Transcript Misconceptions

Misconceptions
Exploring constructivist learning in
the science context
Objectives
• To understand what misconceptions in
science are
• To understand where they come from
• To understand and value the process by
which they are created
• To understand how to map pupils’
misconceptions
• To understand their stability
• To prepare the way for understanding how to
change them.
What are they?
• Current is used up in a bulb
• Pure substances are safe to eat/drink
• Plants get their food from the soil
Driver et al Making sense of secondary
science
Characteristics of misconceptions
 May be linked to specialist language
 Can be personal or shared with others
 Explain how the world works in simple terms
 Are often similar to earlier scientific models (eg earth
is flat)
 May be inconsistent with science taught in schools
 Can be resistant to change
 May inhibit further conceptual development
Based on slide from KS3 strategy
Where do they come from?
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Constructed from everyday life
Limited experience
Mis-observation
Mis-remembering
Restricted teaching
– Particles melt, boil, conduct electricity
– Gaps in structure are filled with air/dust/germs
– Particles die, want to get away from the cold
We need to value the process
• Misconceptions arise as the pupil tries to
make sense of their world
• We want to encourage this sense-making
process, while refining the product
Variation?
Children with very different experiences may
have very different misconceptions: eg
– Special needs
– Minority groups
How can we tell what they are?
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Read the books
Read their books & test answers
Interviews about instances
Brainstorm a topic with the group
Concept cartoons
Annotated diagrams
Concept maps
Class discussion of ideas/models/theories
Concept cartoons
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Visual representation of scientific ideas
Minimal text in dialogue form
Familiar situations
Give alternative viewpoints
Use the misconceptions research to
choose what to include
• Include the accepted answer
• Give all alternatives equal status
Use concept cartoons to..
• Explore misconceptions
• Help pupils ask questions
• Relate science content to ‘real’ situations
• Promote engagement
Use
• Individually or in group discussion
• In a plenary
• Outside lessons (corridor display, parents’
evening)
Annotated diagram
Based on KS3 strategy slide
Concept map
F=ma
acceleration
gravity
FORCE
newtons
Why are they persistent?
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They are usually simpler than the formal idea
We see what we want to see
We fail to consider alternative explanations
We can live in parallel universes – a veneer for
the teacher and the ‘real one’
– Veneer: we accept just enough of the new idea to
keep the teacher happy without really changing
• Matches the process of scientific advance –
we don’t make a paradigm shift on the basis of
one experiment (Kuhn)
An overview from a classroom
• Video
• Teacher reviewing a lesson which reveals
misconceptions
• Accepting ideas, extending ideas
• Discussing models
• What teachers do in a practical
• Next steps – moving to the formal ideas
Discussion task
Pupils’ misconceptions
• Paper to read: Clerk D and Rutherford M (2000)
Language as a confounding variable in the diagnosis of
misconceptions Int. J. Sci. Educ., , Vol. 22, No. 7, pp703717
Discussion task
• Compare the paper with the information presented in the
lecture on misconceptions. In view of what you have
been learning, does the paper threaten the whole notion
of misconceptions? Does it introduce any warnings in
terms of how you will explore and work with pupil
misconceptions in your own classrooms?
(We will pick this up again next week)