Children's Misconceptions Research Articles

Overturning Children's Misconceptions about Ruler Measurement: The Power of Disconfirming Evidence.

Children have persistent difficulty with foundational measurement concepts, which may be linked to the instruction they receive. Here, we focus on testing various ways to support their understanding that rulers comprise spatial interval units. We examined whether evidence-based learning tools-disconfirming evidence and/or structural alignment-enhance their understanding of ruler units. Disconfirming evidence, in this context, involves having children count the spatial interval units under an object that is not aligned with the origin of a ruler. Structural alignment, in this context, involves highlighting what a ruler unit is by overlaying plastic unit chips on top of ruler units when an object is aligned with the origin of a ruler. In three experiments employing a pre-test/training/post-test design, a total of 120 second graders were randomly assigned to one of six training conditions (two training conditions per experiment). The training conditions included different evidence-based learning principles or "business-as-usual" instruction (control), with equal allocation to each (N = 20 for each condition). In each experiment, children who did not perform above chance level on the pre-test were selected to continue with training, which resulted in a total of 88 students for the analysis of improvement. The children showed significant improvement in training conditions that included disconfirming evidence, but not in the structural alignment or control conditions. However, an exploratory analysis suggests that improvement occurred more rapidly and was retained better when structural alignment was combined with disconfirming evidence compared to disconfirming evidence alone.

Misconceptions in 5-6 Year Old Children: Formation of a Cloud

Many phenomena and events in which children are included are suitable to be researched and discovered by children within the scope of science education. Children ask many questions while researching the scientific facts and phenomena they are curious about and learn new concepts. In this process, it is essential to teach the concepts children will learn and the new education to be formed. Therefore, this study aimed to examine the concept of cloud, which mainly attracts children's attention, and the current conceptual knowledge and misconceptions about cloud formation. For this purpose, the phenomenology pattern was used in the research. The study group consisted of 60-72 month-old children studying in an independent kindergarten affiliated with the Ministry of National Education in Antalya. A total of 12 children and one teacher were included in the study. The research used the 'Personal Information Form', ‘Children's Scientific Concepts Evaluation Form' and 'Teacher Interview Form for Science Education' as data collection tools for children and their teachers. The data were analyzed by the descriptive analysis method. Findings obtained from children were presented in the form of themes by coding. As a result of the research, it was determined that children had concept deficiencies and misconceptions about the formation of the cloud and that there were errors in the formation of meaning. In addition, teachers' suggestions were made to evaluate and change children's misconceptions.

Concept Development of Decimals in Chinese Elementary Students: A Conceptual Change Approach

The aim of this study was to examine the concept development of decimal numbers in 244 Chinese elementary students in grades 4–6. Three grades of students differed in their intuitive sense of decimals and conceptual understanding of decimals, with more strategic approaches used by older students. Misconceptions regarding the density nature of decimals indicated the progress in an ascending spiral trend (i.e., fourth graders performed the worst; fifth graders performed the best; and sixth graders regressed slightly), not in a linear trend. Misconceptions regarding decimal computation (i.e., multiplication makes bigger) generally decreased across grades. However, children's misconceptions regarding the density and infinity features of decimals appeared to be more persistent than misconceptions regarding decimal computation. Some students in higher grades continued to use the discreteness feature of whole numbers to explain the distance between two decimal numbers, indicating an intermediate level of understanding decimals. The findings revealed the effect of symbolic representation of interval end points and students' responses were contingent on the actual representations of interval end points. Students in all three grades demonstrated narrowed application of decimal values (e.g., merchandise), and their application of decimals was largely limited by their learning experiences.

Children's misconceptions and conceptual change in Physics Education: the concept of light

The aim of this research project is to investigate the effect of a constructivist  teaching strategy on 11-12 old children's understanding of light. It explores their understanding of the concept of light as an entity that is transmitted independently if the light source and the final receiver. The study was conducted in three phases: pre-test, teaching intervention, and post-test. The sample consisted of 120 children who were assigned to two groups. The children in the experimental group participated in activities which adopted a constructivist perspective, while the children in the control group participated in activities with the same objectives, but adopting an classical teaching perspective. A statistically significant difference was found, between the pre-test and the post-test, providing evidence for the effect of the constructivist strategy on facilitating children in create model for the concept of light.

