Understanding Student Misconceptions in School: How Teachers Can Overcome These Misunderstandings
Learning must be much more than the simple transfer of knowledge. Knowing something, that is the comprehension of the facts, or getting something right or wrong is a completely different level of learning than true understanding of a concept. Understanding is much more than simply recalling facts. “To understand is to be able to wisely and effectively use… what we know… to apply knowledge and skill effectively, in realistic tasks and settings. To have understood means that we show evidence of being able to transfer what we know,” (Wiggins & McTighe, 2005, p. 7).
Student Misunderstandings Addressed in the Textbook
When explaining content area concepts to our students, it must be inherently understood that the subject area knowledge they have is generally much less than the subject area knowledge the teacher possesses. In addition, the student has not had the years of training and years of experience processing that information. Abstract ideas, which to the teacher are seen as foundations to understanding, may be seen to the students as concrete ideas. When students see these ideas as concrete, they may not be able to put themselves outside the box to process the true meaning of that information.
One case of this is the concept students wrap their minds over concerning multiplication. When multiplying whole numbers, it is relatively easy to understand that multiplication of whole numbers is that whole number added to it several times. However, when mixing in multiplying with fractions, it is difficult for the student to understand given the “oddity of the answers being smaller than the numbers they started with,” (Wiggins & McTighe, 2005, p. 50). This can be overcome by constant reinforcement, and also with well worded math problems, allowing the student to have meaning behind the process.
Another example is explaining the lines of latitude and longitude. A student thinking concretely will analyze the literal interpretation that these lines span the globe, and in theory, would be able to be seen from flying above, such as in an airplane or helicopter. Obvious to the teacher, is that these are imaginary lines used for measurement, but to the naive student, they may accept as true that these lines exist. The textbook mentions this could be especially frustrating for a younger student who would be confused “at not ever seeing lines of longitude and latitude as she flew cross country with her family,” (Wiggins & McTighe, 2005, p. 51). Again, while the student is given tools to learn the topic, without instructions of how to use those tools, they are useless.
A third aspect brought up in the textbook refers to the application of science and the misunderstanding students have in discussing science. Students may perform on a task, getting answers correct, however, “children cannot be said to understand their own answer, even though it is correct, if they can only answer a question phrased just so,” (Wiggins & McTighe, 2005, p. 48). Research suggests that difficulties in science may stem from beliefs students often hold conceptions about scientific processes and beliefs that run counter to the beliefs and theories held by scientists,” (Stein, Barman, & Larrabee, 2007, p. 233). This research also goes on to mention that the people often times develop their own theories of scientific matters, and “these ideas tend to remain persistent, despite efforts to teach scientifically accepted theories and concepts,” (Stein, Barman, & Larrabee, 2007, p. 233). Habits are hard to break, and likewise, so are scientific misconceptions.
Student Misunderstanding in American History
In teaching American History, there are several examples of misconceptions. In working at a Native American Public Charter School, there is an increased level of sensitivity that is also recognized when reflecting upon the tainted moral past of the American’s historical journey. This sensitivity is expanded further as a non-native teacher teaching American History.
One of the main misconceptions that come up early in the course is that in explaining the Europeans and their interaction with the North American continent between the late 1400s and the late 1700s. While it is understood that Native Americans were present and their population rather plentiful when Columbus and other Europeans arrived in North America; many textbooks and commercial worksheets still tend to use the term discovered to refer to Columbus and his peer’s interaction in the New World. As a non-native teacher in this school, I possess an even greater awareness of these misconceptions as they appear and are spoken through various historical documentaries, textbooks, and various other primary sources.
Another misconception American History is the various black and white, good or bad viewpoints of various events, people, or nations. One important aspect stressed when teaching American History is the understanding that in most situations, or in the analysis of an individual, there exists good, bad, and even sometimes evil. One such example is the relationship the United States had with the Soviet Union. Students have misconceptions that while they were an enemy of the United States throughout the majority of their existence, they were allied with one another during World War II.
A third example is the popularity of contemporary favorite United States’ presidents such as Abraham Lincoln. Many students assume that Lincoln had always been as popular today in lore, as he was during his presidency. However, those students are generally quite surprised to realize that Lincoln had a relatively difficult time getting reelected. Secondly, it is astonishing to also consider Lincoln to be the most unpopular president in all of United States’ history – after all which other president’s election causes half the states to leave the Union?
Backward Design’s Addressing Student Misunderstanding
“You cannot plan how you’re going to teach until you know exactly what you want your students to learn,” (Childre, Sands, & Pope, 2009, p. 7). In using Backward Design, many student misconceptions can be alleviated. Backward Design emphasizes the deliberate process of planning assessments and learning outcomes first. Only after are creative learning activities planned to “scaffold understanding toward those outcomes,” (Childre, Sands, & Pope, 2009, p. 8).
Through having a road map for the teacher to use, it is possible to decide what acceptable forms of evidence of understanding are. Next, the teacher is then able to create individual activities which will guide the student, purposely through understanding the content, taking special care to overcome student misunderstandings along the way.
Progress Eradicating Key Obstacles to Future Understanding
While using backward design is a great technique to avoid obstacles to future understanding, there are other impediments to consider as well. Some of those considerations are: the school or district sponsored textbook, and prior knowledge, or lack thereof, students have before entering into the classroom.
The textbook is an important tool provided by the classroom for students to better understand the content. Conversely, student misconception may arise from a poorly written textbook. An example of this occurred in an Earth Science classroom, where the textbook “only rarely provided students with a sense of purpose for the units of study, …or scaffold student efforts to make meaning of key phenomena and ideas presented in the programs,” (King, 2010, p. 569).
Another misconception in student understanding is sometimes race based. The National Council for La Raza’s President and CEO Raul Yzaguirre discussed this matter in an article in The Crisis. In it, he mentioned that there is a lot of history Latinos do not understand about African Americans, and vice versa. He reinforces that historically Latinos and African Americans have teamed up in various organizations such as the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights and the National Urban League. One such misunderstanding is how long Latinos have been a part of United States’ history. According to Yzaguirre, “Latinos are not in fact all recent arrivals; many Hispanics trace their roots in this country to before there was even a United States, and the Latino struggle for civil rights is at least 150 years old,” (Yzaguirre, 2004, p. 32).
References
Childre, A., Sands, J. R., & Pope, S. T. (2009). Backward Design: Targeting Depth of Understanding for All Learners. Teaching Exceptional Children , 6-14.
King, C. J. (2010). An Analysis of Misconceptions in Science Textbooks: Earth Science in England and Wales. International Journal of Science Education , 565-601.
Stein, M., Barman, C. R., & Larrabee, T. (2007). What Are They Thinking? The Development and Use of an Instrument That Identifies Common Science Misconceptions. Journal of Science Teacher Education , 233-241.
Wiggins, G., & McTighe, J. (2005). Understanding by Design (2nd ed.). Alexandria, VA: ASCD.
Yzaguirre, R. (2004). Common Challenges. The Crisis , 32.