To what extent do Turkish high school students know about their body organs and organ systems?

Abstract

This study aimed to determine high school students' familiarity with body organs and knowledge about the systems to which organs belong. It also identifies their misconceptions and deficiencies and discusses their causes. The sample of the study consisted of 244 secondary students. The study used the descriptive survey method. The findings show that the heart, lungs, kidneys and stomach are the best known organs by the students, and that they most often identified organs in the circulatory, respiratory, urinary and digestive systems rather than other systems. In addition, there are no considerable differences between the ninth, tenth, eleventh grade classes and the twelfth grade students' knowledge and misconceptions about organs and organ systems. The most basic misconceptions identified in this study is that a majority of the students who identified the small intestine, liver, pancreas, anus and intestine thought that these organs were parts of the excretory system. In Turkey's educational system, students are taught the urinary system as the excretory system. This leads students to think that these organs are not elements of the digestive system, but those of the excretory system, which is used to defecate the excretions. For this reason, this study will also discuss this situation.

An Investigation of Primary Student Teachers’ Drawings of the Human Internal Organs

“…Then, the most frequently drawn organs were the liver, oesophagus, kidneys and intestines, respectively. This finding is consistent with the study conducted by Aydın (2016), and Stears and Dempster (2017).…”

Efektivitas E-Modul Sistem Pencernaan Berbasis Problem Solving Terhadap Kemampuan Pemecahan Masalah

“…(Prokop, 2006) menyebutkan bahwa beberapa siswa memiliki pemahaman yang buruk tentang organ-organ yang berfungsi sebagai tempat berlangsungnya proses pencernaan makanan. Selanjutnya, Aydin (2016) berpendapat bahwa masih banyak siswa yang mengalami kesulitan menjelaskan fungsi organ-organ pada sistem pencernaan. Sistem pencernaan manusia merupakan materi yang membahas mekanisme pencernaan manusia dalam memproses zat makanan yang masuk ke dalam tubuh melalui saluran pencernaan.…”

Secondary School Students’ Conceptualisation of Human Body Organ Systems

“…Several studies in literature have already identified some misconceptions in science through all ages and gender in education (Aydın, 2016;Özgür, 2013;Sami, 2013). Students' naïve beliefs (Caramazza, McCloskey, & Green, 1980); or alternative conceptions (Arnaudin & Mintzes, 1985); children science (Gilbert, Osborne, & Fenshman, 1982) different than the scientific phenomenon is called as misconceptions (Fisher, 1985).…”

“…If students' misconceptions can be elicited then the meaningful learning can be achieved (Hipkins et al, 2002). Aydın (2016) found that one of the common misconceptions held in biology is to list liver as an excretory organ. Best known organs by the students were reported as heart, lungs, kidneys, and stomach and they are identified in circulatory system, respiratory system, urinary system, and digestive system correctly by the students (Aydın, 2016).…”

“…Aydın (2016) found that one of the common misconceptions held in biology is to list liver as an excretory organ. Best known organs by the students were reported as heart, lungs, kidneys, and stomach and they are identified in circulatory system, respiratory system, urinary system, and digestive system correctly by the students (Aydın, 2016). Although the students were good at drawing the digestive system among the other systems, they lack understanding of functions of these systems and their respective organs (Prokop & Fancovicova, 2006).…”