This activity concerns the teacher acting as a 'learning doctor' who seeks to understand how different types of 'bugs' in the complex system of teaching-learning occurs.
Please select a small number of alternative conceptions (misconceptions) to discuss in your group. Ideally, you will chose examples from different scientific disciplines.
Again, you are welcome to discuss examples of misconceptions that you are aware of from your own work as teachers/teacher trainers – such as those submitted to the Miro board in advance of the session. (You may also find is useful to consider the examples of alternative conceptions listed here: Examples of science misconceptions.)
You may choose to focus on the same examples as for the previous activity, or you may feel it would be more useful to consider different examples.
How can teaching-learning go wrong?
The learning doctor perspective considers different reasons for why teaching-learning can wrong. Diagnosing the cause of the 'system bug' gives the teacher a starting point for addressing the 'bug'.
The figure below summarises the main categories in the typology of learning impediments.
The substantive learning impediments can derive from a range of sources:
For the examples of conceptions you discuss, consider:
- how is the learner likely * to have acquired/developed the conception
- does knowing this help the teacher plan a responses?
- can a 'diagnosis' inform changes in teaching/teaching schemes to avoid future learners also acquiring/developing the conception?
- are there structural issues beyond the control of the individual teacher (e.g., curriculum) that encourage learners to develop misconceptions?
* a confident diagnosis is likely to depend upon (at least) a conversation with the learner – but analysis of statements students make in class or their written work can offer useful conjectures to be tested.
