ABSTRACT
From the 1970s onward, researchers have tried to understand the content and nature of student conceptions, how these conceptions can both hinder and contribute to learning, and how student conceptions change to resemble those of scientists. Progress in understanding student conceptions and the process of change has led to suggestions for how to design more effective instruction. The literature on student conceptions and their change is vast, as evidenced by a periodically updated bibliography containing thousands of publications (Duit, 2009). No single review can do justice to it all.
