(Scroll to the bottom of the page then click the tiny VOD button to watch)
In our science curriculum course this morning a very interesting topic was addressed: students’ misconceptions. We watched the video “A Private Universe” which showed some alarming results on students’ misconceptions in science. When 23 Harvard graduates were asked why is it that we get seasons, only 21 answered correctly and one of the guy’s degrees was in planetary motion. The video then went on ask grade 9 students the same question which no one could answer correctly. The fact that scientific literacy can be almost non-existent in our society is really concerning. However the part of the video I found most interesting was the challenge the teacher faced trying to correct these students’ incorrect pre-conceived notions.
The teacher of the class had assumed that her students had already learned about the subject and was astonished to hear some of their answers. Even after the lesson was revisited, with the teacher explaining and using a visual demo one of the students still wasn’t clear. Moreover she tried to incorporate her new learning with her existing incorrect notions.
This is a prime example of how previous knowledge may not always be where we expect or would like it to be when starting a lesson. This video just made me think how challenging this obstacle may be to overcome. How can you start the lesson at a point where everyone understands and no one is left out? How do you have time to cover material from previous grades and still get through your own? How after explaining it multiple times and using multiple methods does a student still stick to their pre-conceived notions?
There appear to be enough common misconceptions in science that there are endless books and websites addressing the matter. Where is this problem stemming from and what can we do to correct it or minimize its impact so that the whole class reaches an understanding? Our instructor, Todd, provided us in class with this website, http://homepage.mac.com/vtalsma/misconcept.html, which lists many of the science misconceptions we can expect in our class. I think being prepared for some of these misconceived notions to arise in the classroom will help but what else can we do?
And for those of you who were wondering, or haven’t googled it yet, the seasons are due to the tilt of our earth as we orbit the sun and how direct or indirect the sun’s rays are. It is NOT because we rotate in an ellipse (really almost a circle) and the temperature depends on how far we are from the sun.
See you tomorrow!
Oh Jenna, I was eagerly awaiting this post. I'm not going to lie- I had a lot of misconceptions about the world around me. You know why? Granny and Gpa would make up stories as to why things are the way they are. I mean, who really wants to tell their children how they were conceived?
ReplyDeleteBut, I was fortunate enough to have parents that didn't lie to me. They would pick me up from my grandparents home and ask me what I did. I would tell them my new findings and they would say "No, dear, Grandpa is trying to fool you. The sky is NOT blue because... and it's really blue because..."
I think it's also funny how students just can't seem to say "I don't know" when asked a question they really don't know the answer to. Instead, they come up with an answer and do their best to justify it and show that it is indeed the right answer.
It's definitely hard to start a new unit and assume children have no prior knowledge (tabula rasa). Some possible ways to start a new lesson would be to introduce it build up their knowledge based on Bloom's Taxonomy. Start off by teaching them the basics and if a misconception arises, clarify their understanding and create events to see if the students understanding is correct or incorrect. Give the children a chance to apply what they have learned in order to see whether or not they have a correct understanding.
Or before starting a new unit, have the students answer questions with regards to popular misconceptions (Ex- What causes seasons on the Earth?) and collect their answers (tell them they are anonymous and will not be judged on answers obviously). By doing this, you as a teacher can evaluate what misconceptions need to be addressed and address them properly.
Catch my drift?? That's it for me folks... see you guys at 830!
Jenna,
ReplyDeleteI am glad you brought up the issue of misconceptions, because in all of our classes we continually talk about “activating students schema” and using their previous knowledge to help them better understand subjects, but what if they preconceived notions are “wrong”?! Even though I am English, I could see this being a major set back in any class where students need to know facts, or concrete information. How can we use these “misconceptions” to out advantage?
Tijinder I think your anonymous suggestion is great, because a lot of students probably don’t want to admit freely what they don’t know, but I also think that a brainstorming activity (like the example one Bed did in 352) would work as an intro activity. Seasons: what words do we associate with them, terms, etc... And like Ben showed us, asking the students “why” they used some words not only allows you to asses the student’s knowledge, but get a better idea of where some of these misconceptions came from. Instead of trying to re-teach 9 years worth of science, we could build the info they know, with the correct info.
(On a side note, I am guilty of having misconceptions too. I thought we had seasons because we were closer to the equator! No idea where I got that idea!)