1. THE SIGNIFICANCE OF MISCONCEPTIONS FOR LEARNING AND TEACHING Joel Michael Department of Molecular Biophysics & Physiology Rush Medical College Chicago, Illinois And Physiology Educational Research Consortium

2. Indiana University Acknowledgements:

3. Acknowledgements: Harold Modell and Mary Pat Wenderoth

4. Indiana University Acknowledgements: Harold Modell and Mary Pat Wenderoth My colleagues in PERC

5. Indiana University Acknowledgements: Harold Modell and Mary Pat Wenderoth My colleagues in PERC The National Science Foundation

6. Indiana University My agenda this morning

7. Indiana University My agenda this morning What are misconceptions?

8. Indiana University My agenda this morning What are misconceptions? Where do misconceptions come from?

9. Indiana University My agenda this morning What are misconceptions? Where do misconceptions come from? How do misconceptions affect the learner?

10. Indiana University My agenda this morning What are misconceptions? Where do misconceptions come from? How do misconceptions affect the learner? How should misconceptions affect the teacher?

11. Indiana University Are misconceptions a “science thing?”

12. Indiana University Are misconceptions a “science thing?” Misconceptions have been extensively studied in science.

13. Indiana University Are misconceptions a “science thing?” Misconceptions have been extensively studied in science. It is possible that they were studied in science first.

14. Indiana University Are misconceptions a “science thing?” Misconceptions have been extensively studied in science. It is possible that they were studied in science first. But, misconceptions exist in whatever discipline someone has looked.

15. Indiana University What are misconceptions?

16. Indiana University What are misconceptions? Mental models that differ in significant ways from the models you expect your students to develop

17. Indiana University What is a “mental model?”

18. Indiana University What is a “mental model?” The representation of knowledge and skills in the mind of the individual

19. Indiana University Mental models (continued)

20. Indiana University What are misconceptions? Mental models that differ in significant ways from the models you expect your students to develop

21. Indiana University What are misconceptions? Mental models that differ in significant ways from the models you expect your students to develop Conceptual and/or reasoning difficulties exhibited by your students

22. Indiana University A Caveat

23. Indiana University A Caveat “Misconception” is a convenient, generally understood, label for a complex phenomenon.

24. Indiana University A Caveat “Misconception” is a convenient, generally understood, label for a complex phenomenon. No assumptions about student (teacher) epistomology or possible origins are implied by my use of the term.

25. Indiana University What’s the big deal?

26. Indiana University Where do misconceptions come from?

27. Indiana University Where do misconceptions come from? Personal experience in the world Experiences in “school” Informal learning Language usage

28. Indiana University Where do misconceptions come from? Personal experience in the world

29. Indiana University Where do misconceptions come from? Personal experience in the world (#1) –When you exercise, your breathing frequency (the number of breaths/min) increases. What happens to the amount of air you take in with each breath? Does it: A. Increase B. Decrease C. Stay the same

30. Indiana University During exercise... Breathing frequency increases The amount of air you take in INCREASES 40-50% of students get this wrong (as do 40-50% of my professional colleagues) This reflects a common misconception (or conceptual difficulty)

31. Indiana University Where do misconceptions come from? Personal experience in the world (#1) –Although everyone has personal experience with exercise, and in spite of the fact we can directly sense the changes in breathing that occur...

32. Indiana University Where do misconceptions come from? Personal experience in the world (#1) –Although everyone has personal experience with exercise, and in spite of the fact we can directly sense the changes in breathing that occur... –It appears that many people either mis- perceive what is happening or mis- interpret what is happening

33. Indiana University Where do misconceptions come from? Personal experience in the world (#1) –This results in a deeply ingrained mental model about what MUST be happening when ventilation increases that can be very difficult for students to overcome

34. Indiana University Where do misconceptions come from? Personal experience in the world (#2)

35. Indiana University Where do misconceptions come from? Personal experience in the world (#2) –Students learning Newton’s Laws may be able to solve quite complex quantitative problems about the motion of objects in space

36. Indiana University Where do misconceptions come from? Personal experience in the world (#2) –Students learning Newton’s Laws may be able to solve quite complex quantitative problems about the motion of objects in space –Nevertheless, it has been demonstrated repeatedly by educational researchers that students may not understand the concepts represented by Newton’s Laws

37. Indiana University Where do misconceptions come from? Personal experience in the world (#2) –The world is NOT Newtonian (there are no frictionless surfaces etc.) and the mental models that arise from our experience in the world are not, in general, Newtonian. Hence, we all have misconceptions about kinematics.

38. Indiana University Where do misconceptions come from?

39. Indiana University Where do misconceptions come from? Experiences in “school”

40. Indiana University Where do misconceptions come from? Experiences in “school” –Textbook figures of molecules or ions in solution typically look like this.

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42. Where do misconceptions come from? Experiences in “school” –Textbook figures of molecules or ions in solution typically look like this. –The consequence is that students develop misconceptions about diffusion and other phenomena that occur in solution.

