The conceptual change approach to improving teaching and learning: An evaluation of a Hong Kong staff development programme

This paper reports a study of the effectiveness of an innovative approach to staff development, the conceptual change approach, which attempts to change teachers' frameworks for conceptualising teaching and learning. The evaluation investigated the programme at three levels: the impact on the conceptions of teaching of the participants, the resultant impact on teaching practices, and the consequential effect on student learning. Encouraging results were obtained. The programme brought about detectable conceptual change or conceptual development in two-thirds of the sample group. Subsequently, all the 'changed' teachers received better ratings on their teaching practices from their students in the following academic year while none of those who did not change their conceptions showed similar gains in student rating scores. A resultant positive impact on their students' studying approaches was observed for half of the teachers who changed their conceptions.