Conceptual Challenges: Cloud Formation and Precipitation

In the video, Heather has a misinformed understanding of the moon’s phases and the seasons. However, her teacher was not aware of these misconceptions before she introduced the unit of study. During her lessons, Heather was trying to merge her existing knowledge with the new information the teacher was introducing. The teacher needed to understand her students’ background knowledge before she began the new unit of study. Only through her understanding of her students’ prior knowledge, will she be able to help scaffold her students’ learning.

As we can see in this video, there are many misconceptions around scientific understandings. This may be because new scientific discoveries have been made that contradict existing theories or that the learner only understood part of the concept and tried to fill in the gaps. Many scientific theories are abstract and therefore, difficult for students to visually see the process. The use of models in science can help with the visualization process. Teachers also need to understand students’ prior knowledge and misconceptions on any given topic before they begin to teach it. This will help guide the teaching process and activities based on what the students already know, what they think they understand, but really don’t, and what they are interested in learning. If students are not interested in a topic, it will be more difficult for them to learn. If they do not see the relevance of the concept to their daily life, they will not take an interest in learning more about it.

When I was teaching primary grades, one of the topics that my students always had a difficult time understanding was cloud formation and precipitation. I often wondered if the difficulty arose because the students couldn’t actually see the process or touch it. The best we could do was create diagrams or models to help with this. However, some of the students still had a difficult time explaining the process. Often times, they would appear to understand, but as time would pass their understanding would diminish. In the Thompson and Logue article, the students ranged in age from six to twelve years old. Most of the students were able to describe how clouds were formed, but had strong misconceptions about precipitation. According to the authors in both articles, scientific misconceptions come from a variety of sources, including misunderstanding information from parents or teachers, as well as from sources, such as mass-media that provide inaccurate information. Misconceptions are often difficult to change and these can impact the learning process. According to the article, Children’s Ideas and the Learning of Science, people who attend the same lecture or read the same book will not necessarily understand it in the same way. Individuals internalize the experience and construct their own meanings. The authors argue that student beliefs are reviewed or revised when a more persuasive or a better theory is introduced, but sometimes “even if students are confronted with what appear to be contradictions to the teacher, they will not necessarily recognize them” (Driver, et. al., 1985, p. 3). Thompson and Logue believe that teachers need to figure out their students misconceptions so that students do not continue to build their knowledge upon these misunderstandings. The issue is not where these misconceptions come from, but rather how we identify them and overcome them in the classroom when teaching our students.

The best way for students to understand many of the scientific concepts being taught is in a constructivist learning environment that encourages students to take risks and explore through hands-on experiments. The teacher acts as a facilitator or guide and supports the students throughout the learning process. It would not be an effective teaching style for a teacher to simply tell the students that their existing understanding or beliefs about a given topic are incorrect, but rather he or she needs to provide students with exploratory lessons that “show” the students. Technology is a great tool to help support the science lessons and curriculum in the classroom. Some of the simple ways that it can be used is to watch (up to date) videos or have students create their own videos on a given (or chosen topic). There are some great interactive whiteboard applications that allow students to draw and record their learning and thinking. This gives the teacher another way to identify any misconceptions that may exist.

Driver, R., Guesne, E., & Tiberghien, A. (1985). Children’s ideas and the learning of science. Children’s ideas in science, 1-9.

Thompson, F., & Logue, S. (2006). An Exploration of Common Student Misconceptions in Science. ERIC, 553-559. Retrieved January 8, 2018, from https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ854310.