Pre-concept

Scientific misconceptions , even vorunterrichtliche ideas and students' conceptions are a special form of everyday theories , namely concepts that a learner (z. B., Student student) has become a phenomenon before it with a science analogous method (z. B. in the classroom) checked and, if necessary, changed towards a scientifically correct concept. Similar or even largely regarded as synonymous (e) terms are student ideas, everyday ideas, misconceptions, preconceptions, misconceptions, etc. They are relevant e.g. B. for systematic learning difficulties, related are terms such as subjective theories or interpretation patterns .

However, preconcepts are not limited to children. They occur where people subjectively encounter new phenomena for which they develop a personal explanation, although scientific knowledge to the contrary already exists. In contrast to hypotheses , preconceptions result from an individual lack of reliable knowledge.

Problem

"The most important factor influencing learning is what the learner already knows ..." d. This means that learning builds on what has already been learned and it is therefore a central point of the lesson to activate relevant prior knowledge and relate the learning material to it in a meaningful way. Establishing relationships between knowledge content and thereby connecting to existing knowledge coincides with approaches of constructivist didactics and teaching-learning research : "Knowledge acquisition is not the result of passive storage or grinding in of knowledge and skills, but the active (new) construction and expansion existing, always provisional knowledge structures. "

Teachers of the natural sciences in particular are often confronted with the problem that everyday ideas or preconceptions brought into class lead the learners astray and prove to be surprisingly resistant to scientific instruction. Since the mostly incorrect or incomplete "self-explanations" appear plausible to the person concerned and have often proven themselves subjectively over a longer period of time, they are very difficult to replace with new concepts, even if these describe the correct facts. Pupils in particular unconsciously make a big difference between school (“where I have to do what is expected of me to get good grades”) and the “real world” (where supposedly real things happen). Teachers often experience that pupils have apparently grasped and learned a matter because they can present it correctly in class or in an exam / class work, but if the context is only slightly changed (class trip to the museum, etc.), they revert to their old (subjective use proven) pre-concept. This often leads to misunderstandings on the part of the teacher, who then often considers their students to be “resistant to learning”, “incorrigible” or even “untalented” and “stupid”.

Origin of preconcepts

1. Everyday experiences in dealing with phenomena such as movement, heat, light and the like.
2. Everyday language
3. Conversations in everyday life, reading books, consuming mass media products
4. Previous lesson
5. Cognitive skills: Degree of the ability to think in models developed through mental maturation or learning.

The Swiss developmental psychologist Jean Piaget had already established that childish thinking is in principle not comparable to scientific thinking styles . More recent empirical studies based on Piaget's research have shown that the presence of preconceptions in the form of so-called naive theories can already be observed in infants .

Didactic procedures

When trying to guide the learner from his everyday experiences and explanations to the scientific point of view, one encounters great resistance. Students don't “want” to change their own point of view and don't let go of their own ideas so quickly. A skilful approach is necessary in order to transform the learners' preconceptions into scientifically correct concepts. There are several reasons for these difficulties:

• Giving up one point of view is not easy. You have the feeling that you have understood something and now you have to revise your concept.
• The change in point of view depends not only on logical insight, but also on emotional factors. The learner must first admit that their own point of view is wrong in order to learn the right thing. This also leads to the fact that students may understand the teacher but do not want to believe him.

If the teacher only tries to convey knowledge to the students without going into their ideas, it is possible that the students get a good school grade (by memorizing ), but do not gain a deeper understanding of the content and a connection to the already existing knowledge.

Change of concept

The way from the everyday ideas (more generally from the pre-lesson ideas) to the scientific ideas is now usually referred to as a concept change or concept change. The ideas of concept change theory emerged in the early developments of constructivist views in the early 1980s; their basic ideas come from Piaget's equilibration theory. Since then, it has been adapted to the changing understanding of learning in the scientific discussion, examined from a didactic point of view and further developed. In recent research, one also speaks of concept change, since the term "change" suggests that the aim is to simply replace an unsuitable concept with a suitable one, which would contradict the basic constructivist idea. In current teaching and learning research, the term concept change or change describes “that what has already been learned, i.e. the pre-classroom, cognitive structures must be redesigned within the framework of learning processes and that it must not be understood as a simple expansion of existing cognitive networks . "The following four conditions have proven to be decisive for whether a concept change can be initiated:

• The students must be dissatisfied with the previous ideas;
• the new idea must be understandable to them;
• it must be plausible from the start;
• it must be fertile after all.

