Watching the video on common misconceptions about the causes of the seasons and the phases of the moon, I was reminded of when I taught Biology 12 this summer and just how challenging it was for students to adequately grasp certain concepts within human physiology. To be fair, Biology requires the art of imagination- the ability to animate a sequence of events from information taken from text and diagrams. I will note, I was teaching to 24 students often outside in parks while backpacking through Belize and the internet, let alone Youtube, was not at my disposal. So I relied on vivid storytelling and gave emotion and relevance to fairly dry and ordinary process like DNA replication and the beloved Kreb’s cycle. I was hoping to pass on the mental model I had spent years crafting in my mind over the years by using using analogies and manipulatives but I I found many students would erroneously add details or fill in gaps with incorrect information. I was surprised that they decidedly chose to invent facts when their mental model failed instead of seeking further clarification. It should be noted these kids were extremely bright and motivated. I was never given the impression that they were too shy to acknowledge their own misconception. There was something going on subconsciously. I assumed our brains are great at finding patterns and filling in for any missed information. Similar with Heather, who filled in her own gaps in understanding with erroneous information about celestial motion and optics.
To further support this theory, take a look at the familiar image below. Each time I see this image I struggle to not to see the unbordered white triangle in the middle. Similar to how our brain fills in what it can’t see, students fill in for missing information with the most plausible explanation. Unfortunately in science, if these assumptions go unchecked, students risk carrying the burden of their misconceptions year after year.
My experience has lead me to believe that oral assessment, where a teacher makes time to listen to the students defend ideas and construct explanations based on scientific arguments, is fundamental to good assessment. I was intrigued when reading an article by Rivard and Straw (2000) who claim “that talk is important for sharing, clarifying, and distributing knowledge, while asking questions, hypothesizing, explaining, and formulating ideas are all important mechanisms [for learning]”. In their study, students were given similar tasks based on similar content yet one group (T) discussed a particular problem, another group (W) wrote responses to each task and a third group (T+W) discussed and wrote responses. They found that both discussing and writing are important mechanisms for transforming rudimentary ideas into coherent and structured arguments for students. This supports my advocacy for greater oral assessment in the classroom, whereby students are provided opportunities to orally describe their understanding of particular processes.
While students may be prone to inventing misconceptions, in many cases, students are, in fact, taught misconceptions. There is mounting research that shows that misconceptions concerning science are prevalent among teachers who then pass them along to their students. Nancy J. Pelaez et al. (2005) for instance, investigated the prevalence of blood circulation misconception among prospective elementary teacher in the US and found that “70% of prospective elementary teachers did not understand the dual blood circulation pathway, 33% were confused about blood vessels, 55% had wrong ideas about gas exchange, 19% had trouble with gas transport and utilization, and 20% did not understand lung function”. While many of you might be concerned by these statistics, let’s take moment for introspection. How many of you believe that your veins are blue because they carry deoxygenated blood? Don’t worry if you do, this is a common misconception even amongst many well-educated adults. In fact, we all hold misconceptions about science and even our correct understanding of science is laced with generalizations and assumptions that are not always correct. The future will lie in teaching our students how to criticize information and always seek the most robust understanding of scientific process possible.
References:
Pelaez, N. J. “Prevalence of blood circulation misconceptions among prospective elementary teachers.” AJP: Advances in Physiology Education 29.3 (2005): 172-81. Web.
Rivard, L. P., & Straw, S. B. (2000). The effect of talk and writing on learning science: An exploratory study. Science education, 84(5), 566-593.
Thanks for your thoughtful post, Bryn. I particularly liked the last paragraph, where you address the problematic nature of students being taught misconceptions, because their instructors are essentially perpetuating either their own misconceptions, or incorrect knowledge that was taught to them.
