Pre-instructional Conceptions Research Articles

Finnish 5th and 6th grade students' pre-instructional conceptions of artificial intelligence (AI) and their implications for AI literacy education

In the present paper, we report the findings of a qualitative survey study of 195 Finnish 5th and 6th grade students' pre-instructional conceptions of artificial intelligence (AI). An exploration of these initial conceptions provides insight into students' preliminary understanding of the topic and informs curriculum designers and teachers about misconceptions that might jeopardize student learning. The findings suggest that students' initial conceptions of AI are varied and often uninformed. For instance, references to the role of data in training AI applications were practically nonexistent. Instead, AI was often described as an anthropomorphic technology that possesses cognitive qualities equivalent to those of humans––a conception that notably resembles how AI is portrayed in the media. As a pedagogical implication, our findings suggest that it would be valuable to “demystify” AI by exploring its technical principles (i.e., the role of data) of the “human-like” AI solutions students encounter in their everyday lives.

ARGUMENT, KNOWLEDGE AND ETHICS: UNDERSTANDING CORE CONCEPTS IN PHILOSOPHY BY AN EMPIRICAL STUDY ON GREEK UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

An empirical study was conducted measuring the degree to which Greek university students’ understanding of core philosophical concepts (that is, ‘argument’, ‘knowledge’ and ‘ethics’) has been shaped by the material taught in the classroom. The extent of this transition from pre-instructional conceptions to textbook formulations has been investigated through the use of a new questionnaire. Findings indicate that generally, students retain their pre-theoretical understanding of these terms. Within this framework, some formal definitions are closer to common sense (e.g. ‘ethics’) and some others aren’t (e.g. ‘knowledge’). Furthermore, the role of intuitions in this process is been evaluated, leading to the ascertainment that previous philosophical encounters seem to play a crucial role in determining actual understanding.

Between Environmental Utilization and Protection: Adolescent Conceptions of Biodiversity

As human activities threaten biodiversity on a global scale, preventing further biodiversity loss requires scientifically literate and environmentally responsible citizens. Biodiversity education (BE) as part of education for sustainable development (ESD) may lay the foundation of fostering a sense of responsibility for biodiversity and its preservation among future generations. Meaningful learning depends on the integration of new knowledge into already existing student conceptions (i.e., students’ pre-instructional mental concepts and ideas of teaching subjects). Thus, assessment and consideration of student conceptions on biodiversity are of high relevance for the development of successful BE and ESD lessons. In the present qualitative study, we applied three open-ended questions in a paper-and-pencil format to assess adolescents’ pre-instructional conceptions on biodiversity, its benefits, and protection. Almost our total sample of 275 German 10th graders equated biodiversity with species diversity, revealing an only fragmented understanding of the scientific concept of biodiversity. Conceptions of the benefits of biodiversity were almost equally balanced between environmental and economic benefits. Notions of environmental preservation considerably outnumbered notions of environmental utilization in student conceptions of biodiversity protection.

Young children’s conceptions of computers, code, and the Internet

In the present paper, we report the findings of a qualitative survey study of 195 Finnish 5th and 6th grade students' pre-instructional conceptions of artificial intelligence (AI). An exploration of these initial conceptions provides insight into students' preliminary understanding of the topic and informs curriculum designers and teachers about misconceptions that might jeopardize student learning. The findings suggest that students' initial conceptions of AI are varied and often uninformed. For instance, references to the role of data in training AI applications were practically nonexistent. Instead, AI was often described as an anthropomorphic technology that possesses cognitive qualities equivalent to those of humans––a conception that notably resembles how AI is portrayed in the media. As a pedagogical implication, our findings suggest that it would be valuable to “demystify” AI by exploring its technical principles (i.e., the role of data) of the “human-like” AI solutions students encounter in their everyday lives.

Understanding Plant Nutrition—The Genesis of Students’ Conceptions and the Implications for Teaching Photosynthesis

Plant nutrition and photosynthesis is one of the most difficult issues teachers are confronted with in science classes. This can be due to alternative conceptions students’ hold, which are often profoundly contrary to their scientific counterparts. Consequently, fruitful learning environments should build on learners’ alternative conceptions to initiate conceptual change towards a more scientific understanding. In this qualitative case study, high-school students’ pre-instructional conceptions about plant nutrition were identified empirically. Afterwards these students were exposed to the van-Helmont experiment in order to create a cognitive conflict. The learning processes and signs of conceptual change were identified using Qualitative Content Analysis. The results show that the van-Helmont experiment does not trigger conceptual change but reinforces students’ pre-instructional conceptions. Ultimately, a cognitive-linguistic analysis using Conceptual Metaphor Theory was conducted. Interestingly, underlying embodied conceptions and image schemas about human nutrition became evident. These thinking patterns were used metaphorically and, therefore, can be seen as the basis to understand plant nutrition. As a result, we propose a reverse approach of teaching photosynthesis and nutrition. Our Dissimilation-Before-Assimilation approach takes learners’ alternative conceptions and underlying image schemas into account in order to promote a fruitful learning of the concepts of plant nutrition.