These four conditions are just a scientific guideline that is difficult to put into practice. This is difficult because the dissatisfaction, which is a prerequisite, only arises when the scientific background is available. The "obvious", the comprehensibility and the plausibility are only achieved when the scientific idea has been fully understood.

The large number of studies of students' ideas and their change through teaching has clearly shown that ideas can usually not simply be erased. Such erasure is usually not useful at all. Because many of the ideas that students bring with them to class are not simply “wrong”, but have so far proven themselves to be very effective in everyday situations.

A change of concept can be achieved in class using the following strategies:

• Exclusion : In order to prevent the risk of inappropriate assimilation of scientific terms into pre-classroom knowledge structures, prior knowledge is specifically excluded from this strategy in areas where preconceptions are (supposedly) incompatible with scientific ontologically. This is intended to “die off” the pre-lesson concepts and to replace them with the correct school knowledge. In a study on so-called ontology training groups, Slotta & Chi 2006 show the positive effects, but this strategy is opposed in particular by the findings of teaching and learning research and the contradiction to the basic constructivist idea.
• Confrontation : Here, too, the assumption is that certain scientific concepts are incompatible with the corresponding pre-scientific concepts of the students. The different ideas are compared and the student is thus brought into a cognitive conflict. Through this conflict the pupil should independently recognize the inadequacy of his ideas, which leads to a change or reinterpretation of the term. In this strategy, the aspect of accommodation and knowledge substitution is emphasized. Studies show, however, that the knowledge firmly anchored in everyday sensual experience cannot simply be excluded or restructured, especially in cases where the subjective perception opposes (natural) scientific reality (e.g. students insisted that wood and metal objects feel differently warm, i.e. have a different temperature, even though they were in the same environment and their same temperature was confirmed with a thermometer.)
• Integration : The everyday experience and preconceptions of the students are not simply ignored or confronted with supposedly better school knowledge, but the teacher is encouraged to integrate the students' ideas into the lesson. So the aspect of assimilation and the goal of knowledge integration are pursued. This is based on the knowledge that knowledge development takes place on different levels of representation and runs in the direction of the integration of these levels. (Krist differentiates between at least two levels, a perceptual-motor and a verbal-conceptual one. He showed that even kindergarten children have a differentiated knowledge of trajectories that they could fall back on in a throw-target-like context (action level) but not in their explicit judgments The discrepancy between action and judgment results became weaker across the age groups, but did not completely disappear in adults.) There is no patent recipe for promoting knowledge integration here either, but there is recourse to associations and bridging analogies proven successful. This is shown by a teaching-learning study by Clement, which should bring students closer to Newton's concept of a “passive” force in the sense of the principle of interaction . For example, from a physical point of view, a table exerts a force on a book lying on it. Since this scheme has no subjective plausibility in everyday life, the scheme of the suspension is used: a hand pressing on a springy pad as a physical analogue to the situation of a book resting on the table. By means of bridging analogies, the anchored idea of ​​a hand pressing on a spring is brought into connection with the target situation of a book lying on the table via the mediating ideas "book-on-foam" and "book-on-flexible-board". Restrictions that can stand in the way of the attempt to help the learner to acquire integrated knowledge are, in addition to the capacity of working memory, (spatial) imagination and the ability to think logically, above all the ability to think scientifically and metacognition. Thinking scientifically means not only thinking logically, but also clearly distinguishing between theory and evidence. Younger children in particular are often overwhelmed by this and have to learn that mere appearance is not enough to accept an assertion as true or valid.

The change of concept requires a lot of time and patience. It is questionable whether, with the existing class sizes, given curricula (which must be timed) and other obstacles, one can know the individual ideas of the students and incorporate them into the activities of the lesson. After all, according to Fuest and Kruse, there are as many unique and unpredictable learning paths as there are learners.

The teacher's job is to capture the students' ideas and tailor the lessons to them, so that the learner's path to a scientific perspective is paved.

Visualization of preconcepts

In order to be able to deal with the individual preconcepts within a learning group, methods are necessary which make the preconcepts both for the teacher and for the learner aware.

