Misconceptions

From WikEd

1 Definition and Conclusions
2 Classroom Use
3 Examples of misconceptions
4 Conceptual-change theory
5 Personal experience
6 References and Other links of interest

[edit] Definition and Conclusions

Misconceptions are any misunderstanding or misinterpretation of information. In Learning and Instruction, author Richard Mayer largely focuses on misconceptions in the science classroom, stating, “The teacher must begin by helping students to recognize the anomalies between what their theories predict and what really happens” (Mayer 203). He concludes that, “learning occurs when one’s knowledge is radically restructured; that is, when one’s current conception is replaced with a new one” (234). In short, student understanding and achievement is best achieved when the student directly analyzes and confronts traditional ways of thinking and improves upon this thinking with new ideas.

[edit] Classroom Use

Misconceptions are most commonly used to introduce new science topics. Using the basic K-W-L graphic organizer, list all ideas students have about the newly introduced concept. Explain and clear up the misconceptions first. (As with many science topics, they will probably be numerous.)

By addressing the misconceptions first, you will be able to:

1)quell the misconceptions

2)develop a factual basis upon which to teach the new concept!

[edit] Examples of misconceptions

Five Major Misconceptions about Evolution

Children's Science Misconceptions from Science Hobbyist

Genealogy Misconceptions from Roots Web

Geography Misconceptions from lecture by Dr. Al Forsyth

Geography Misconceptions from Learning Tech

Math Misconceptions by Presentation Junior High in Newfoundland

Math Misconceptions from Teacher Net

Multicultural Misconceptions from the Association for Childhood Education International

Reading Instruction Misconceptions from SEDL of Austin, TX

Student Misconceptions from DarylScience

[edit] Conceptual-change theory

Research on science education has encouraged a shift from a traditional to a conceptual-change view of learning (Carey, 1986; Posner, Strike, Hewson, & Gertzog, 1982; Strike & Posner, 1985, 1992). According to a traditional view, learning involves adding more and more facts to one’s memory. In contrast, the conceptual-change view is that learning occurs when one’s mental model (or naïve conception) is replaced by a new one. According to conceptual-change theory, learning involves three steps:

Recognizing an anomaly: Seeing that your current mental model is inadequate to explain observable facts; that is, realizing that you possess misconceptions that must be discarded.

Constructing a new model: Finding a more adequate mental model that is able to explain the observable facts; that is, replacing one model with another.

Using a new model: When confronted with a problem, using your new model to discover a solution; that is, being able to operate your new model mentally.

As educators, we need to not stop with simply changing student's conceptions. We need to continue beyond that and also foster expertise, moving students from being novices to experts. Differences between novices and experts fall into four categories. (Mayer, 2003) Novices hold small units of knowledge that take longer to retrieve from memory than that of experts. Experts have extensive, interconnected knowledge in a subject area that is more accessible. (factual knowledge) Second, experts have a good understanding of underlying concepts. Novices may only have memorized "facts". (semantic knowledge) Third, experts have an understanding of problem of concept "types". They can categorize and sort data accurately. Novices may use more "surface" information if asked to categorize and sort. (schematic knowledge) Finally, when using solution strategies, experts work forward towards a solution. Novices work backwards, trying to figure out how their small pieces of knowledge fit into and help solve a problem. Experts have extensive, interconnected knowledge that enables them to see the "big picture" and simply work towards the solution. (strategic knowledge)

[edit] Personal experience

Being junior high special education social studies teacher, I am particularly surprised by the misconceptions that are taught regarding Native Americans. Unfortunately this misconception is extremely deep rooted and in many cases simply based on ignorance. Seeking the truth through research is the best way, in my opinion, to shatter misconceptions. Although, there also needs to be a desire to seek the truth. -V.C.

A mathematical misconception held by many high school algebra students stems from the mis-interpretation of reading a specific type of word problem.

At a certain university there are 3 times as many students as professors . . .

