From Macro to Nano: Reconceptualizing Children^s Cognitive Transition in Understanding Nanoscale Matter Arita Marini , Dea Nur Hafifah, Yurniwati, Karen Ferreira Meyers
Universitas Negeri Jakarta, Jakarta, Indonesia,
University of Eswatini, South Africa
Abstract
Nanoscience increasingly shapes contemporary technological systems through its applications in medicine, advanced materials, nano-sensors, and intelligent engineering. Despite its growing societal relevance, elementary science education remains insufficiently prepared to support children^s understanding of nanoscale matter from a cognitive perspective. Existing studies in nanoscience education predominantly emphasize STEM activities, visualization technologies, and nano-content delivery, while limited attention has been directed toward how children cognitively transition from observable material reasoning toward nanoscale abstraction. This article argues that traditional conceptual change perspectives remain theoretically insufficient for explaining nanoscale reasoning because they primarily assume conceptual refinement within perceptually observable domains. However, nanoscale reasoning fundamentally destabilizes this assumption because learners must construct scientific explanations for entities that cannot be perceptually validated. Using a conceptual synthesis approach, this article proposes a scale-dependent cognitive reconstruction framework explaining how children recursively reorganize scientific representation systems through representational negotiation across macro, micro, and nanoscale domains. Rather than conceptualizing learning as linear conceptual replacement, the framework positions nanoscale understanding as iterative reconstruction involving representational instability, invisible matter interpretation, and multilevel scientific representation. The article contributes theoretically by shifting nanoscience education discourse from misconception correction toward reconstruction of scientific meaning across invisible material scales.
