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This article deals with the following question: how can research in science education enrich the design of teaching innovations? Two possible answers are examined:
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Students’ own ways of reasoning may be taken into account, either as provisional steps towards more elaborate views or as obstacles to be confronted.
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The epistemological framework of episodes using an experimental set‐up may be used. This can take different forms, ranging from simple inductions to searches for consistency between given laws or hypotheses and experimental facts.
The new French curriculum provides two examples of strategies concerning elementary optics at grade 8 that can be analysed along these lines. The value of these strategies is discussed. Different combinations of the role of learners’ previous ideas and epistemological aspects are also examined. Some elements of evaluation concerning one of the recommended combinations are given. Finally, the role of teachers as ‘innovation transformers’ is presented as a critical topic for future research.