Investigating early childhood education students’ ideas about microorganisms

Abstract

ABSTRACT Various age groups of students often hold alternative ideas regarding aspects of microorganisms, such as their biological functions, activity and typical habitats. Taking into account that (a) although there are research data on school students’ ideas about microorganisms, there do not seem to be much data on the ideas of university students, and (b) the ideas early childhood education students hold about microorganisms are of particular importance as preschool educators are called to support the building of a proper understanding of microorganisms by preschoolers, we investigated the ideas of 84 early childhood education students about microorganisms, focusing on their perceived locations, beneficial/harmful activities and biological functions. The results reveal a significant number of students associating microorganisms with surfaces, objects we touch and the human body. The prevailing conceptualisation portrays microorganisms as a threat to human health, with the most common harmful activity being the induction of diseases and the most beneficial activity being the stimulation of antibody production that follows the intrusion of microorganisms into the body. Regarding biological functions, there is a limited understanding, with only about one-third of students attributing all essential functions to microorganisms. We discuss relevant literature and explore the potential implications of our findings.