Designing Science Learning in the First Years of Schooling. An intervention study with sequenced learning material on the topic of ‘floating and sinking'

Research on learning and instruction of science has shown that learning environments applied in preschool and primary school rarely makes use of structured learning materials in problem-based environments although these are decisive quality features for promoting conceptual change and scientific reasoning within early science learning. We thus developed and implemented a science learning environment for children in the first years of schooling which contains structured learning materials with the goal of supporting conceptual change concerning the understanding of the floating and sinking of objects and fostering students' scientific reasoning skills. In the present implementation study, we aim to provide a best-practice example of early science learning. The study was conducted with a sample of 15 classes of the first years of schooling and a total of 244 children. Tests were constructed to measure children's conceptual understanding before and after the implementation. Our results reveal a decrease in children's misconceptions from pretest to posttest. After the curriculum, the children were able to produce significantly more correct predictions about the sinking or floating of objects than before the curriculum and also relative to a control group. Moreover, due to the intervention, the explanations given for their predictions implied a more elaborated concept of material kinds. All in all, a well-structured curriculum promoting comparison and scientific reasoning by means of inquiry learning was shown to support children's conceptual change.

Developmental changes in the comparison of decimal fractions

Learning about decimal fractions is difficult because it requires an extension of the number concept built on natural numbers. The aim of the present study was to investigate developmental changes in children's misconceptions in decimal fraction processing. A large sample of children from Grades 3 to 6 performed a numerical comparison task on different categories of pairs of decimal fractions. The success rate and the type of error they made varied with age and categories. We distinguished the impact of the value of the digits from the impact of the length of the fractional part on children's pattern of responses. Although both kinds of impact affected the success rate, the digit values had a stronger impact and were mastered later than the length. Our results also showed that a zero just after the decimal point was understood better and earlier than a zero at the end of the fractional part of a number. Cluster analysis was conducted to determine groups of children who answered similarly regarding the response type across the various categories of decimal fractions. To interpret the data the conceptual change framework was used.

“As soon as the four sides are all equal, then the angles must be 90° each”. Children's misconceptions in geometry

This study describes Nigerian and South African students' conceptual understanding in high school geometry based on the van Hiele model of geometric thinking levels. The study further highlights students' misconceptions in school geometry. Concepts of triangles and quadrilaterals were investigated among 36 mathematics learners drawn from grades 10 through 12 who participated in this study. The tasks included identifying and naming shapes, sorting of shapes, stating the properties of shapes, defining of shapes and establishing class inclusions of shapes. The results indicated that many Nigerian and South African high school learners in Grade 10, 11 and 12 hold a number of misconceptions about geometric concepts of triangles and quadrilaterals. The use of imprecise terminology in describing many geometric shapes was common among the learners. The majority of learners in this study were at van Hiele level 0. Although many were able to distinguish between triangles and quadrilaterals, they lacked the appropriate vocabulary to distinguish among shapes in the same class. For many learners, the task of naming shapes was easier than giving a description of their properties. Also many students demonstrated a relatively better understanding of the concept of triangle than that of quadrilaterals. Knowledge of class inclusions of shape was absent among these learners. The results of this study were found to be consistent with those of earlier studies and recommendations are offered.

A SCALE FOR ASSESSING PROBABILISTIC THINKING AND THE REPRESENTATIVENESS TENDENCY

We report a study of children's probability conceptions and misconceptions using a diagnostic instrument developed from the literature on the representativeness heuristic. Rasch measurement methodology was used to develop the 13-item open response instrument with a sample (n=116) of 12-15 year olds. The result is that a hierarchy of responses at two levels is confirmed for this sample, and a third level is hypothesised. Each level is characterised by the ability to overcome typical 'representativeness' effects, namely 'recency', 'random-similarity' (at level 1), 'base-rate frequency' and 'sample size' (at level 2-3). The validity of our interpretations was tested and some anomalies were identified through clinical interviews with children making the errors (n=8). Another Rasch ability measure, which we named the 'representativeness tendency', was constructed from 11 multiple-choice errors.

