Research on Science Education

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Slide 19

Misconceptions

"Heavy things fall faster than light things"

• Discovery theory

– Discordant observations change concepts

Speaker's notes:

A final example is from the largest single area of cognitive research on science learning – studies of how to overcome student misconceptions. Take the prevalent misconception that heavier things fall faster than lighter things. From a strict discovery position, this misconception could only be eliminated if children through their own experience noticed that objects of different weights dropped from the same height hit the ground at the same time. As illustrated in the slide, this theory has the child’s discordant observations leading to conceptual change. However, a recent elegant series of studies by Clark Chinn and Betina Malhotra demonstrate that the discovery theory has it backwards. In one of the studies children were randomly assigned to one of three conditions. In the prediction condition they said what they thought would happen when two objects of different weights were dropped (predictions were also made in 5 other situations involving misconceptions). Then they observed the results of experiments, e.g., they watched the teacher drop two objects of different weight from the top of a latter and recorded whether they hit the ground at the same time or whether the lighter or heavier one hit first. Then they were asked again what would happen. Children in a data reflection condition had the same chance to make and test predictions, but they also engaged in conversations with other students about their observations after the fact and before being asked again to predict. Finally students in an explanation condition were told what scientists expected to see and why before making predictions and observations.

Chinn, C. A., & Malhotra, B. (2002) Children’s responses to anomalous scientific data: how is conceptual change impeded. Journal of Educational Psychology, 94(2), 327-343.

"heavy things fall faster than light things"

"temperature inside a sweater on a table is higher than outside"