I want to identify and diagnose the misconceptions/alternative conceptions. I also want to make a remedial programme to minimize this misconception/alternative conceptions.
What would be the basic procedures for this research work?
What kind of misconceptions/alternative views are we talking about and at what grade level?
In early grades, religious misconceptions would probably be the most common. This requires a delicate response and can be a complex issue, and helps if the professor has some understanding of the students beliefs.
In older students, they might be influenced by some of the theories found on the internet. These alternative views have to be addressed on a case by case basis.
The best program to deal with this problem in a general way is to teach logic and to get students ask questions, and compare theories with observations. Prepare the student in this manner, and they can find out which theories are worthwhile and which are worthless on their own in life.
Thank you sir for your answer.
I want to work on 11th standard Biology subject misconceptions.
hi,
select just one topic and try to develop a tool to gauge the misconceptions. you can adopt adept or construct this at your own. run a pilot test . Misconceptions is very interesting field if teachers teach with out caring about these it is like a blind leading blinds in a blind alley. have a nice journey. hope you will inform about the progress.
regards,
ijaz
I would not be so concerned about particular misconceptions. The main problem is to get students to examine all of their pre-understandings and compare them with your presentations in the classroom. Normally students are so stuck with their pre-understandings that they fail to "hear" what you say. Students come to me after class and claim that I have said the opposite that I did in class. Surely an "authority" could only say what they know to be true. My research group believes that we need to change how students learn. We feel that most students have loosely organized course concepts in contrast to the web of interconnections perceived by their instructors. The idea is to get students to conceive of science in terms of a coherent theoretical framework.
A coherent scientific framework is a highly ordered knowledge structure that contains a coherent set of interrelated big ideas. As students learn, they relate new material to the material that they feel they already understand and in the process assimilate the new material within the framework.
Ideally you need to develop a site of activities to scaffold students.
We conducted a three year study at two different institutions. The final report was presented at the 2014 Annual NARST International and is available for download from our research website:
http://reflectivewriting.concordia.ca/
I think you should have a look on Reinders Duit (2009) bibliography about students' and teachers ' conception in the field of Science Education. It's available online:
http://archiv.ipn.uni-kiel.de/stcse/
Calvin, I found your answer to be very interesting. In my experience with 13 to 15 yer olds, I find their misconceptions to be one of two kinds, transitory and ephemoral or deep seated and linked with emotion. In the first case, the specific misconception isn't of great importance because it will generally self correct if needed. In the second case, the misconception is not open to change because of the emotional comitment. Your solution, to train students in self critique, in the truly scientific act of seeking consistency in a framework of knowedge is by far the best solution. That being said there is also no problem with trying to deal with misconceptions as this question suggests.
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