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This has been an interesting discussion. It might be difficult to find
lists of ideas students might have. I teach in a private high school, and
I always "survey" my students on the first day by asking a series of
questions:
What do you think physics is about?
Why did you sign up for this elective course?
What qualities do you most admire in a teacher?
What have you learned in school that you don't believe?
The responses to my last question are from all disciplines. Here are some
of the most shocking ones from science in the past few years:
Evolution
Humans built the pyramids.
Electrons orbit around atoms.
Protons and neutrons are elementary particles.
That I'll actually use math in the grocery store.
Dinosaurs died from a meteor not a volcanic explosion.
Things we (teachers) take as common knowledge can be quite different from
what students believe. Hard to change them, so we have to challenge their
way of thinking. I do this with multiple choice questions and peer
instruction. Here's a good one from motion:
If you drive somewhere with an average speed of 60 mph and return the same
way with an average speed of 30 mph, then is your average speed for the
entire trip less than, equal to, or more than 45 mph?
Learning physics requires real thinking, and this takes time, patience,
and effort. And this is not easy for most students.
Forum for Physics Educators <phys-l@carnot.physics.buffalo.edu> writes:
I think we should be careful to distinguish misconceptions from
misunderstandings. Most of this list and I think BC's are more
misunderstandings or unanswered questions. I think perhaps preconception
is a better term because it implies a mental model built on everyday
experience prior to most instruction. I think these are different from
mistaken new ideas picked up in classrooms, or ideas not fully developed
as a result of instruction. Of course there is the possibility that a
preconception is reinforced by classroom work done by an unwary teacher.
I also like the approach of Hammer and VanZee, that these preconceptions
occur through scientist-like thinking. The problem, as I see it, is that
preconceptions result from science-like analysis are based on fragmented
data sets in which the analysis does not include the need to be
self-consistent across a range of experiences. Whereas in science
self-consistency is an important component of theory development.
Finally in terms of classroom use, I think it is important for teachers
to know the sorts of ideas students might be bringing to the classroom so
that engagement can be designed to address them, as for example in
McDermott's work. However I think it is not so pedagogically useful to
tell someone they have a preconception, rather than constructing a
situation in which they discover it for themselves.
So I think it is useful to find lists of ideas students might have.
Rosalind Driver's work comes to mind. As I recall, Novak at Cornell also
ran some conferences on this.
joe
Joseph J. Bellina, Jr. Ph.D.
Retired Professor of Physics
Co-Director
Northern Indiana Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Collaborative
574-276-8294
inquirybellina@comcast.net
On Sep 28, 2011, at 10:21 PM, carmelo@pacific.net.sg wrote:
Quoting Bernard Cleyet <bernardcleyet@redshift.com>:
How about Ph.D.s' misconceptions. I had one. I queried the list
and received NO response, so I'll try again.
There are possibly many physics Ph.D.s' misconceptions...
Speed of light: It is constant and invariant?
Speed of light is the ultimate speed limit?
Mass of an object is constant and invariant?
Inflationary universe?
Newton’s second law is really Newton’s?
The correct interpretation of quantum mechanics?
The correct meaning of E=mc2?
Best regards,
Alphonsus
_______________________________________________
Forum for Physics Educators
Phys-l@carnot.physics.buffalo.edu
https://carnot.physics.buffalo.edu/mailman/listinfo/phys-l
_______________________________________________
Forum for Physics Educators
Phys-l@carnot.physics.buffalo.edu
https://carnot.physics.buffalo.edu/mailman/listinfo/phys-l
_______________________________________________
Forum for Physics Educators
Phys-l@carnot.physics.buffalo.edu
https://carnot.physics.buffalo.edu/mailman/listinfo/phys-l