Persistence of the Intuitive Conception of Living Things in Adolescence

Babai, Reuven; Sekal, Rachel; Stavy, Ruth

doi:10.1007/s10956-009-9174-2

Cited by 57 publications

(52 citation statements)

References 15 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Results that support this interpretation were obtained by Babai & Amsterdamer (2008) in conceptions about solids and liquids and by Babai, Sekal & Stavy (2010) about living things. The former research involved images of rigid, non-rigid or powder solids and of runny or dense liquids that had to be correctly classified as "solids" or "liquids".…”

mentioning

confidence: 59%

Persistence of the Intuitive Conception That Heavier Objects Sink More: A Reaction Time Study With Different Levels of Interference

Potvin

Masson

Lafortune

et al. 2014

Int J of Sci and Math Educ

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

ABSTRACT. Recent research efforts have argued for the persistence of some of students' frequent scientific misconceptions, even after correct answers are produced. Some of these studies, based on the analysis of reaction times, have recorded latencies for counterintuitive or incongruent stimuli compared to intuitive or congruent ones. The proposed interpretations were that prior knowledge survives learning and still coexists with new closer-to-scientific knowledge, producing conflicts that delay correct answers. But these conclusions are based on the assumption that stimuli from different conditions only differ in the presence/absence of interfering misconceptions, which is sometimes, in our opinion, a rather fragile claim. Thus, we have designed a task in which it is possible to test different levels of interference and not only its effects in contrast to another condition. Then, we have used it to see if different intensities of interference produce different levels of conflict. The task tested the persistence of the misconception that "heavy objects sink more than lighter ones". One hundred twenty-eight 14-to 15-year-olds were asked to tell which of the 2 balls presented (3 different materials and 3 different sizes) would "sink more" than the other. Analysis verified the presence of latencies and negative priming. For the most part, results show that the intensity of interference does produce corresponding latencies, which suggests greater conflict and therefore supports the hypothesis of persistence and coexistence of conceptions, even after correct answers are produced, and beyond other plausible effects due to the used stimuli. Prescriptions for theory and teaching are proposed.

show abstract

mentioning

confidence: 59%

Persistence of the Intuitive Conception That Heavier Objects Sink More: A Reaction Time Study With Different Levels of Interference

Potvin

Masson

Lafortune

et al. 2014

Int J of Sci and Math Educ

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Results that support this hypothesis were obtained by Babai and Amsterdamer (2008) in conceptions about solids and liquids, and by Babai, Sekal, and Stavy (2010) about living things. In a very convincing way, results were also obtained by Shtulman and Valcarel (2012) in no less than 10 scientific domains.…”

Section: Research On Accuracy and Reaction Timesmentioning

confidence: 70%

Proposition for improving the classical models of conceptual change based on neuroeducational evidence: conceptual prevalence

Potvin¹

2013

Neuroed.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…However, as with any student-generated representation, it is possible that the content could be misrepresented or misinterpreted because students may hold intuitive conceptions (Babai, Sekal, & Stavy, 2010), misconceptions (Driver & Erickson, 1983;Gilbert & Watts, 1983) or alternate conceptions (Sequira & Leite, 1991;Trumper, Raviolo, & Shnersch, 2000). Such alternative conceptions are often deeply held and highly resilient (Cobern, 1996;Driver, 1983;Howes, 2002;White & Gunstone, 1989).…”

Section: Theoretical Perspectivesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Designing a digital teaching resource to explain phases of the moon: A case study of preservice elementary teachers making a slowmation

Nielsen

Hoban

2015

J Res Sci Teach

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This research studied a group of three preservice elementary teachers creating a narrated stop-motion animation (Slowmation) from start to finish in 3 hours to explain the challenging concept of "phases of the moon" to elementary school children. The research questions investigated the preservice teachers' learning before and after the construction as well as how the preservice teachers designed the slowmation as a teaching resource. Data collection involved individual interviews immediately before and after the construction in conjunction with analysis of video and audio data collected during the construction process. Before the animation construction, the participants had little understanding of the causes of moon phases and one held an alternative conception. After creating the slowmation all three preservice teachers demonstrated more "elements" of the concept and appeared to resolve an alternative conception. There are two findings from this research: (i) creating a slowmation enabled the preservice teachers to develop more elements to contribute to their understanding of moon phases; (ii) the design of the slowmation was based on breaking the concept into a sequence of sub-concepts that were represented digitally. Designing a digital teaching resource such as a slowmation to explain a concept involves preservice teachers breaking a concept down into coherent parts or "chunks" and representing the concept in multiple ways. This can be done within a science method class and is also a good way for the them to negotiate meanings about a difficult concept. AbstractThis research studied a group of three preservice elementary teachers creating a narrated stop-motion animation (Slowmation) from start to finish in three hours to explain the challenging concept of "phases of the moon" to elementary school children. The research questions investigated the preservice teachers' learning before and after the construction as well as how the preservice teachers designed the slowmation as a teaching resource. Data collection involved individual interviews immediately before and after the construction in conjunction with analysis of video and audio data collected during the construction process. Before the animation construction, the participants had little understanding of the causes of moon phases and one held an alternative conception. After creating the slowmation all three preservice teachers demonstrated more "elements" of the concept and appeared to resolve an alternative conception. There are two findings from this research: (i) creating a slowmation enabled the preservice teachers to develop more elements to contribute to their understanding of moon phases; (ii) the design of the slowmation was based on breaking the concept into a sequence of sub-concepts that were represented digitally. Designing a digital teaching resource such as a slowmation to explain a concept involves preservice teachers breaking a concept down into coherent parts or "chunks" and representing the concept in multiple ways. This can b...

show abstract

Persistence of the Intuitive Conception of Living Things in Adolescence

Cited by 57 publications

References 15 publications

Persistence of the Intuitive Conception That Heavier Objects Sink More: A Reaction Time Study With Different Levels of Interference

Persistence of the Intuitive Conception That Heavier Objects Sink More: A Reaction Time Study With Different Levels of Interference

Proposition for improving the classical models of conceptual change based on neuroeducational evidence: conceptual prevalence

Designing a digital teaching resource to explain phases of the moon: A case study of preservice elementary teachers making a slowmation

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About