Abstract

Conceptual integration is a key operating principle in education and a powerful skill for any teacher. Two different concepts are brought together in a way that recognises what is similar and different in them. This allows for an imaginative synthesis that can illuminate a complex process, such as when the heart is compared to a pump, or the cell to a factory. Good teachers do this intuitively all the time, but the act of conceptual integration is poorly understood and insufficiently researched. With explicit knowledge teachers can gain productive, conscious control of this vital pedagogic act and educational researchers will have insightful tools to grasp the complex operating principles of the process. Thus the purpose of this book is to make the principles and practice visible."--Page [4] of book cover.