User:Ravikiran/Sandbox

Misconceptions in science: Children construct their own explanations for scientific phenomena. These ideas that learners have often do not match with accepted scientific ideas, these are referred to as misconceptions. They are also termed as alternate conceptions, preconceptions, misunderstandings, everyday science, common sense science and children’s science. Areas where they have their own ideas are : photosynthesis, respiration, biological classification, evolution, matter, chemical reactions, energy, electricity, forces and motion, and heat and temperature

In other words: knowledge is not viewed as some sort of a true copy of features of the world outside but as construction of the individual. Knowledge acquisition (i.e. learning) is not the transfer of "nuggets of truth" (as Kelly, 1955, put it) to the individual but a personal construction by the individual. The learner is not seen as a passive receiver but as an active constructor of knowledge.

Learners’ misconceptions: The ideas that children construct tend to persist even after the formal instruction has been given because they make sense in terms of everyday observation and experience, whereas the accepted scientific explanations are often counter-intuitive. Therefore, teaching strategies should begin by eliciting children’s existing ideas and then presenting children with situations which challenge this thinking.