{"id":4346,"date":"2022-04-02T14:42:19","date_gmt":"2022-04-02T18:42:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/edt431-531\/?p=4346"},"modified":"2022-04-02T14:42:19","modified_gmt":"2022-04-02T18:42:19","slug":"how-to-respond-to-every-students-favorite-teacher-ms-conceptions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.miamioh.edu\/exemplary-science-teaching\/2022\/04\/how-to-respond-to-every-students-favorite-teacher-ms-conceptions\/","title":{"rendered":"How To Respond To Every Student’s Favorite Teacher: Ms. Conceptions"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In our science classroom, we must understand where our students are in order to progress into where they can be. Students will come into each of our classes with a variety of prior knowledge from previous teachers of past experiences. This is the ideal situation. Yet, we all know that unfortunately, students are also greatly informed from another set of teachers. I’ll call them Ms. Conceptions, Miss Understandings, Ms. Beliefs, and Miss Takes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nhttps:\/\/twitter.com\/MrLarsonBio\/status\/1510322643320381443\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

So, how do we respond to misconceptions in the classroom in a way that encourages positive change and not a doubling-down of students in their erroneous beliefs. Furthermore, how do we teach our students how to address misconceptions in their own lives, far beyond the realm of our science course?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In this blog, I hope to provide a framework for dealing with this pesky topic, as well as specific examples from the biology classroom to illustrate my points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Step 1: Identify the Source<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Before even beginning to try to correct a misconception, it’s very important for the students to understand where the misconception stems from in the first place. Is it a result of an overly simplistic past explanation, or maybe it comes from the media or a student’s upbringing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, there is a huge misconception that all cells look like the one portrayed in any science textbook: an ovular blob chock full of every type of organelle. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
This is a very common representation of animal cells. Drawings similar to this can be found in almost any introductory biology textbook.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

In the real world, however, cells do not look like this, but instead are specialized for different bodily functions. A muscle cell looks and acts completely different than a neuron, which is completely different than a skin cell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Another popular misconception is that scientific theories are just guesses without a lot of evidence. This stems from the general societal use of the word “theory” to often mean a half-brained explanation with little evidence to substantiate it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Theories are often connotated with conspiracies, leading to students often conjuring up an image like the one above when thinking about theories.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The video below explains how scientific theories are completely unlike that; instead, they are comprehensive explanations for scientific phenomena with huge bodies of evidence to support them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n