Many students will translate this part of the word problem into an equation that looks like

3s = p

But, since the number of students is already greater than the number of professors,

the equation should be s = 3p

This misconception was pointed out to me by a fellow CTER student. I tested it out on my algebra 1 class. Nearly one-third of the class missed the problem because of this mis-interpretation. We discussed strategies that will help them avoid mis-interpretations like this in the future. Careful reading was the most popular solution to this problem. Lee Wilkinson

I feel that one of the most rewarding experiences as a teacher is listening to students discuss working through their misconceptions. In my classroom, we do a lot of project-based science work that generally starts with a hypothesis of some kind. Often, the student find these hypothesis to be untrue, however that is when the real learning occurs. We always have a Reflection Sharing time where students share with others what they have discovered. This is my favorite time to walk around the room because I hear them talk through what they orginally thought (the misconception) to what they ended up knowing. These conversations make it all worth it. --Annie Craig, 2nd Grade Teacher

When I first starting teaching public speaking, I was surprised at how many misconceptions I had about public speaking. Similarly many of my students have the same misconceptions that I did. For example, one of my misconceptions was that the audience can tell how nervous you are when you're speaking. I have discovered though that evidence in research indicates that this is not the case. Nonetheless, it is still difficult for some of my students to overcome this misconception. B. Harnden

It is important to know what students are actually learning. Do they understand the process or just know the answer? I had an experience in a classroom the week before Thanksgiving where children were taking a state tests. Most of the answers contained common misconceptions and as previously mentioned, mislead a lot of the children. Most teachers were aware that the test was above the abilities of the children and they were not sure about some questions. Like teachers were not aware the reason, they were not sure was because of the misconceptions. Therefore, they did not know how to prevent this from interfering with the students choosing the correct answer. Teresa Hibler

I was unfamiliar with misconceptions until recently, when a class I was taking introduced me to the large number of misconceptions students hold about scientific concepts. During the course of the class, I had to interview high school students in a project to determine what, if any misconceptions they held about genetics concepts. I was surprised to find that, despite being in a biology class, most of the students still held inaccurate ideas about many aspects of genetics and inheritance. Based on this, I have had to change my attitude about teaching certain topics. I have a feeling most teachers would do well to at least try and assess any misconceptions students might hold about a given topic. Timothy Zorn

Math deals with many misconception, but one of the main ones is the if you use a calculator, you will always get the right answer. I am constantly fighting this misconception. I reinforce to the students that they need to enter the right formulas in the right way to get the right answer. I relate to them the scenario that we always hear of “Computer Error”. I remind them that the computer only does what it is told to do, and that the error is not the computers fault, but the operator’s fault (or programmer). This helps the students understand that the calculator is the same way. They need to constantly check their work and see if they have the right answer. It is always easy to hit the wrong button to make an answer wrong. We will do simple problems and share answers within the class to show people will get different answers because they typed in wrong data. This seems to help with the misconception that by using a Calculator you are always right. --Dale Donner

As a math teacher, I understand many of the misconceptions listed above (by Lee Wilkinson and Dale Donnor). We use TI-89 graphing calculators with algebraic manipulation capabilities and the operator error on this calculator can be significant. The calculator has a function called "pretty print". This function takes what you type in using the calculator keys (such as "^" to indicate "raised to the power of" and turns it into textbook looking mathematical formulas on the screen. This function makes it easy to see if you put all the parenthesis and operations in the correct places. It is always amazing to me, that even with pretty print, students will get a wrong answer and blame the calculator. I also notice a common misconception when I teach volume of cones and pyramids. When given a cylinder and a cone (or prism and a pyramid) with congruent bases and the same height, students will guees that the volume of the cone is half of the volume of the cylinder. I have plastic models that I use for this (and a bucket of water) and demonstrate that it takes 3 cones to fill the pyramid. Students always seemed surprised but they seem to remember this little math experiment. R. Grunloh