In this paper, it is aimed to investigate the persistence of misconceptions in the topic of the human blood circulatory system among students in different grade levels. For this reason, after discussions with biology educators, two tests consisting of open-ended questions were developed by the researcher and administered to students in four different grade levels. The first test was administered to 319 5th and 7th grade students in elementary school and the second one was administered to 400 1st and 4th year university students studying in the departments of elementary school teaching, science education and biology education. Data were analyzed using qualitative methods and a number of misconceptions were detected in different grade levels. According to the results of the study, the distributions of the percentages of students' misconceptions demonstrate a decreasing trend from elementary school students to university students without totally disappearing. The reason of this situation might be the persistence of misconceptions that are difficult to overcome. Due to their functionality, students continue to possess certain misconceptions. Hence, this characteristic of misconceptions should be considered while planning teaching activities in teacher education programs.
University students constitute an important cohort for the supplement of voluntary blood donation considering their age and dynamism. With this study, it is aimed to find out Turkish university students' positive and negative opinions towards blood donation in addition to interpreting their motivators and barriers to this issue. For this reason, a qualitative study was conducted with a total of 141 students studying in one of the governmental universities in the west part of Turkey. Data were collected with the help of a semi-structured interview form which involved 10 questions and analyzed by means of content analysis. As a result, it was determined that university students possessed insufficient knowledge and misconceptions related to blood donation. Also, more than half of the students were found to not donate blood before. Being sensible was the most frequent reason stated by the students for donating blood. On the other hand, anemia was the main reason of not donating blood for females and fear was the main reason for males. In the light of the findings, it is thought that focusing on factors such as Red Crescent blood collection vehicle, blood collection stands at the university campuses and positive effects on health might play important role to turn university students into voluntary regular donors.
Information that is different from scientific knowledge, consistent and resistant to change, can be expressed as misconceptions. Misconceptions are one of the critical factors that prevent students from understanding in Biology education. This study was conducted in Kosovo with high school 12th-grade students of three different ethnic origins. It is aimed to determine the misconceptions that students have about “Digestive System in Human” comparatively. The study was carried out with 150 12th grade students in Kosovo in the 2016/2017 academic year. The research was carried out with qualitative research techniques as a data collection tool consisting of student drawings and explanations, and true/false items used. A descriptive analysis made. The findings showed that the students had many misconceptions about the human digestive system. Some Turkish students have drawn the digestive system with the kidney and intestine compared to other ethnic groups. Albanian and Bosnian students generally draw the digestive system after the stomach for separate solids for liquids. This misconception may be related to the concept of image (prima de perception) (Bachelard, 1938). Also, cultural misconceptions stemming from language encountered. Bosnian students use the concept of "boiling" instead of "digestion".
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