Methodological grounds of the conceptual profile research program

Abstract

In this chapter we present the different methodological options that can inform the research on conceptual profiles. These options include studies aiming at identifying possible zones to build a conceptual profile model, investigations conducted in order to understand how the different zones of a conceptual profile model evolve in a specific population, or researches about how different zones of a profile emerge in discursive interactions in the classroom. The main methodological principle that guides researches carried out to identify possible zones in order to build a specific conceptual profile model resides in the Vygotskyan maxim that it is only possible to have a full picture of the genesis of a concept if we study it in different genetic domains. In the case of investigations about how the distribution of profile zones evolves in a specific population, we use questionnaires with a range of questions that makes it possible to produce different contexts, favoring the appearance of different zones. Finally, to discuss how different zones of a profile emerge in discursive interactions in the classroom, we model the discursive dynamics and meaning making in teaching episodes through the integrated application of a conceptual profile of a given concept and the analytical framework developed by Mortimer and Scott.