Misconceptions Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow

Leonard, Mary J.; Kalinowski, Steven T.; Andrews, Tessa C.

doi:10.1187/cbe.13-12-0244

Cited by 62 publications

(64 citation statements)

References 71 publications

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“…Deterministic reasoning, due to failure to separate these concepts, is common among learners (e.g., Bishop and Anderson 1990). The transition to probabilistic thinking about selection could disfavor non-scientific explanations such as only good traits are inherited, natural selection is an event, or that natural selection always leads to the "better" (e.g., stronger, bigger or faster, and/or more complex organisms) rather than better-adapted (potentially weaker, smaller, slower ,and/or simpler) organisms (e.g., Nehm and Reilly 2007;Nehm et al 2010;Gregory 2009;Hiatt et al 2013;andLeonard et al 2014, andSmith 2010a, b. ) Probability is also a threshold concept for understanding inherited variation (Fig.…”

Section: Variationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biological Principles and Threshold Concepts for Understanding Natural Selection

2017

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Modern evolutionary theory is both a central theory and an integrative framework of the life sciences. This is reflected in the common references to evolution in modern science education curricula and contexts. In fact, evolution is a core idea that is supposed to support biology learning by facilitating the organization of relevant knowledge. In addition, evolution can function as a pivotal link between concepts and highlight similarities in the complexity of biological concepts. However, empirical studies in many countries have for decades identified deficiencies in students' scientific understanding of evolution mainly focusing on natural selection. Clearly, there are major obstacles to learning natural selection, and we argue that to overcome them, it is essential to address explicitly the general abstract concepts that underlie the biological processes, e.g., randomness or probability. Hence, we propose a twodimensional framework for analyzing and structuring teaching of natural selection. The first-purely biological-dimension embraces the three main principles variation, heredity, and selection structured in nine key concepts that form the core idea of natural selection. The second dimension encompasses four so-called thresholds, i.e., general abstract and/or nonperceptual concepts: randomness, probability, spatial scales, and temporal scales. We claim that both of these dimensions must be continuously considered, in tandem, when teaching evolution in order to allow development of a meaningful understanding of the process. Further, we suggest that making the thresholds tangible with the aid of appropriate kinds of visualizations will facilitate grasping of the threshold concepts, and thus, help learners to overcome the difficulties in understanding the central theory of life. Sci & Educ (2017) 26:953-973 https://doi

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Section: Variationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biological Principles and Threshold Concepts for Understanding Natural Selection

2017

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“…Andrews et al (2012) proposed a model for how students' understanding of genetic drift emerges during instruction, with three stages that were identified from studying college students' misconceptions about genetic drift. They defined misconceptions as understanding that is not scientifically accurate, and we follow that convention in this study as well (Crowther and Price 2014;Leonard et al 2014). Students in Stage 1 start with a novice understanding of both genetics and evolution, and they are struggling to use basic vocabulary correctly, without indicating conceptual understanding.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Observing populations and testing predictions about genetic drift in a computer simulation improves college students’ conceptual understanding

et al. 2016

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Background: Evolution is a difficult subject for students, with well-documented confusion about natural selection, tree thinking, and genetic drift among other topics. Here we investigate the effect of a simulation-based module about the conservation of black-footed ferrets, a module designed with pedagogical approaches that have been demonstrated to be effective, for teaching genetic drift. We compared performance on the Genetic Drift Inventory (GeDI) of students who completed the module and students who were in classes that used other methods for teaching genetic drift.Results: Students in 19 courses using the simulation-based module improved their understanding of genetic drift significantly after completing the Ferrets module, as measured by the GeDI. Students in five control courses actually performed significantly worse on the GeDI after instruction. The lower scores in the control courses were driven by a decrease in these students' understanding of key concepts. Conclusions:The Ferrets module appears to be an effective way to teach genetic drift. In the control courses, students' progress in understanding genetic drift may pass through a stage where their understanding of key concepts is worse than it was prior to instruction. However, students who learned genetic drift in courses that used the Ferrets module showed a more rapid increase in their understanding of key concepts related to genetic drift. This result suggests that the paths that students can take to move from novice to expert understanding may be more varied than was previously predicted.

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“…Beginning in the 1990s, alongside research aimed at revealing and characterizing erroneous perceptions, a positive approach emerged: the identification of certain preconceptions as a means to reorganizing knowledge and reinterpreting principles (Larkin, 2012;Leonard et al, 2014). This approach opened new opportunities for understanding principles in a new and different way.…”

Section: Scientific and Erroneous Perceptionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The division into characteristics can help reveal fragmentary knowledge regarding homeostasis, which may be held by the students. The fragmentary knowledge of science ideas possessed by students may represent 'alternative conceptions' or 'phenomenological primitives' (p-primes) which are either 'intuitive', or 'na¨ıve', or spontaneous and transient" (diSessa, 1988, 1993, in: Leonard et al, 2014. Moreover, analysis of the students' answers will raise finer resolution subcharacteristics, allowing a broader articulation of homeostasis.…”

Section: Research Concerning Perceptions Of Biological Systemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Conceptual Understanding of Homeostasis

Zion¹,

Klein²

2015

IJOBED

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Analyzing students' perceptions is essential to the development of studying scientific concepts. In particular, this research investigates students' conceptual understanding of a fundamental biological principle: homeostasis. Homeostasis is difficult to understand as it is both tangible and abstract. The correct perception of homeostasis is necessary to obtain a comprehensive understanding and an in-depth diagnosis of the health of the human body in a variety of physiological conditions such as aging and disease. In order to help students achieve a conceptual understanding of homeostasis, we defined the following eight characteristics: process dynamics, physiological balance, control and regulation, feedback mechanism, environments, dependency between events within a system or a process, multisystems, and levels of organization. The primary goal of this study was to investigate students' perceptions of homeostasis, after studying these characteristics. For this purpose, 93 biology majors in 12 th grade studied the characteristics of homeostasis. An analysis of the students' responses shows their correct scientific perceptions of the characteristics of homeostasis, but also reveals a great variety of erroneous perceptions. Our results suggest that the division of a scientific principle into its component characteristics may help the teachers in identifying their students' thinking and conceptual understanding of homeostasis.

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Misconceptions Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow

Cited by 62 publications

References 71 publications

Biological Principles and Threshold Concepts for Understanding Natural Selection

Biological Principles and Threshold Concepts for Understanding Natural Selection

Observing populations and testing predictions about genetic drift in a computer simulation improves college students’ conceptual understanding

Conceptual Understanding of Homeostasis

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