Children's Ideas About Weather: A Review of the Literature

It is generally accepted that children have their own understanding of how the world works prior to receiving formal science instruction. A great deal of research has been done to determine students' misconceptions related to the physical sciences; less has been done to understand children's ideas in the Earth sciences. This paper reports a synthesis of the existing research about children's misconceptions relating to weather, climate and the atmosphere. The scientifically accepted interpretations are presented in tandem with the children's naïve ideas. When possible, a source of the misconception is also presented. In many cases, students' misconceptions are not addressed in the curriculum, allowing them to exist unchallenged.

Children's Misconceptions in Primary Science: A Survey of teachers' views

Young children hold naive theories about the world around them, but how do these mediate science learning in primary school? This paper considers the process of conceptual change and describes empirical studies into children's naive theories of physics concepts. The Representational Redescription model is invoked to explain how naive theories are a feature of conceptual change. Data are presented from a survey of 122 teachers of primary science in England. The teachers rated almost one-third of the topics sampled from the primary curriculum as being of above average difficulty for the children, particularly abstract concepts like electricity and forces. In addition, the teachers identified 130 misconceptions (such as 'Stones grow' or 'Taller people are older than shorter people') which children bring to the science class. These data provide a starting point for considering how children's naive theories may mediate their ability to learn and implications for science teaching are discussed.

Children's misconceptions on reproduction and implications for teaching

Studies on misconceptions developed by children after instruction are important in revealing their difficulties in conceptualizing scientific knowledge and suggesting ways of remedy. This paper probes Certificate-level students’ (age 17+) understanding of the menstrual cycle by analyzing their performance on a multiple-choice item in a public examination. Many students showed problems in relating the time of conception to the condition of the uterine lining. By reviewing the possible causes of misunderstanding, it is suggested that conceptual development can be promoted by classroom instruction that avoids excessive factual detail, establishes meaningful connections between new and existing concepts, and takes into account students’ prior knowledge.

Teachers' misconceptions of the circulatory system

This article explores why teachers, like their students, show serious misunderstandings of the circulatory system. The implications of this problem and remedies are considered Most of the teachers participating in an in-service teacher training programme demonstrated a number of misconceptions of the circulatory system. They did not understand the relationships between flow rate, blood pressure, and vessel diameter. This led to the formation of erroneous ideas on the properties of capillaries. They had unclear ideas of the role of formation and withdrawal of tissue fluid at the capillary plexus, and showed a poor understanding of the mechanism for exchange of materials between the blood and body cells. The findings revealed that many biology teachers may not possess adequate subject knowledge for teaching the secondary curriculum. Teacher training programmes should promote teachers' awareness of the nature and impact of children's misconceptions in science learning. Teachers' understanding in biological knowledge should be strengthened so that they would not propagate or perpetuate misconceptions.

Children's Free Recall Sketch Maps of the World on a Spherical Surface

Seventy-two children from six primary schools were invited to draw the Earth's land masses on a blue sphere, representing a globe. The results confirmed a typology of children's freehand sketch maps of the world described in a previous paper, but some characteristic differences were noted, including a tendency to represent Europe-Africa as a single land mass and Europe-Asia as separate land masses. These effects are thought to be a result of the partial viewpoint obtained from a globe, compared with the view of the whole world obtained from a map. The results also confirm findings from other studies which indicate children's misconceptions about the locations of Europe and Africa.

The Influences of the National Curriculum on Children's Misconceptions about Astronomy and the Use of these Misconceptions in the Development of Interactive Teaching Materials

It is now well established that children construct their own explanations for the easily observed astronomical events before they receive any formal education in astronomy (see Mali & Howe, 1985; Nussbaum & Novak, 1976; Vosnaidou, 1991. It is also generally accepted that childrens notions, or ‘alternative frameworks’ are tenacious and frequently pass into adulthood (Gunstone et al, 1981). Baxter's (1989) survey revealed a hierarchy of alternative frameworks about astronomy that became less naive as age increases, but also revealed that many pupils leaving school at the age of 16 years did not explain the easily observed astronomical events within a post-Copernican framework.

