Student Alternative Conceptions Research Articles

Addressing student conceptions in evolution classes: professional vision practices of preservice and in-service biology teachers

BackgroundIn evolution education, consensus is widespread that diagnosing and addressing well-known student alternative conceptions is particularly important. As classrooms are complex environments with many activities happening simultaneously, noticing and interpreting situations relevant to student thinking is important for addressing student conceptions. This ability can be conceptualised as professional vision. Science educators must understand teachers’ status quo regarding their professional vision to identify aspects of teacher education and professional development.ResultsThe central concern of this qualitative-reconstructive case study is to describe and better understand how preservice and in-service biology teachers are enacting their professional vision regarding student alternative conceptions and addressing them in evolution class. For data collection, a video clip without any further specific instructions was used as a stimulus for 31 group discussions and 9 individual interviews with 115 preservice and in-service biology teachers. The data were analysed using the documentary method. Of the 40 cases available, 15 were fully interpreted and used for typification. Regarding theoretical saturation, our analyses of the opening passage and other transcript material relevant to the research question for the remaining 25 cases did not lead to any new insights into previously reconstructed orientations or could no longer contribute to the analytical differentiation. The comparative analyses show that in all cases, two key issues could be reconstructed: (1) the relation of teaching and learning scientific norms and (2) the relation of student conceptions and scientific norms. These two issues are consistently processed in an evaluation mode. Across all cases, the participants assess the teacher’s actions and the student learning process. The reconstructed types differ in the importance attributed to student conceptions. Student conceptions are constructed, for instance, as indicators of subject-specific knowledge gaps that need to be filled, as a teaching problem, as something that must be removed or changed, or as coexisting experiential knowledge.ConclusionsWe conclude that the discussion of and reflection upon professional vision practices is an important task for teacher education. The study of cases using lesson videos and a professional development programme called video clubs seems promising because these approaches offer possibilities for addressing many of the teacher education challenges to which our results point.

AVALIAÇÃO DA INFLUÊNCIA DAS CONCEPÇÕES ALTERNATIVAS NO ENSINO E APRENDIZAGEM DA FÍSICA: UM ESTUDO DE CASO EM MOÇAMBIQUE

O presente trabalho relata os resultados de uma pesquisa que visa avaliar a influência da valorização das concepções alternativas dos alunos nos conceitos de calor e temperatura. Para concretização deste estudo, foi feito um levantamento na literatura das concepções alternativas mais comuns dos alunos. Em seguida, produziu-se um questionário que foi validado após a sua aplicação a 25 estudantes da 9ª classe, com 7 perguntas abertas, das quais 5 foram retiradas da literatura e 2 elaboradas pelos autores. O questionário foi refeito com a reformulação de algumas questões e acréscimo de outras, tendo passado para 13 questões. O novo instrumento foi aplicado a 121 alunos de 2 turmas selecionadas aleatoriamente. As duas turmas foram submetidas a três aulas, nos quais na turma experimental valorizou-se as concepções alternativas dos alunos e na turma de controlo não se teve em consideração essas concepçõe. O resultado mostra que na turma experimental os alunos melhoraram significativamente a formulação dos conceitos científicos sobre calor e temperatura em relação à turma de controlo, tendo se concluído que a valorização destas no processo de ensino e aprendizagem é fundamental para a aprendizagem significativa, enfatizando Ausubel sobre a valorização do conhecimento prévio.

Misconceptions and persistence: resources for targeting student alternative conceptions in biotechnology.

Conceptual understanding and reasoning of nonscience major students enrolled in a course on biotechnology were evaluated before and after instruction. The instrument for analysis of student understanding was the Biotechnology Instrument for Knowledge Elicitation (BIKE). The BIKE targets 11 key concepts, as determined by experts in the field. A statistically significant score improvement was observed in each of the 11 concept areas after completion of the course, Biotechnology in Society (N = 117). Student responses to both the pretest and posttest were highly informative and revealed several common misconceptions that could have been overlooked in a closed form testing scenario. These alternative conceptions and recommended clarifications have been presented here. Our goal in documenting and distributing these is to better equip educators in biology and biochemistry to anticipate student preconceptions, design targeted interventions, and improve student conceptual reasoning in topics pertaining to biology and biotechnology. © 2018 International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 46(6):602-611, 2018.

