Abstract:
We present and discuss the proposal of Representational Redescription, a cognitive theory developed by psychologist Annette Karmiloff-Smith, which offers an explanatory framework on how the human mind explores and organizes knowledge in order to enable self-enrichment to take place. In this proposal, the development of theories-in-action by the cognitive subject is understood in terms of a reiterative process of re-elaboration of internal representations. This process does not always involve the taking in of new information from the external environment. After a brief overview of the studies on modeling from a cognitive viewpoint, we discuss some possible contributions of the Representational Redescription proposal for understanding the process of model conceptualization in Science Education, particularly in relation to the role assigned by Karmiloff-Smith to implicit knowledge, overgeneralization and cognitive flexibility.
Keywords:
Representational redescription; Cognitive development; Model construction; Science education