Misconceptions Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow
Year: 2014
Type: article
Abstract: A recent essay in CBE-Life Sciences Education criticized biology education researchers' use of the term misconceptions and recommended that, in order to be up-to-date with education research, biology education researchers should use alternative terms for students' incorrect ideas in science. We counter that criticism by reviewing the continued use and the meaning of misconceptions in education research today, and describe two key debates that account for the controversy surrounding the term. We then identify and describe two areas of research that have real implications for tomorrow's biology education research and biology instruction: 1) hypotheses about the structure of student knowledge (coherent vs. fragmented) that gives rise to misconceptions; and 2) the "warming trend" that considers the effects of students' motivation, beliefs about the nature of knowledge and learning (their epistemic beliefs), and learning strategies (their cognitive and metacognitive skills) on their ability to change their misconceptions in science. We conclude with a description of proposed future work in biology education research related to misconceptions.
Source: CBE—Life Sciences Education
Institutions: Montana State University, University of Georgia
Language: English
Subfield: Education
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
SDG: Quality education
Open Access status: hybrid
Funder: National Science Foundation
OpenAlex ID: W1992333968