Vermeulen and Meyer also writes about this (as it pertains specifically to maths education, but I think it’s still valid here), in response to teachers not being able to redefine inaccurate assumptions. They state, “…nor were they able to identify students’ misconceptions or suggest how to prevent, reduce or rectify these misconceptions. It was largely during the focus group interview that teachers became explicitly aware of this possible relationship, and where they acknowledged that their use of string setting out (amongst others) could promote students’ misconceptions” (Vermeulen & Meyer 2017). If teachers actively seek out different ways of understanding, work towards being the best possible resource for explaining in as many different analogies as possible, and striving to have students explain their own thinking, they have access to more explanations, and students do less ‘filling in the blank’ with their own assumptions. I agree with your final statement in that “The future will lie in teaching our students how to criticize information”, and I would add that drawing from a broad skillset amongst staff of diverse knowledge bases would help the cause. By collaborating and not being afraid of being wrong or inaccurate about something, we become more flexible in letting go of our own misconceptions.
Hi Bryn,
I just wanted to let you know that you question on “why are the veins blue” triggered a short, but successful search – by my 12-year-old son and myself – to find the answer to this question.
And this answer inspired us also to have a look at the difference of veins and arteries – I was wrong here at the beginning, so I hope now that this is also a typical misconception not only from myself:-)…
So you showed very practically that asking questions is really a good way to make people think and learn!
Thanks for that, Elske
Dear Bryn,
I found you post really interesting. I think you are correct that we are prone to filling in our learning gaps with assumptions and the example you gave was a great one.
Mark Twain said “what gets us into trouble is not what we don’t know. It’s what we know for sure that just ain’t so.” With this quote in mind it illustrates the importance of what you were saying about critical thinking. Passive intake of knowledge is seldom effective and as has been pointed out in several posts their are misconceptions that are so common it becomes near impossible to change people’s minds.
Hi Bryn.
When watching the video about misconceptions I was also struck by the question of where did students (eg. Heather) get these ideas. I think it is perhaps the brightest and most confident students who come up with their own creative solutions and ideas rather than dependent learners. This can be a great thing as we need innovators and creative thinkers, but can also hinder the learning if they need to be unlearned. Your comment about teachers teaching misconceptions also struck home. With its factual basis and striving to grow knowledge, there is a nearing to the truth. Many elementary teachers simply do not have the science background to support all the concepts effectively or perhaps the concepts are above the students and need to be explained by the use of simpler analogies which in turn can build these misconceptions. I question if the misconceptions are actually bad. Is it important that young students know why veins appear blue? Is it actually bad that they believe it is due to deoxygenated blood? I would like to posit that at their level this is actually a helpful understanding that could be assimilated later as they expand and grow in knowledge (Posner, 1982).
•Posner, G. J., Strike, K. A., Hewson, P. W. and Gertzog, W. A. (1982). Accommodation of a scientific conception: Toward a theory of conceptual change. Sci. Ed., 66: 211–227. doi: 10.1002/sce.373066020
Great post and I really appreciated your statement “there is mounting research that shows that misconceptions concerning science are prevalent among teachers who then pass them along to their students” that we are in fact responsible for teaching these misconceptions. This is sadly so very true and I think that as crucial as it is for use to want to identify student misconceptions, you bring up a tremendously important point that we equally need to identify our own. I have seen this transference of misconception happen in math classes as well. I think there are a couple of key factors we need to consider.
1. Teacher have to stop teaching with their nose in the book. I understand that there are many many outcomes to cover in a day and often teachers are assigned to teaching positions that they are not specialized in. This practice of putting any warm body in a position needs to stop and we need to look at qualifications. But further the teacher must ensure a deep level of understanding of the materials prior to teaching it. There may be some self reflection and self learning necessary.
2. Teachers need to stop teaching from what they know or think they know. How often do we see classrooms run in a certain way because that is how they were taught. Many people teach from what they know, without challenging or confirming that understanding. When I was a student teacher in a grade 5 classroom I asked the teacher from the other grade 5 classroom (who also happened to be the assistant principal) for materials I could use to teach the Social Studies History lessons we were about to need. He smiled and looked at me pointing to his head saying “it’s all up here”. He was a history buff and taught from what he knew. This can prove to be a pitfall.
Trish