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?

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?

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

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

gravity

..is

a..

acceleration
..
s
e
s
au
c
..
FORCE
..m

eas
ur

ed
in

y..
b
n
e
giv
e
z
i
s
..

newtons

F=ma

Why are they persistent?

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

dont 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)