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Concept Acquisition and Conceptual Change in History

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Palgrave Handbook of Research in Historical Culture and Education

Abstract

Rodríguez-Moneo and Lopez examine the acquisition of intuitive knowledge and its relation to the process of conceptual change in the field of history learning. Their chapter’s first section explores the cognitive processes underlying the construction of concepts and stresses their relevant role for both developing and changing theories. In the second part of the chapter these analyses are applied to the field of history and placed in relation with empirical studies carried out in the field regarding students’ key historical concepts such as nation and national identity. The chapter also emphasizes the connection between historical concepts and narratives as a crucial way to better understand students’ prior knowledge and promote a conceptual change towards their more critical understanding of history, closer to disciplinary historical knowledge.

This paper has been written with the support of Projects EDU2013-42531P and EDU2015-65088-P from the DGICYT (Ministry of Education, Spain) coordinated by Mario Carretero. Also this work was conducted within the framework of COST Action IS1205 “Social psychological dynamics of historical representations in the enlarged European Union”.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Autonoma University, Madrid, Spain

    María Rodríguez-Moneo

  2. Psychology Department, European University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain

    Cesar Lopez

Authors
  1. María Rodríguez-Moneo
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  2. Cesar Lopez
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Campus de Cantoblanco, Autónoma University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain

    Mario Carretero

  2. Ruhr Universitat Bochum, Bochum, Germany

    Stefan Berger

  3. Erasmus School of History, Culture and Communication, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

    Maria Grever

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Rodríguez-Moneo, M., Lopez, C. (2017). Concept Acquisition and Conceptual Change in History. In: Carretero, M., Berger, S., Grever, M. (eds) Palgrave Handbook of Research in Historical Culture and Education. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-52908-4_25

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-52908-4_25

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