Problem-based learning in teaching chemistry: enthalpy changes in systems

BackgroundProblem-based learning (PBL) as a teaching strategy has recently become quite widespread in especially chemistry classes. Research has found that students, from elementary through college, have many alternative conceptions regarding enthalpy changes in systems. Although there are several studies focused on identifying student alternative conceptions and misunderstandings of this subject, studies on preventing the formation of these alternative conceptions are limited.PurposeThe aim of this study was to improve the learning achievements of students and to investigate the effects of PBL and thereby prevent the formation of alternative conceptions with respect to the teaching of the chemistry lesson, enthalpy changes in systems.SampleThe population of the study consisted of 41 students from 2 11th-grade high school classes in Izmir, Turkey.Design and methodsAs a pre- and post-test quasi-experimental design was used for the study, one of the two classes was randomly assigned as the experimental group, and the other was used as the control group. In teaching the subject, the developed material was taught by the same teacher who applied PBL in the experimental group and traditional teaching methods in the control group. At the end of the teaching units, a post-test was administered to determine the level of student learning and achievement.ResultsIt was concluded from the obtained results that the average success of the experimental group was significantly higher than that of the control group and that the experimental group had significantly fewer alternative conceptions, conceptual difficulties, and lack of knowledge than did the control group.ConclusionsPBL is an effective active learning approach that enhances achievement and prevents the formation of alternative conceptions, conceptual difficulties and lack of knowledge among 11th-grade students with respect to enthalpy changes in systems. The results suggest that if PBL were more widely applied in classes, students would acquire the skills necessary to be successful in life.

Exploring the relationship between secondary science teachers’ subject matter knowledge and knowledge of student conceptions while teaching evolution by natural selection

The fundamental scientific concept of evolution occurring by natural selection is home to many deeply held alternative conceptions and considered difficult to teach. Science teachers’ subject matter knowledge (SMK) and the pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) component of knowledge of students’ conceptions (KOSC) can be valuable resources for helping students learn difficult science concepts such as natural selection. However, little research exists that explores the relationship between science teachers’ SMK and their KOSC on evolution by natural selection. This study explores the relationship between SMK and KOSC through the participation of four biology teachers at a single high school and thus deepens our understanding of the teacher knowledge base. Main data sources are teacher interviews in which each teacher answered SMK-type questions and predicted what their students’ most common alternative conceptions were by using the Conceptual Inventory of Natural Selection (CINS). Other data sources include student responses on the CINS and classroom observations. Findings revealed relative independence between SMK and KOSC, although there is likely a minimum threshold of SMK to recognize student alternative conceptions. However, our work also revealed ways in which teachers were not leveraging their KOSC and suggest potential avenues for future inquiry. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 54: 219–246, 2017

A Resource for Eliciting Student Alternative Conceptions: Examining the Adaptability of a Concept Inventory for Natural Selection at the Secondary School Level

The Conceptual Inventory of Natural Selection (CINS) is an example of a research-based instrument that assesses conceptual understanding in an area that contains well-documented alternative conceptions. Much of the CINS’s use and original validation has been relegated to undergraduate settings, but the information learned from student responses on the CINS can also potentially be a useful resource for teachers at the secondary level. Because of its structure, the CINS can have a role in eliciting alternative conceptions and induce deeper conceptual understanding by having student ideas leveraged during instruction. In a first step toward this goal, the present study further investigated the CINS’s internal properties by having it administered to a group (n = 339) of students among four different biology teachers at a predominantly Latino, economically disadvantaged high school. In addition, incidences of the concept inventory’s use among the teachers’ practices were collected for support of its adaptability at the secondary level. Despite the teachers’ initial enthusiasm for the CINS’s use as an assessment tool in the present study, results from a principal components analysis demonstrate inconsistencies between the original and present validations. Results also reveal how the teachers think CINS items may be revised for future use among secondary student populations.