Sources of students difficulties in learning Chemistry

<span>Chemistry is a difficult subject to teach and to learn at both secondary and tertiary levels. Major learning difficulties are due to the particular views of chemistry phenomena that in many ways contradict intuitive and everyday views of the learners. As a result, major misunderstandings occur when students try to comprehend chemical explanations within the framework of their pre-instructional conceptions. This paper describes research findings on students pre-instructional conceptions in the domain of chemistry and on attempts to guide students from their conceptions to the core ideas of chemistry.</span>

A fairytale creation or the beginning of everything: Students’ pre-instructional conceptions about the Big Bang theory

Summary The beginning of the universe, the Big Bang, being an important subdomain in cosmology, marks the very beginning of space and time. Therefore, it has formed the modern scientific worldview. Transferring this to students through science teaching is a frequent request in science literacy discussion (e.g., American Association for the Advancement of Science, 1993 , Schecker et al., 2004 ). However, it is not yet clear in science education if students’ conceptions about the Big Bang vary by nationality, and therefore, if it is possible to apply the same teaching modules to students from different countries, who may have diverse social and cultural backgrounds and different curricula. These conceptions with which students enter the classroom were investigated in our study. We implemented an open-ended questionnaire survey in Germany, with questions based on recent U.S. studies. The results clearly showed, with high interrater reliabilities, widespread misconceptions like the Big Bang being an explosion of preexisting matter into empty space or the universe having a centre. Furthermore, a comparison of results from researchers in the USA, Sweden and Germany allowed us to identify differences in students’ conceptions between the countries. Our findings appear to indicate that German students have slightly better pre-instructional conceptions about the Big Bang theory.

What is more informative in the history of science, the signal or the noise?

In many domains of knowledge, from mechanics (McCloskey, 1983) to thermodynamics (Wiser, 1987) to astronomy (Vosniadou & Brewer, 1992), it has been claimed that conceptual development in the individual resembles theory change in the history of science. Here, Kampourakis takes issue with that claim in the domain of evolution. In particular, he argues (a) that early evolutionary theorists never construed species as possessing essences and (b) that the distinction between pre-Darwinian and postDarwinian evolutionary thought is muddled and therefore an inappropriate analog for the development of evolutionary thought among today’s students of biology. (Kampourakis makes two additional arguments directed at Ware & Gelman, 2013; which I defer to Ware, this issue). My colleagues and I have argued that students’ evolutionary misconceptions resemble pre-Darwinian theories of evolution—in particular, the essentialist aspects of pre-Darwinian theories—on numerous occasions (Shtulman, 2006; Shtulman & Calabi, 2012, 2013; Shtulman & Checa, 2012; Shtulman & Schulz, 2008), and I maintain that this comparison is both empirically fruitful and theoretically meaningful. With respect to the first argument, Kampourakis notes that historians of science disagree about the veracity of the “Essentialism Story,” or the claim that Darwin’s predecessors and contemporaries essentialized biological kinds. “While it is true that scholars often wrote about the essences of life, of organs, etc.,” writes Kampourakis, “they never accepted that species had to have jointly necessary and severally sufficient conditions, or that members of a species should bear essential properties” (p. 1). Here, Kampourakis conflates two forms of essentialism: construing species in explicitly essentialist terms, which early evolutionary theorists arguably did not do, and positing theories of evolution that are inherently essentialist in their mechanisms of change, which early evolutionary theorists arguably did do (Gould, 1996; Hull, 1965; Mayr, 1982; Sober, 1980). That is,

Fostering conceptual change by analogies—between Scylla and Charybdis

A growing body of research shows that analogies may be powerful tools for guiding students from their pre-instructional conceptions towards science concepts. But it has also become apparent that analogies may deeply mislead students' learning processes. Conceptual change, to put it into other words, may be both supported and hampered by the same analogy. The study presented here was designed to investigate the processes of analogy generation and development and to reveal the microstructure of analogical reasoning. Analogical reasoning was investigated during a grade 10 physics unit on the limited predictability of chaotic systems. Analogies played a key role in the instructional module to make explicit function and structure of certain chaotic systems. Analogies were also used to introduce the notion of “chaotic systems” embracing prototypical examples of chaotic systems studied. The theoretical orientation of the study merges key features of conceptual change approaches and social-constructivist studies on communities of learners. Hence, students were provided with substantial periods of time to generate their own analogies or employ analogies provided by the teacher to understand chaotic systems. There are many cases in our study that illustrate the affordances and pitfalls of analogies in promoting conceptual change. Hence the use of analogies as teaching and learning aids may always be a delicate course between Scylla and Charybdis.

Constructivism as a referent in the design and development of a computer program using interactive digital video to enhance learning in physics

<span>This paper describes the fruitful interaction between educational research on constructivism and the development and use of a multimedia computer program. The software uses interactive digital video clips to present sixteen real world demonstrations to Physics students. It is designed to be used by pairs of students to elicit their pre-instructional conceptions of Force and Motion and encourage discussion about these views. A predict-observe-explain (POE) strategy is used to structure the learners' engagement with the video clips. The choice and sequence of the video clips, as well as the multiple choice options available to students in the prediction phase of each task was informed by misconception research in physics education. All multiple choice selections and written responses made by users are recorded automatically in a text file on the computer hard drive.</span>

Assessment and investigation of science laboratory skills among year 5 students

In line with the current interest in alternative and authentic assessment, this study focused on the evaluation of students' performance on science laboratory process skills. A sample of 147 year 5 students from six schools responded to laboratory process skills tests which assess investigating, performing and reasoning in the content areas of biology, chemistry and physics. The data were analysed to provide information about students' overall practical performance and to identify specific preinstructional conceptions and erros. An investigation of predictors of laboratory performance revealed significant associations between performance and amount of homework done and students' perceptions of several aspects of the classroom environment (personalisation, investigation and organisation). The gender differences commonly found in science achievement were absent when laboratory performance was used as the criterion.