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11 - Darwin's construction of the theory of evolution: Microdevelopment of explanations of variation and change in species

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 September 2009

By
Kurt W. Fischer  and
Zheng Yan
Edited by
Nira Granott  and
Jim Parziale
Kurt W. Fischer
Affiliation:
Harvard Graduate School of Education
Zheng Yan
Affiliation:
Harvard Graduate School of Education
Nira Granott
Affiliation:
University of Texas, Dallas
Jim Parziale
Affiliation:
University of Massachusetts, Boston
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Summary

The process of building new knowledge can seem mysterious, and microdevelopmental analysis shows great promise for unpacking some of that mystery (Dunbar, 2001; Fischer, 1980b; Granott, 1998; Klahr, 2000; Werner, 1948). How do people bootstrap themselves and others to build new knowledge? Performing such analysis, however, requires obtaining detailed information about how people build knowledge and skill in real time. Tracking changes with assessments that are performed only at widely separated intervals – the norm in developmental research – makes the process seem mysterious. For knowledge that leads to conceptual revolutions, such as Charles Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection, the mystery appears deep and impenetrable.

Despite its obvious promise for illuminating the construction of knowledge, microdevelopmental research has been generally neglected (a state that this book will hopefully help to remedy). Collecting data can be difficult, requiring intensive commitments of time and energy. The person being observed may not learn or develop any new skill or understanding, making the effortful data collection useless. Even if the person does learn something new, studying important learning moments is difficult, because the most important kinds of learning are typically not recognized until after they are complete. Study of the building of culturally new, creative knowledge is frequently impossible, because the importance of the knowledge is not recognized until after it has been constructed.

Type
Chapter
Information
Microdevelopment
Transition Processes in Development and Learning
 , pp. 294 - 318
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2002

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