43. Indiana University Where do misconceptions come from? Experience in school –Figures and diagrams

44. Indiana University Where do misconceptions come from? Experience in school –Figures and diagrams –Analogies and metaphors

45. Indiana University Where do misconceptions come from? Experience in school –Figures and diagrams –Analogies and metaphors Very common in all science teaching

46. Indiana University Where do misconceptions come from?

47. Indiana University Where do misconceptions come from? Informal learning

48. Indiana University Where do misconceptions come from? Informal learning –Locker room conversations (between males and females) result in serious misconceptions about exercise, physical conditioning, how to build muscle mass or endurance etc.

49. Indiana University Where do misconceptions come from? Informal learning –Locker room conversations (between males and females) result in serious misconceptions about exercise, physical conditioning, how to build muscle mass or endurance etc. –Television, newspapers, magazines, the Internet

50. Indiana University Where do misconceptions come from?

51. Indiana University Where do misconceptions come from? Language usage

52. Indiana University Where do misconceptions come from? Language usage –Which is more elastic: A steel beam? A rubber band?

53. Indiana University Where do misconceptions come from? Language usage –The term “elasticity” has one meaning in lay conversation (“the stretchier the more elastic”) and an exactly opposite meaning in physics (“the greater the restoring force or recoil the great the elasticity”). As a consequence students working with the first definition develop serious misconceptions about respiratory mechanics.

54. Indiana University Where do misconceptions come from?

55. Indiana University Where do misconceptions come from? Misconceptions interact with one another (they do not exist in isolation)

56. Indiana University Where do misconceptions come from? Misconceptions interact with one another (they do not exist in isolation) A misconception about one phenomenon (molecules in solution) can cause students to develop a misconception about another phenomenon (propagation of the action potential in an axon).

57. Indiana University How do they affect the learner?

58. Indiana University How do they affect the learner? They will affect the students’ acquiring the “correct” mental model

59. Indiana University How do they affect the learner? They will affect the students’ acquiring the “correct” mental model They will affect the students’ conceptual understanding

60. Indiana University Someone has said... It ain’t what you know, it’s what you know that ain’t so that can cause a problem

61. Indiana University How do they affect the learner? They will affect the students’ acquiring the “correct” mental model They will affect the students’ conceptual understanding

62. Indiana University How do they affect the learner? They will affect the students’ acquiring the “correct” mental model They will affect the students’ conceptual understanding –Any one misconception may contribute to the creation of a another, later misconception

63. Indiana University How do they affect the learner? They will affect the students’ acquiring the “correct” mental model They will affect the students’ conceptual understanding They may affect the students’ ability to solve problems or apply their knowledge (in or out of class)

64. Indiana University How do they affect the learner? Being told that their model is wrong, or being told the correct model DOES NOT HELP MUCH!

65. Indiana University How should they affect the teacher?

66. Indiana University How should they affect the teacher? Teachers must understand that misconceptions exist and that they have consequences for the learner

67. Indiana University How should they affect the teacher? Teachers must understand that misconceptions exist and that they have consequences for the learner Teachers must make an effort to determine what “old” misconceptions are present and what “new” ones are being created

68. Indiana University How should they affect the teacher? Teachers must help students correct their misconceptions

69. Indiana University How should they affect the teacher? Teachers must help students correct their misconceptions –Simply telling students that their model is wrong doesn’t help

70. Indiana University How should they affect the teacher? Teachers must help students correct their misconceptions –Simply telling students that their model is wrong doesn’t help –Telling them the correct model doesn’t necessarily help

71. Indiana University How should they affect the teacher? To help students correct their misconceptions you must provide opportunities for them to:

72. Indiana University How should they affect the teacher? To help students correct their misconceptions you must provide opportunities for them to: –Test their model

73. Indiana University How should they affect the teacher? To help students correct their misconceptions you must provide opportunities for them to: –Test their model –See for themselves that it fails to generate correct “answers”

74. Indiana University How should they affect the teacher? To help students correct their misconceptions you must provide opportunities for them to: –Test their model –See for themselves that it fails to generate correct “answers” Then you can help them build a correct model

75. Indiana University NOTE that teachers were and still are learners. TEACHERS ARE LIKELY TO HAVE MISCONCEPTIONS IN NO WAY DIFFERENT THAN THOSE HELD BY THEIR STUDENTS!

76. Indiana University What’s the take home message?

77. Indiana University What’s the take home message? The job of the teacher is to... HELP THE LEARNER TO LEARN!

78. Indiana University Then as teachers we need to... Know what impediments to learning our students are grappling with

79. Indiana University Then as teachers we need to... Know what impediments to learning our students are grappling with Provide our students with the resources (or learning environment) that will help them move beyond those impediments

80. Indiana University This means creating an interACTIVE learning environment

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84. In such an environment students can best challenge their own models and determine for themselves whether they work. Once they appreciate that their models fail under certain conditions they are more likely to build a correct model.

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