Breaking Through the
Barriers to Student Learning
Jake Burgoon
NWO Symposium 2009
 A lesson on heat began with the question, “What is
heat?”
 The students said that heat came from the sun and
from our bodies
 One student spoke up about the heat in sweaters, and
everyone agreed that sweaters were hot … and hats
and rugs, too!
 The teacher decided to let the students find out
www.exploratorium.edu/IFI/resources/workshops/teachingforconcept.html
 The students placed thermometers inside sweaters,
hats, and a rolled-up rug
 After 15 minutes, the temperature didn’t increase, so
one student suggested to leave it overnight
 The students predicted three-digit temperatures the next
day
 But the students came in the next morning and found
the temperature to be the same
 “Cold air got in somehow”
 “We didn’t leave them in there long enough”
www.exploratorium.edu/IFI/resources/workshops/teachingforconcept.html
 One student decided to seal the hat, with a
thermometer, inside a plastic bag
 Other students put their sweaters in closets or desks
 Again, the next day, the students found that the
temperature had not changed
 One student wanted to put the hat and thermometer in
a metal box and leave it for a year
 Surely the temperature would change then!
www.exploratorium.edu/IFI/resources/workshops/teachingforconcept.html
 After some discussion, the teacher offered the students two
theories:
 Heat could come from almost anything, even hats and
sweaters. In measuring this heat, we are sometimes
fooled because we’re really measuring the cold air that
gets inside
 Heat comes mostly from the sun and our bodies and is
trapped inside winter clothes that keep our body heat in
and keep the cold air out
 Most students chose the second theory, and decided to test
it by putting thermometers in their hats during recess
www.exploratorium.edu/IFI/resources/workshops/teachingforconcept.html
 Students come into the classroom with their own
conceptions about the natural world
 These conceptions are:
 Explanatory
 Re-confirmed by everyday experiences
 Students are often resistant to give up these ideas
 Changing students’ initial conceptions can be a long
process
o Astronomical object
o Spherical
o Unsupported
o Gravity towards the
center of the earth
o Physical object
o Flat
o Supported
o Up/down gravity
How can the earth be spherical and flat at the same time?
How can people live on this spherical earth without falling down?
 Everyday Experiences
 Classroom instruction
 Students draw conclusions that were not
intended
 Lesson design
 Prior experience
 Incorrect explanations
 Textbooks
TEACHERS
STUDENTS
1. Mastering science
content
2. Being aware of your
students’
misconceptions
3. Addressing
misconceptions with
instruction
 Lack of content knowledge =
inadvertently providing students with
scientifically incorrect information
 Teachers (and other adults) often have the
same misconceptions as students
Compare the masses of the three containers
Greatest
mass
42%
FROZEN
Least
mass
37%
HEATED
ROOM
TEMPERATURE
50%
33%
 In order to correct student
misconceptions, you must FIRST know
what they are
 Dive into the research
 AAAS Benchmarks, Making Sense of Secondary
Science
 Formative assessments
 Your students may have unique ideas
 The most important factor influencing learning
is what the learner already knows. Ascertain
this and teach him accordingly.
 David Ausubel
 Assess before, during, and after lessons
 Formative assessments should elicit students’
explanations and personal theories about
concepts
 More than true/false or yes/no
 Ensures that you are giving your students
EXACTLY what they need
 Align your instruction to their misconceptions
 Lessons are slightly modified each year
Formative
assessment
Become aware of student
misconceptions
Use misconceptions to
guide instruction
Help students overcome
misconceptions
Increase student learning
 Hands-on
 Sorting activities
 Writing things down
 Written probes
 Watching cartoons or viewing
comics
 Science Concept Comics
 Animated Cartoons
I think it will keep
him cold, and stop
him from melting.
Don’t put the coat
on the snowman –
it will melt him!
I don’t think the
coat will make any
difference.
1) Dissatisfaction with existing conceptions
o Cognitive conflict
o Difficult to achieve!
2) New conception must be intelligible
1) New conception must appear plausible
1) New conception must seem fruitful
 Discrepant events
 Demonstrations
 Experimental activities
 The power of PREDICTION
 Critiques:
 Students do not see the conflict
 Students become discouraged
1) Dissatisfaction with existing conceptions
o Cognitive conflict
o Difficult to achieve!
2) New conception must be intelligible
o Understanding terms and symbols
o Internal representation of concept
3) New conception must appear plausible
o Not counter-intuitive
o Consistent with personal theory or past experiences
4) New conception must seem fruitful
Initial Conception: A table cannot push up on a book
Spring pushes
on hand
Foam pushes
on book
Flexible
board pushes
on book
Table pushes
on book
1) Dissatisfaction with existing conceptions
o Cognitive conflict
o Difficult to achieve!
2) New conception must be intelligible
o Understanding terms and symbols
o Internal representation of concept
3) New conception must appear plausible
o Not counter-intuitive
o Consistent with personal theory or past experiences
4) New conception must seem fruitful
o Resolves dissatisfaction
o Potential of concept to lead to new insights and discoveries
 Metaconceptual awareness
 Adults are more likely to change their conceptions
 Intentional learning
 Epistemological beliefs (what is knowledge?)
 Simple and certain
 Complex and continuously evolving
 Makes a difference in students’ responses to conflicting
evidence
 Making Sense of Secondary Science: Research Into
Children’s Ideas by Rosiland Driver
 Student misconceptions about numerous topics
 Benchmarks for Science Literacy by AAAS Project
2061
 Chapter 15 is called “Research Base”
 On-line at
www.project2061.org/publications/bsl/online/ind
ex.php
 A Private Universe
 http://www.learner.org/resources/series28.html
 Stop Faking It! Finally Understanding Science So You
Can Teach It by William Robertson
 Chemistry; Air, Water and Weather; Electricity and
Magnetism; Energy; Force and Motion; Light; Sound
 Science For All Americans by AAAS
 Science Matters: Achieving Scientific Literacy by
Robert Hazen and James Trefil
 Uncovering Student Ideas in Science (Volumes 1 to 4)
by Page Keeley
 100 total formative assessment probes
 Science Formative Assessment: 75 Strategies for
Linking Assessment, Instruction, and Learning by
Page Keeley