor of
Item 4 scores (B=0.90, Wald =3.92, df=1, p=.034, exp(B) =2.47).
We conducted a second series of regression analyses to examine whether emotions were
predictive of change in students’ knowledge of the planets and Pluto. For each analysis, we
used the change in students’ responses to the respective knowledge item from pretest to
posttest as the dependent variables and positive and negative emotions as the predictor
variables. The linear regression analyses indicated that positive emotions at posttest were
significant predictors of change in students’ responses at posttest (posttest minus pretest) on
Knowledge Item 2, which asked students to list the planets. Emotions accounted for 20% of
the variance in the change in students’ responses at posttest [F(2, 45) =6.47, p<.01,
adjusted R2 =.20, positive emotions, B=−0.77, negative emotions, B=−0.65]. The negative
Res Sci Educ (2013) 43:529–550
545
betas indicate that as students named fewer planets at posttest (meaning they no longer
listed Pluto), the intensity of students’ emotions decreased.
We then conducted a McNemar Chi-squared test for matched pairs to measure the
change in students’ responses from pretest to posttest on Knowledge Item 3 (“Should Pluto
still be a planet?”). The findings revealed a significant change from pretest to posttest: 16
students changed from Yes to No (posttest), [Chi-square =1.96, df=1, p=.16]. This suggests
these students became more accepting of Pluto’s reclassification over time. The results also
indicated that 30 students remained constant in their responses from pretest to posttest (24
Yes, 6 No) and 2 changed from No to Yes. This indicates that, as seen in previous research,
conceptual change often takes time and repeated exposure to new content. In addition,
negative emotions tended to decrease from pretest (M=3.02) to posttest (M=2.77). A
paired-samples t-test showed this decrease in negative emotions from pretest to posttest was
significant, t(46) =1.99, p=.05. The same test for positive emotions revealed that emotions
tended to become more positive from pretest (M=1.92) to posttest (M=2.22), t(47) =−2.28,
p<.05. This shift in students’ emotions about Pluto’s reclassification may have resulted
from their reading the refutation text and finding the scientists’ rationale for Pluto’s
reclassification as acceptable.
Discussion and Conclusions
The findings of this study support previous research demonstrating that students come to
instruction with pre-existing attitudes and ideas that have an emotional component (Frenzel
et al. 2009; Pekrun et al. 2002a; 2006). Our findings indicated that instructional
interventions designed to increase engagement did promote shifts in both attitudes and
conceptual knowledge about an emotional topic. Students’ attitudes became more accepting
of the reclassification of Pluto after instruction and they showed some improved
understanding of the rationale for Pluto’s new status. Moreover, these shifts in both
attitudes and conceptual knowledge were sustained over a two-week time frame.
Further, our findings support the literature related to the efficacy of refutation text as an
instructional tool for promoting conceptual change (see Tippett 2010). Our findings suggest
that repeated exposure to the information presented in a refutation text likely increases the
opportunities for conceptual change to occur and to be sustained over time. It is also of
interest to note that the refutation text was effective with promoting sustained conceptual
change regarding a controversial science topic that, initially, many participants were
resistant towards accepting. The refutation text presented the scientific rationale in a
coherent and plausible manner that may have helped to soften the attitudes of resistance and
increase the likelihood of conceptual change. Refutation texts may be useful for science
educators who teach controversial topics and are seeking instructional tools to soften
attitudes of resistance and increase student knowledge of the topics. Future research could
examine the relationship between the refutation text structure and attitude change.
No study is without limitations. A limitation for the current study is that students were
primarily from White, upper-middle class families and were enrolled in a private school.
Past research has shown that students in these circumstances are generally successful in
academic settings (National Research Council 1998). The results of this study may reveal a
different trend across more diverse student populations. A second limitation was the
difference in time spent learning about Pluto between the groups. The reread plus
discussion group spent an average of 20 min discussing the text. In contrast, the
independent reread group spent an average of 12 min reading the text.
546
Res Sci Educ (2013) 43:529–550
An additional limitation is in relation to the measuring of students’ emotions. We used
self-report surveys based on measures developed and validated by researchers in this field
of study (Pekrun et al. 2002a; 2005). We acknowledge the inherent constraints of self-report
surveys of emotions; however, researchers within this field have argued that, at present,
self-report measures are “the most valid, reliable, and economic assessment tools available”
(Goetz et al. 2008, p. 28). Researchers are beginning to utilize additional measurement tools
for capturing the emotions experienced by students in real time by monitoring heart rate
(D’Mello & Graesser 2011). The Facial Action Coding System (Ekman 2003) examines
individual’s facial expressions and prosody to uncover emotional responses to referents.
Future studies of academic emotions, including topic emotions, may consider employing
both real time and self-report measures as tools for gaining a better understanding of the
influence emotions exert on conceptual change learning.