Student misconceptions about plant transport – a Sri Lankan example

Students bring with them their own misconceptions to the science classes and it becomes a barrier in developing new concepts. Therefore, identifying misconceptions is an essential component in teaching science. The objective of this study was to identify 10th grade students’ misconceptions on plant transport with the use of two-tier diagnostic test. The development procedure of the two-tier diagnostic test had three steps; (i) defining the content boundaries of the test (ii) collecting information on student misconceptions and (iii) instrument development. Student alternative conceptions were collected after interviewing 25 students and multiple choice questions with free responses being administered to the students. With the use of the date obtained, sixteen (08) two-tier multiple test items were constructed. The first tier examined the content knowledge and the second tier the reasons for the content. The conceptual knowledge examined in the test items were water absorption, mineral salt absorption, transportation of water, transpiration, organic food transportation. The diagnostic test was administered to 180, 10th grade students. It was revealed that students possessed 18 misconceptions. The highest number of misconceptions was recorded in the areas of organic food transportation and the transpiration. The most common misconception was found in the area of organic food transportation.

A Study Of Undergraduate Students Alternative Conceptions Of Earths Interior Using Drawing Tasks

Learning fundamental geoscience topics such as plate tectonics, earthquakes, and volcanoes requires students to develop a deep understanding of the conceptual models geologists use when describing the structure and dynamics of Earths interior. Despite the importance of these mental models underlying much of the undergraduate geoscience curriculum, surprisingly little research related to this complex idea exists in the discipline-based science education research literature. To better understand non-science-majoring undergraduates' conceptual models of Earths interior, student-generated drawings and interviews were used to probe student understanding of the Earth. Ninety-two semi-structured interviews were conducted with non-science-major college students at the beginning of an entry-level geology course at a large Midwestern university. Students were asked to draw a picture of Earths interior and provide think-aloud explanations of their drawings. The results reveal that students hold a wide range of alternative conceptions about Earth, with only a small fraction having scientifically accurate ideas. Students understandings ranged from conceptualizing Earths interior as consisting of horizontal layers of rock and dirt, to more sophisticated views with Earths interior being composed of concentric layers with unique physical and chemical characteristics. Processes occurring within Earth, such as "convection," were rarely mentioned or explained. These results provide a first-steps basis from which to further explore college students thinking and contribute to the growing body of knowledge on earth science teaching and geoscience education research.

The Dominance Concept Inventory: A Tool for Assessing Undergraduate Student Alternative Conceptions about Dominance in Mendelian and Population Genetics.

Despite the impact of genetics on daily life, biology undergraduates understand some key genetics concepts poorly. One concept requiring attention is dominance, which many students understand as a fixed property of an allele or trait and regularly conflate with frequency in a population or selective advantage. We present the Dominance Concept Inventory (DCI), an instrument to gather data on selected alternative conceptions about dominance. During development of the 16-item test, we used expert surveys (n= 12), student interviews (n= 42), and field tests (n= 1763) from introductory and advanced biology undergraduates at public and private, majority- and minority-serving, 2- and 4-yr institutions in the United States. In the final field test across all subject populations (n= 709), item difficulty ranged from 0.08 to 0.84 (0.51 ± 0.049 SEM), while item discrimination ranged from 0.11 to 0.82 (0.50 ± 0.048 SEM). Internal reliability (Cronbach's alpha) was 0.77, while test-retest reliability values were 0.74 (product moment correlation) and 0.77 (intraclass correlation). The prevalence of alternative conceptions in the field tests shows that introductory and advanced students retain confusion about dominance after instruction. All measures support the DCI as a useful instrument for measuring undergraduate biology student understanding and alternative conceptions about dominance.

