An extreme 2D representation of a cell, which leads pupils to mistakenly think of cells as flat discs. Illustration: ImageSelect
Whoever knows cells only from the familiar ‘fried-egg’ diagrams in school textbooks will struggle to grasp that they are three-dimensional structures with a wide variety of shapes and functions. Yet that is precisely how many pupils – and even students – think about cells. They picture them as flat discs with one or a few functions, with no connection between form and role. It is a classic example of a misconception: a belief that stubbornly persists even when the correct explanation is right there in the textbook.
Knowledge base
The cell example is far from unique: biology teachers encounter countless similar misconceptions in their lessons. To map these systematically and offer solutions, a knowledge base has existed for many years. But the old database from the Open University of the Netherlands is outdated: many entries are no longer current, references are missing, and the style is inconsistent. ‘We urgently needed an up-to-date and consistent database’, says project leader Sofie Faes, who is steering the project together with Alice Veldkamp of Utrecht University and Michiel Dam of Leiden University. Working with teachers and subject-education specialists from the NVON and both universities, the team is carrying out a thorough overhaul.
‘We want not only to identify what goes wrong, but to offer solutions straight away’
Misconceptions are certainly abundant. Many pupils believe, for instance, that air and oxygen are the same thing, that all the oxygen in the alveoli passes entirely into the blood, or that the lungs are made of muscle tissue. Others assume that osmosis stops as soon as concentrations are equal. Some ideas are relatively harmless – such as colouring oxygen-depleted blood blue – but others fundamentally block understanding and make it difficult for pupils to grasp how organisms really work.
Micro–macro thinking
One important explanation, Faes believes, is that biology lessons rarely make the switch between micro- and macro-level thinking explicit – something chemistry teachers do far more often. ‘Pupils picture oxygen molecules as tiny bubbles flowing into the blood, rather than as individual particles dissolving in fluid. If you never name the difference between the atomic level and the observable level, a distorted picture quickly forms.’ The knowledge base includes, for example, a short PowerPoint presentation on respiration that shows how molecules move randomly and that oxygen is also exhaled – a correction to the oversimplified diagrams found in many teaching schemes.
Multiple-choice questions
In her own classroom, Faes tackles misconceptions with a simple but powerful teaching strategy: diagnostic multiple-choice questions. Pupils are given a question, think quietly to themselves, and then simultaneously choose answer A, B, C, or D. ‘Pupils are often very sure of themselves’, says Faes. ‘When they realise they were wrong, it triggers an emotional response. It is precisely that confrontation which helps new knowledge stick.’
That mechanism – letting pupils test their own certainty – is the basis of diagnostischevragen.nl. That site offers a large collection of individual diagnostic questions that teachers can use directly in the classroom. The updated knowledge base goes a step further: each entry also includes context and supplementary teaching materials such as worksheets, practicals, or PowerPoint presentations.
Themes
The database is organised around recognisable themes such as respiration, the circulatory system, and cells. Searching the knowledge base under respiration, for instance, brings up a practical using a spirometer under the theme of vital lung capacity. Under the circulatory system there is a diagnostic question revealing that many pupils believe capillaries have a smaller volume than arteries. And in the cells section, a worksheet helps pupils connect the shape of nerve and muscle cells to their function.
‘We want not only to identify what goes wrong, but to offer solutions straight away’, says Faes. ‘Teachers can use the materials directly, without having to trawl through the subject-education literature first.’
Editorial team
The selection criteria are strict. Only misconceptions that are both persistent and that obstruct the learning of more complex concepts earn a place. ‘Otherwise you can’t see the wood for the trees’, says Faes. The project team draws on a range of sources. International examples are translated and adapted, including material from the Best Evidence Science Teaching project at the University of York. In addition, Faes and her colleagues conduct literature reviews and test materials in their own lessons. An editorial team ensures a consistent style and searchable metadata, so that the database will be easy to browse by level and keyword.
The project will run for at least another two years and is funded by Impuls Open Leermateriaal and the NVON. Yet Faes does not see it as a temporary endeavour, but as an ongoing process. ‘New misconceptions keep emerging, and new teaching formats can be added too. That means we will continue to maintain and expand the database, including with suggestions from teachers themselves. I hope that before long this will be a natural part of every biology teacher’s lesson preparation. When pupils learn that oxygen is not little bubbles floating around, but molecules that dissolve and move, we are one step closer to genuine understanding. That is ultimately what it is about: pupils not merely reproducing biology, but truly grasping it.’
Get involved with the misconceptions database
The updated knowledge base is still under development, but biology teachers can already contribute. Via an online form, they can submit the misconceptions they encounter most frequently, so that the project team can take them into account. A sounding-board group of teachers provides feedback on new items. Would you like to be among the first to see new items and teaching materials? Sign up via sofie.faes@nvon.nl. Existing diagnostic questions can also be found at www.diagnostischevragen.nl.