Children's Misconceptions and Conceptual Change

Children bring a range of beliefs relating to the scientific domains to early childhood services. These often differ from the accepted ‘scientific view’ and hence are termed ‘misconceptions’ or ‘preconceptions’. An examination of how these misconceptions change over time, through instruction and through other mechanisms is presented in the paper that follows. Piagetian and Vygotskian theories offer insights into children's misconceptions, relating to how they are formed, and how they are influenced by personal experience and social factors. Both of these theories can be utilised to ensure that early childhood educators respond appropriately to children's earliest conceptions and promote children's concept development.

Learning to teach: some perceptions of trainee teachers of mathematics on working collaboratively in the classroom

This paper examines trainees' perceptions of the impact, on secondary mathematics trainees, of collaborative school‐based work involving small groups of trainees, a university tutor and a class teacher. The findings suggest that trainees' become better able to plan and deliver a coherent yet diverse sequence of lessons, that their awareness of children's learning styles and misconceptions was raised and that preconceived notions about teaching and learning were challenged and mediated. A few trainees found the experience unhelpful and threatening. The role of the tutor was found to influence trainees' responses to the program and, to an extent, moderate the effects of variations in teacher involvement. Some implications are discussed.

Stopping to thinks school‐based and higher education‐based primary student teachers' reflections on their learning

This paper examines trainees' perceptions of the impact, on secondary mathematics trainees, of collaborative school‐based work involving small groups of trainees, a university tutor and a class teacher. The findings suggest that trainees' become better able to plan and deliver a coherent yet diverse sequence of lessons, that their awareness of children's learning styles and misconceptions was raised and that preconceived notions about teaching and learning were challenged and mediated. A few trainees found the experience unhelpful and threatening. The role of the tutor was found to influence trainees' responses to the program and, to an extent, moderate the effects of variations in teacher involvement. Some implications are discussed.

The particulate nature of matter in science education and in science

This article addresses ideas about the particulate nature of matter that are considered to be correct or acceptable in science education and studies of children's misconceptions. It argues that science teachers and educators use educational as well as scientific criteria for correctness, and that these criteria do not always coincide. Relations between the particulate nature of matter in science and science education are analyzed in an attempt to make more intelligible children's inclination to attribute all kinds of macroscopic properties to particles. © 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

What Do Minority Elementary Students Understand about the Causes of Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome, Colds, and Obesity?

Elementary school-age children's conceptual understanding and factual knowledge about the causes of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), colds, and obesity are poorly understood, particularly among black children living in low-income, urban neighborhoods. We examined minority children's conceptual understanding about the causes of these illnesses. In addition, children's knowledge and misconceptions about the causal agents of AIDS, colds, and obesity were investigated. A developmentally based, semistructured interview was developed to measure children's level of understanding about the causes of each condition. Interviews were conducted with 239, predominately black, first, third, and fifth grade students attending two public elementary schools in a low income city in northern California. Interviews were verbally administered and tape recorded for later verbatim transcription. Children's responses to questions about causality first were scored based on their level of conceptual sophistication. Responses then were assigned to thematic categories reflecting the children's factual knowledge about the causes of AIDS, colds, and obesity. Increases in grade level were associated with higher scores for causality of AIDS (p < .0001), colds (p < .0001), and obesity (p < .01). In all three conditions, causality scores increased between first and fifth grades, but did not significantly vary between third and fifth grades. Gender, socioeconomic status, and number of adults living in the household were not significantly associated with causality scores. Within each grade, the finding of lower causality scores for AIDS, as compared to colds and obesity, points out the need for developmentally appropriate explanations to children about the causes of AIDS.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Transforming subject‐matter knowledge: the role of pedagogical content knowledge in learning to reflect on teaching

Many beginning teachers view teaching as a simple transmission of subject‐matter knowledge to students. This paper explores how the concept of pedagogical content knowledge can play a critical role in (i) clarifying the need for teachers to transform content knowledge into forms that are accessible to children, and (ii) reflecting on how to accomplish this transformation. A vignette, of a group of preservice secondary science teachers as they reflect on children's misconceptions about electrical current, is used to illustrate how inquiring into the manner in which students might reasonably hold such conceptions can lead to subject‐matter representations and teaching strategies with the potential for promoting the reasoned adoption of a scientific view of electrical current.