A experimentação nas pesquisas sobre o ensino de Física: fundamentos epistemológicos e pedagógicos

Considerando a necessidade de analisar a fundamentação teórica que embasa as atividades experimentais escolares na ultima década, desenvolveu-se uma investigação tomando como objeto as pesquisas publicadas sobre essa temática em um importante periódico da área. Toma-se como referência a concepção de que a experimentação está inserida em um contexto epistemológico e pedagógico, pois envolve concepções de realidade, de conhecimento, de conhecimento científico, de método científico, enfim, uma concepção de ciência e também concepções de aprendizagem, de posicionamento dos conhecimentos prévios dos alunos, de relações entre conteúdo e método, enfim, uma concepção de currículo. Desenvolvendo uma análise epistemológico-pedagógica dos artigos, foi observado que metodologicamente são adotadas diferentes abordagens para desenvolver as atividades experimentais: algumas mais demonstrativas, priorizando a observação, outras mais de atuação por parte do estudante, priorizando a investigação. As pesquisas tomam como pressuposto básico favorecer a aprendizagem ou a interação. A aprendizagem se refere à compreensão da atividade científica, ou de conhecimentos teóricos e práticos. A interação pode ser tanto do aluno com a atividade quanto social, ou ainda entre disciplinas.

Using Rasch Measurement To Develop a Computer Modeling-Based Instrument To Assess Students’ Conceptual Understanding of Matter

Research suggests that difficulty in making connections among three levels of chemical representations—macroscopic, submicroscopic, and symbolic—is a primary reason for student alternative conceptions of chemistry concepts, and computer modeling is promising to help students make the connections. However, no computer modeling-based assessment tools are currently available. This article introduces an approach to using Rasch measurement to develop a computer modeling-based instrument to assess students’ conceptual understanding of matter. The instrument contained 15 multiple-choice and 3 constructed-response questions. Two pilot tests were carried out in high schools both in the United States and China. In pilot test I, the instrument was given to 112 students. The partial-credit Rasch model was applied to the data to examine item and test properties. The instrument was then revised and given to 403 students in pilot test II. The partial-credit Rasch model was applied again to the data, and noticeable impro...

Development of a three-tier test to assess high school students’ understanding of acids and bases

Two-tier tests are such as assessment tools that can make available for teachers/researchers to determine students alternative conceptions and whether a student gives a correct response to a question by understanding the related subject since the secondtier of a test asks for a reason for the first-tier response. The purpose of this study was to develop a valid and reliable three-tier diagnostic test to assess students’ understanding of acids-bases concepts. For developing this test, interviews and open-ended questions were administered to high school students and related literature was reviewed; the findings obtained from these steps construct the three-tier test.

The Effect of Conceptual Change Pedagogy on Students’ Conceptions of Rate of Reaction

This paper reports on an investigation of the effect of conceptual change pedagogy on students’ conceptions of ‘rate of reaction’ concepts. The study used a pre-test/post-test non-equivalent comparison group design approach and the sample consisted of 72 Turkish grade-11 students (aged 16–18 years) selected from two intact classrooms. The ‘Rate of Reaction’ Concept Test comprising 9 lead and 10 sub-questions (total 19 items) was employed. The results suggest that the teaching intervention helped the students to overcome their alternative conceptions and to store their newly structured knowledge in their long-term memories. It is suggested that combining different conceptual change methods such conceptual change text/refutation text, argumentation with the intervention used here may be more effective in reducing student alternative conceptions.

Investigating the Effectiveness of Teaching Methods Based on a Four-Step Constructivist Strategy

This paper reports on an investigation of the effectiveness an intervention using several different methods for teaching solution chemistry. The teaching strategy comprised a four-step approach derived from a constructivist view of learning. A sample consisting of 44 students (18 boys and 26 girls) was selected purposively from two different Grade 9 classes in the city of Trabzon, Turkey. Data collection employed a purpose-designed ‘solution chemistry concept test’, consisting of 17 items, with the quantitative data from the survey supported by qualitative interview data. The findings suggest that using different methods embedded within the four-step constructivist-based teaching strategy enables students to refute some alternative conceptions, but does not completely eliminate student alternative conceptions for solution chemistry.

