Misconceptions Die Hard

Misconceptions are everywhere, and science is a subject that students could come into with a lot of misconceptions. In science there are many facts, formulas, data collecting, etc and getting every piece of information down correctly could be difficult but it is never too late to correct these misconceptions. In the article the study was interesting and got me thinking, do I have the same misconceptions that a lot of these students have? I am not sure that if I was asked whether certain objects floated or sank that I would be able to answer correctly. It is better to stop and correct misconceptions before they are presented out loud in the class, so it is important to learn about such misconceptions and address them right away.

"Teachers can take steps to prevent misconceptions or to break them down after they have formed" (Stepan, Beiswenger, & Dyche). I think as an educator it is so important to have the students get the most out of learning no matter what subject it is. Science is not every ones favorite subject and can be a drag so it is the teachers responsibility to make it as interesting as possible. There are a lot of ways to do this such as, picking an interesting and clear textbook, picking labs that are appropriate, and concept mapping. I remember my science textbooks were so confusing and I was not positive what they were saying. Misconceptions will happen but through good explanation and good teaching we can eliminate them.

As a future educator I hope to make every subject interesting and make it enjoyable for everyone. For science, I want the labs to be clear, entertaining, and engaging. Also I want the text to be at an appropriate level for the students I am teaching and have it be as straight forward and up to date as possible. This way the misconceptions will be eliminated because it is clearly taught to my students. I want vocabulary to presented in a manner that is not overloading that the students will forget. Misconceptions are bound to happen but I would like to correct the misconceptions I currently have about science and prevent my students from having the same ones.