Issues in the design of technology-supported learning environments utilizing cognitive conflict

The design and use of learning environments utilizing cognitive conflict to promote learning necessarily involve consideration of three processes: concept representation, conflict recognition and conflict resolution. Of these, the process most critical for design is, concept representation. The effectiveness of the learning environment in facilitating the learner's recognition and resolution of cognitive conflict depends largely on effective concept representation in the environment.

In the confrontational approach the 'correct' or target structure must be represented in the environment. Typically in this approach the designer will make assumptions about the cognitive structures likely to be brought to the situation by learners but will not attempt to represent these directly in the environment. The guiding approach requires that the designer have a good appreciation of the conceptual structures likely to be brought to the situation by learners, as this approach requires the planning of experiences that will help learners to build on their existing conceptual structures to develop more 'appropriate' ones. Explicit representation of these structures in the environment may not be necessary. However if the developmental sequence is to be effective, the designer must apprehend not only learners' initial conceptual structures but also changes to these that are likely to result from experiences within the environment.

From the point of view of design, the explanatory approach is perhaps the most subtle of the three described. In comparison with the previous approaches, this one requires the designer to have a clear understanding of the conceptual structures of the learner and, further, a reasonable idea of the learner's underlying rationale for these structures. In the ball toss example, the designer is confident that learners can make correct predictions about the motion based on their current conceptual structures, but he anticipates that these structures contain weaknesses that are revealed only when reasons or explanations for the

predictions are investigated.

Through increasing the options for concept representation, the use of technology has enhanced considerably the potential for design and development of learning environments utilizing cognitive conflict. An exhaustive discussion of the possibilities here is beyond the scope of the present paper. However it is appropriate to mention the ability of these environments to provide multiple formalisms for representation of concepts for students, including linguistic, graphical, animated, mathematical, programming code and many other representational modes.

For effective utilization of cognitive conflict in a learning environment, the designer must ensure that the consequences of the differences between 'target' and learner conceptual structures are evident and understandable by the learner. For learners, apprehension and articulation of a puzzling or unexpected situation is a major step towards resolving it. In environments designed with the confrontational approach the conflict is generally immediate and very obvious. In the guided approach where the designer expects gradual,

probably small changes in .the learners' cognitive structures, the recognition of conflict may not be as striking.

Using the explanatory approach the designer must take great care to ensure that the recognition of conflict with previously held understandings in fact actually happens. This might mean directing the learner's attention quite deliberately to the aspects of the environment designed for this, perhaps through suggested activities to be undertaken in the environment or by some other suitable design strategy.

Some aspects of technology-supported learning environments can be used to enhance the processes of conflict recognition and resolution. For example, interactivity in well designed technology-based learning environments can provide feedback to learners about the appropriateness of their assumptions and predictions as they work in the environment, and technology might be used to sponsor collaboration to help conflict resolution.

The processes of concept representation, conflict recognition and conflict resolution are discussed, and the most important of these from a design perspective, concept representation, is examined in some detail in the context of the three approaches. Finally to considers the power of technology-supported learning environments to enable, particularly through increased options for concept representation, the design and development of learning environments that utilize cognitive conflict in the more complex and subtle ways described in the three approaches delineated in the article.Although much of the recent work on cognitive conflict has been undertaken in education, the argument presented in the article should not be confined to learning of particular subject area . Papert points out that 'Piaget has shown that children hold false theories as a necessary part of the process of learning to think' (Papert, 1980: 132-3). It is contended that the argument made here has application learning in a wide variety of subject areas and contexts.