Measuring knowledge of natural selection: A comparison of the CINS, an open‐response instrument, and an oral interview

AbstractGrowing recognition of the central importance of fostering an in‐depth understanding of natural selection has, surprisingly, failed to stimulate work on the development and rigorous evaluation of instruments that measure knowledge of it. We used three different methodological tools, the Conceptual Inventory of Natural Selection (CINS), a modified version of Bishop and Anderson's (Bishop and Anderson [1990] Journal of Research in Science Teaching 27: 415–427) open‐response test that we call the Open Response Instrument (ORI), and an oral interview derived from both instruments, to measure biology majors' understanding of and alternative conceptions about natural selection. We explored how these instruments differentially inform science educators about the knowledge and alternative conceptions their students harbor. Overall, both the CINS and ORI provided excellent replacements for the time‐consuming process of oral interviews and produced comparable measures of key concept diversity and, to a lesser extent, key concept frequency. In contrast, the ORI and CINS produced significantly different measures of both alternative conception diversity and frequency, with the ORI results completely concordant with oral interview results. Our study indicated that revisions of both the CINS and ORI are necessary because of numerous instrument items characterized by low discriminability, high and/or overlapping difficulty, and mismatches with the sample. While our results revealed that both instruments are valid and generally reliable measures of knowledge and alternative conceptions about natural selection, a test combining particular components of both instruments—a modified version of the CINS to test for key concepts, and a modified version of the ORI to assess student alternative conceptions—should be used until a more approprite instrument is developed and rigorously evaluated. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 45: 1131–1160, 2008

Las concepciones de los estudiantes sobre la fotosíntesis y la respiración : una revisión sobre la investigación didáctica en el campo de la enseñanza y el aprendizaje de la nutrición de las plantas

En este artículo se realiza una revisión bibliográfica de los trabajos publicados desde los años ochenta en relación con las concepciones alternativas de dos conceptos: fotosíntesis y respiración. También se analizan los orígenes de estas concepciones, así como nuevas propuestas metodológicas para la enseñanza de ambos procesos tendentes a prevenir la aparición de nuevos errores conceptuales. La revisión permitió comprobar que existen serias dificultades en la comprensión de ambos procesos, muchas de las cuales persisten luego de recibida la instrucción, así como la aparición de nuevas dificultades como resultado de la misma. Las dificultades tienen muchos y variados orígenes: los maestros, los diseños curriculares, los libros de texto, otros. Ha quedado demostrada la universalidad de las concepciones alternativas en torno a la fotosíntesis y la respiración a lo largo de todo el período de escolarización.

THAI GRADE 10 AND 11 STUDENTS’ UNDERSTANDING OF STOICHIOMETRY AND RELATED CONCEPTS

The research reported in this case study explores the understanding of stoichiometry and related concepts of Thai science students in grades 10 and 11 after major national curriculum reforms. Students’ conceptions and alternative conceptions were investigated using a questionnaire - the Stoichiometry Concept Questionnaire (SCQ) (N = 97), which consists of 16 multiple-choice items, the choices for which respondents are required to provide reasons. The findings suggest that less than half of the students surveyed hold what is considered by a panel of experts to be a scientifically acceptable understanding for the conceptions investigated. The main student alternative conceptions are that one mole of all substances has a volume of 22.4 L at STP, that a solution that contains a greater mass of solute has the higher molar concentration, and that the limiting reagent is the reagent for which the lowest mass of reactant is present. Examination of students’ reasons suggests that they resort to the use of algorithms with little understanding of the underlying concepts. It thus seems the national educational reforms have not resulted in a sound understanding of some science concepts. It is recommended that curriculum developers should specify a need for conceptual understanding along with capability in numerical problem-solving in their learning objectives, and link this to assessment regimes that reward conceptual understanding. A need for on-going professional development seems essential if the intentions of the Thai curriculum reforms are to be realized.

