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Correcting science misconceptions – a hands-on approach

Correcting science misconceptions – a hands-on approach. Dr Michael Allen Science Education, Brunel University. Car collisions. Choose a partner!. Some reflections…. Did you feel excited at the end, at revelation? Did you experience fear of failure?

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Correcting science misconceptions – a hands-on approach

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  1. Correcting science misconceptions – a hands-on approach Dr Michael Allen Science Education, Brunel University

  2. Car collisions • Choose a partner!

  3. Some reflections… • Did you feel excited at the end, at revelation? • Did you experience fear of failure? • What did you feel when you found out you were right / wrong? • Did you feel like you in a competition? • Did you take note of other people’s data? • If you collected data that disagreed with your expectations, did you feel the need to cheat?

  4. Who has the most energy? 60kg 190kg

  5. Kinetic energy = ½ mv2 Kelly = 0.5 x 60kg x 52m/s = 750 J Andy = 0.5 x 190kg x 52m/s = 2375 J

  6. Observations made at the limits of perceptual resolution are often ambiguous • Interpretation is influenced by expectations

  7. Bluff demonstrations are a useful pedagogical tool • Several bluff activities that focus on a single scientific idea • Early activities are less resolved, later are more resolved (support the scientific answer)

  8. Scientific Discovery lessons (SciDis) • A book of 18 experiments • Each focuses on a particular misconception • Minimally constructivist roots

  9. Misconceptions • The speed of a falling object remains constant throughout its descent. • A black container will keep in more heat than a silver one (because ‘black attracts heat’). • The mass of an object has no effect on its kinetic energy. • Chemical or physical changes are either exothermic or involve no heat change. • All materials lose mass when heated.

  10. Expectation-related observation (ERO) study • Large scale and long term • GLP involved 1023 pupils from several schools in Windsor and Maidenhead

  11. SciDis had superior gains to control that were maintained over 3 years • Successful learning was associated with intensity of emotion • Intensity of emotion linked to EROs

  12. EROs not reduced with repeated exposure • EROs strongly linked with an affinity to predictions • Social dimension • Typical personality traits

  13. Need to find the ‘right answer’ Enhanced by low ability Loss of emotional control Need to align theory and data Affectual arousal Inhibition reduction ERO-related behaviours Need to conform with others Increases Feedback

  14. Can negate data that do not conform to expectations, and either a) repeats the reading, or b) invents a replacement reading. Justifications for negation include apparatus faults Lower ability Attaches importance to discovery of the accepted scientific theory Disagree more with their partners when not AEing Some ERO-related traits Show bias during subjective activities, and declare certainty about these decisions male Takes a competitive approach to learning Can think of themselves as excellent observers of scientific phenomena May have a diminished view of the worth of own data, allowing the findings of others to take precedence over them

  15. Thank you for listening! • Further information… • michael.allen@brunel.ac.uk

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