Meredith Thompson
The fact that there are so many misunderstandings of scientific ideas implies that learning science is not easy. It’s not always a good match for the knowledge we have already built from experience. My six year old son Zachary and I were talking about the reason why things float. At one point, Zachary replied “Mom, that’s your
science. I’m talking about my
science”. Zachary’s comment is pertinent to misconceptions. In our daily lives
we all develop a “science” when we find ways to explain what happens and why. Squeezing
a balloon makes it pop. Water boils faster in a pressure cooker. Shaking a soda
can makes it get bubbly. These ideas are useful and reinforced by everyday
experience. However, individuals see these phenomena as distinct and following
different rules. Scientists see everything as following fewer, more abstract
rules (force of pressure on molecules). Sometimes there is evidence to support their
ideas (ideal gas law, force per unit area, atomic theory of matter), but often
the evidence is as unfamiliar as the new set of rules that science suggests.
What
if we recognized that scientific concepts are difficult to accept? Maybe
students who develop and retain “misconceptions” are actually being
“scientific”. Like any good scientist, a student creates theories about how the
world works. Sometimes these theories don’t align with science, resulting in a
misconception. Students who remain unconvinced based on evidence that does not
fit with their worldview are also being scientific. As teachers, our job is to
find relevant, meaningful evidence to help us make the case for our alternative
view of the world. As students, it’s our job to suspend disbelief long enough
to “see” a different way of looking at things, and do our best to understand
the supporting evidence. Viewed this way, the gap between scientific
explanations and evidence that is acceptable to the students are not
misconceptions, they are missed connections.
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