A review of chemical bonding studies: needs, aims, methods of exploring students’ conceptions, general knowledge claims and students’ alternative conceptions

The present paper presents a detailed thematic review of chemical bonding studies. To achieve this, a matrix is developed to summarize and present the findings by focusing on insights derived from the related studies. The matrix incorporates the following themes: needs, aims, methods of exploring students’ conceptions, general knowledge claims, students’ alternative conceptions, implications and recommendations for teaching and learning, implications for curriculum development and suggestions for future research. The general knowledge claims investigated in this paper are: (a) student alternative conceptions and level of education; (b) studies of student understanding of covalent bonding; (c) studies of student understanding of ionic bonding; (d) studies of student understanding of metallic bonding; (e) studies of student understanding of intermolecular forces; (f) studies of student understanding of chemical bonds, energetics and other underlying theories; (g) student use of anthropomorphic language and analogies; (h) students’ mental models for chemical bonding; and (i) enhancing students’ conceptual understanding.

Reinterpreting and reconstructing science: Teachers’ view changes toward the nature of science by courses of science education

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of science education courses on a group of Taiwanese inservice and preservice teachers’ views toward the nature of science. There were two science education courses in the study; one was for 36 inservice teachers, while the other one was for 32 preservice teachers. Both of the courses included the philosophy of science, the instruction about student alternative conceptions and theories of conceptual change, and some classroom activities for science education. The data sources were based upon these teachers’ questionnaires, written responses to open-ended questions and interviews. The findings derived from this study revealed that both inservice and preservice teachers, to a certain extent, changed their views toward the nature of science when completing the courses. Many of them might reinterpret and reconstruct their views about science during the courses, and their views had progressed toward more constructivist-oriented. This study also suggested that the instruction about student alternative conceptions and conceptual change theories was more helpful than direct instruction about the philosophy of science in changing teachers’ views about science.

Concepções alternativas e ensino de biologia: como utilizar estratégias diferenciadas na formação inicial de licenciados

O presente trabalho objetivou diagnosticar como as aulas de histologia do Curso de Ciências Biológicas se desenvolvem no que se refere ao difícil aprendizado dos alunos sobre o conceito científico relacionado a "Tecido Muscular". Para a avaliação, optou-se pela investigação das concepções alternativas dos alunos a respeito da estrutura e função da fibra muscular e para tanto, iniciou-se por uma entrevista para avaliar as dificuldades de aprendizagem apresentadas pelos mesmos. Os resultados desta entrevista orientaram a organização de um questionário a ser aplicado aos alunos. As respostas foram avaliadas nos aspectos referentes às características dos esquemas (desenhos dos alunos). Concluiu-se que os alunos apresentam dificuldade na visão tridimensional da célula, não conseguindo associar a forma e a localização e função das organelas que constituem a fibra muscular. Baseado nas conclusões obtidas, apresentou-se uma estratégia de ensino que fosse ao encontro das dificuldades dos alunos. Tal estratégia constou de várias etapas. Inicialmente, o professor poderia, investigar as concepções alternativas dos alunos sobre o conteúdo a ser ministrado. Na seqüência, o conteúdo teórico seria desenvolvido, porém a introdução de um problema referente a situações atuais, motivaria os alunos a transferir para esta situação prática os conteúdos ministrados na aula teórica. Seria importante que o professor propusesse aos seus alunos uma atividade prática diferenciada, construindo uma maquete. Com isso acredita-se que os alunos poderão sanar as dificuldades relacionadas à disposição das estruturas, aproveitando melhor o aprendizado do conteúdo, favorecendo situações de ensino e aprendizagem baseadas na representação de situações práticas para o aluno.