{"id":4382,"date":"2018-01-09T23:22:40","date_gmt":"2018-01-10T06:22:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/stem2018\/?p=4382"},"modified":"2018-01-13T18:35:12","modified_gmt":"2018-01-14T01:35:12","slug":"misconceptions-among-students","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/stem2018\/2018\/01\/09\/misconceptions-among-students\/","title":{"rendered":"Misconceptions among students"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the video A Private Universe, <\/em>we are introduced to a young student Heather, who is considered by her classroom teacher to be very bright<\/em>, above other students<\/em>, ranked 9 out of 10 on a scale<\/em>, and expected to know the answer to the questions asked<\/em>.\u00a0 Heather\u2019s teacher was surprised and mentioned that she \u201cassumed they (students) already have the basics\u201d. Driver, Guesne & Tiberghien (1985), mention how students have stable ideas and \u201cstudents have not modified their ideas in spite of attempts by a teacher to challenge them by offering counter-evidence\u201d (p. 3). Similarly, Burgoon, Heddle & Duran (2011), mention that \u201cstudents tend to cling to their own conceptions even after experiencing events that directly challenge those conceptions\u201d (pg. 102). This was seen in the video. To help correct Heather\u2019s misconceptions, the classroom teacher gives direct instruction to target the areas of need. Even after direct teaching, Heather still has difficulty understanding direct and indirect light and held on to her theories.<\/p>\n

Looking at my experience with teaching concepts whether in numeracy or in science, I find it beneficial to begin with a diagnostic to determine where my students are at, what basics skills do they possess before teaching concepts and what ideas they have formulated. Driver, Guesne & Tiberghien (1985), state that \u201cthe child, even when very young, has ideas about things, and these ideas play a role in the learning experiences\u201d (pg. 4). Some of the programs I use include Pre-Diagnostic Before Module Assessments<\/em>, a Mid-Assessment Check-Up<\/em>, and lastly an End of Module Assessment<\/em> to determine what growth the student made. Burgoon, Heddle & Duran (2011), state that, \u201cif teachers are unware of the misconceptions held by their students and\/or have misconceptions themselves, teachers may unknowingly reinforce new misconceptions\u201d (p. 103). Additionally, I enjoy using Know-Wonder-Learn charts where students can indicate what they already know about the topic, what questions they have and after completing the unit, they write down information they know. This is a great tool for teachers to assess which specific area(s) further instruction needs to be directed.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s essential that we teach and provide various strategies for our students to learn concepts. This may include incorporating technology, using manipulatives, bringing in guest speakers, going on field studies etc., so students can use these strategies and various experiences and apply it to the concepts they are learning. Further integrating technology in the classroom has become very useful, as students can access tutorial videos or do further practice on their own time to reinforce concepts taught.<\/p>\n

Burgoon, J.N., Heddle, M.L., Duran, E. (2011). Re-examining the similarities between teacher and student conceptions about physical science. Journal of Science Teacher Education, <\/em>22(2), 101-114. DOI: 10.1007\/s10972-010-9196-x<\/p>\n

Confrey, J. (1990). A review of the research on student conceptions in mathematics, science, and programming. Review of research in education, 16, 3-56.\u00a0http:\/\/ezproxy.library.ubc.ca\/login?url=http:\/\/www.jstor.org\/stable\/1167350<\/a><\/p>\n

Driver, R., Guesne, E., & Tiberghien, A. (1985). Children\u2019s ideas and the learning of science. Children\u2019s ideas in science, 1-9.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In the video A Private Universe, we are introduced to a young student Heather, who is considered by her classroom teacher to be very bright, above other students, ranked 9 out of 10 on a scale, and expected to know the answer to the questions asked.\u00a0 Heather\u2019s teacher was surprised and mentioned that she \u201cassumed […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":50112,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1669382],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4382","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-a-conceptual-challenges"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/stem2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4382","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/stem2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/stem2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/stem2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/50112"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/stem2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4382"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/stem2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4382\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4383,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/stem2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4382\/revisions\/4383"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/stem2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4382"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/stem2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4382"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubc.ca\/stem2018\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4382"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}