Shifting attitudes and knowledge, particularly around controversial, emotionally laden
topics is challenging (Sinatra and Mason 2008). Our results showed that even a modest
intervention, lasting less than 90 min of instructional time, can serve to promote attitude
and conceptual shifts. Furthermore, when interventions are successful, it is not uncommon
for students to revert to their previous attitudes and ideas (Diakodoy et al. 2011; Mason and
Gava 2007). It is interesting to note that instructional interventions, even short-term, can
show sustained effects.
The results of the present study suggest that emotions are a part of science learning especially
when the topic is controversial. Traditionally, science learning was perceived as a purely rational,
“cold” cognitive endeavor. Early models of conceptual change did not include an affective
component (Posner et al. 1982). More recently, researchers of conceptual change have called for
investigations of “hot” cognitive factors such as affect, interest, and motivation (Pintrich et al.
1993; Strike and Posner 1992; Sinatra 2005). This study shows that emotions are present and
relate to attitudes both pre and post instruction. Logically, it was possible that we would have
found no relationship between emotions and change, but this was not the case. This study
attempts to further the discussion that exists in the literature regarding emotions and cognition.
Researchers have argued that negative emotions can impede cognitive processing but that they
can also foster critical thinking and metacognition (Gregoire 2003; Lazarus 1984; Linnenbrink
2006). Our findings suggest that it may be possible to temper negative emotions through
instruction, opening the way for attitude and conceptual shifts. Linnenbrink and Pintrich (2002)
postulated that a reduction in negative affect may allow students to focus cognitive resources on
the information to be learned. It is possible that our instruction softened negative emotions
which may have led students towards a more accepting attitude towards Pluto’s dwarf-planet
status. This finding is tentative and warrants further investigation.
Researchers have argued that both positive and negative emotions have an effect on learning
(Pekrun et al. 2009; Linnenbrink and Pintrich 2002). Recently researchers have been
investigating the relationship between emotions and learning (see for example, LinnenbrinkGarcia and Pekrun 2011). However, little empirical research has shown an association between
emotions and learning about specific topics. The findings of the present study add to the
literature on academic emotions by providing an empirical link between emotions and topicspecific learning. It may be important to understand that while a student could love science
class and exhibit overall enjoyment of science learning, a specific topic, like the demotion of
Pluto, may unexpectedly trigger negative emotions. This is an area for future research.
Investigating the types of emotions involved when learning about other controversial
topics in science such as stem cell research and genetically modified foods may help to
uncover which negative and positive emotions are present and how those emotions might
be influencing the change process. Patterns of emotions across various controversial topics
Res Sci Educ (2013) 43:529–550
547
may lead to deeper understanding of how emotions may promote or impede conceptual
change and attitude change.
In conclusion, learning about certain topics in science, especially those that may be
perceived as controversial, may trigger emotional responses. Our findings suggest that
instruction may help to assuage negative emotions that may be present when learning about
science topics. Moreover, instruction may help to facilitate a shift in students’ attitudes
towards greater levels of acceptance of the scientific viewpoint. We concur with Pekrun
(2006) that more research is needed to examine the influence emotions may exert on
learning activities, and in our view, on conceptual change processes. Moreover, emotions
can impact students’ academic performance by influencing their motivation, effort, and use
of cognitive processes such as elaboration and engagement (Pekrun et al. 2009). This
elaboration and high engagement increase the likelihood of conceptual change occurring.
Further research is warranted to investigate the types of emotions that are present during the
conceptual change process and the possible influence those emotions may exert on
conceptual change.
Appendix A
ATTITUDES ABOUT PLUTO
Please mark how strongly you agree or disagree with each of the statements listed below.
Please circle the number that best matches the strength of your attitude.
1. The scientists’ decision to change Pluto from a planet to a dwarf planet was a good
one.
strongly disagree
disagree
unsure
agree
strongly agree
1
2
3
4
5
2. Pluto should remain a planet.
strongly disagree
disagree
1
2
unsure
3
agree
4
strongly agree
5
3. Pluto as a dwarf planet is okay with me.
strongly disagree
disagree
1
2
unsure
3
agree
4
strongly agree
5
4. Defining Pluto as a dwarf planet because of its size, shape and orbit is okay with me.
strongly disagree
disagree
unsure
agree
strongly agree
1
2
3
4
5
5. Scientists should accept Pluto as one of the nine planets.
strongly disagree
disagree
unsure
agree
1
2
3
4
Appendix B
Conceptual knowledge items
1. How many planets are in our solar system?
2. List the planets in our solar system:
3. Should Pluto still be a planet?
strongly agree
5
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Res Sci Educ (2013) 43:529–550
4. Explain your answer to question #3:
5. Why do scientists no longer call Pluto a planet?
6. Why did scientists change the definition of planet?
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