In principle, a hypothesis formation phase is suitable for this as it is used in the context of research-based teaching . Unfortunately, only a part of the preconceptions of a learning group become transparent here.

A comprehensive evaluation of the preconcepts can be achieved by using concept maps , which are individually made by each learner and then compared in the plenary in order to map the sum of all possible hypotheses of the learning groups.

Examples of preconcepts

A typical example of preconceptions used by children in the field of optics are “rays of vision”. If you give children a schematic illustration with a head including an eye and a flower in front of it and ask them to draw the visual process, then a certain proportion of the children will paint a ray that leads away from the eye to the flower and from it in turn is reflected in the eye. The ray leading away from the eye (line of sight or gaze) corresponds to the child's concept that "something has to come from the eye" during the visual process.

In chemistry lessons, for example, the pre-concept that a chemical conversion can destroy matter and make it disappear can hinder understanding:

• Candles , alcohol or gasoline comparable burn completely,
• Fire comparable destroys objects
• Coal burns up almost completely,
• Water / acetone comparable evaporates and then no longer exists,
• Metals are decomposed by acids and disappear forever or
• Grease stains corresponds removed and the fat disappears.
• Energy as matter with material properties (energy arises and evaporates)

Often these misconceptions are due to the fact that the products in the above Cases are not immediately recognizable for the student / child and the educt has simply "disappeared".

Examples of preconceptions in physics , especially mechanics :

• " Acceleration means getting faster": Students rarely pay attention to negative accelerations (≡ slow down) or do not pay attention to the vectorial property (direction of the speed)
• "Acceleration is similar to speed ": Students often mix these terms together or even equate them.
• “ No movement without force ”: According to this pre-concept, movement is only sustained by sustained force. Conversely, it is also concluded from mere movement that a force must act.
• “Imprinted directions of movement are retained until the force is used up”: If a body has 'got used' to a moving force, according to this pre-concept it retains the usual movement for a while until this force is 'used up'.
• "Power as strength": z. B. Effect of passivity (resistance), strength as potency (muscle strength), strength as energy in a power surge.
• "Force creates movement": Students assume: the greater the force, the faster the movement.
• “Forces can cancel”: Students understand a situation of equilibrium in the sense that the forces disappear.
• “ Frictional force is getting smaller”: Pupils suspect a decrease in frictional force in the course of a movement.
• "Counterforces are always visible and act on the same body": Students apply the counterforce to the body under consideration and not to the interaction partner (e.g. correct: Car drives at constant speed - force acts forward, but the counterforce is the same in amount and works opposite on the street).

Further preconceptions of mechanics and examples of certain student ideas in the references.

Typical preconceptions of learners in biology, here on the evolutionary aspect of adaptation , include: a.

• no differentiation between population and individual level
• immature understanding of time when it comes to adaptation
• With aspects of adaptation that can be experienced (such as camouflage ), higher levels of scientific understanding are achieved than with aspects that cannot be experienced (such as mutation )
• lack of transfer of adaptation to the level of phylogeny
• ontogenetic figure of thought (e.g. the ancestor of humans was old and gray)
• Customization as a completed process
• Purposefulness of adaptation:
  • Straightness with higher development (e.g. the animals are always better adapted)
  • final figure of thought (e.g. the longer neck of the giraffes is used to get to the tall trees)
  • Livelihood and survival security (e.g. the animals have to develop further, otherwise they will become extinct)
  • phenomenological figure of thought (e.g. the adjustment just happened)
• Adaptation as an active process:
  • Lamarckian figure of thought (e.g. the giraffe's neck is so long because it has always stretched itself to get to the trees)
  • anthropomorphic figure of thought (e.g. the giraffe has a long neck because it wants it)
• Adjustment through externally controlled influences:
  • functional and vitalistic figure of thought (e.g. nature did that)
  • religious figure of thought (e.g. God created animals)

Preconcepts are also dependent on multidimensional conditions, such as social influencing factors, and diverge with the social situation .

literature

• Joachim Burger: Student ideas about energy in a biological context: investigations, analyzes and conclusions. A contribution to the reduction of learning difficulties in biology lessons in secondary schools by taking greater account of the students' ideas about "energy in a biological context" in a constructivist learning environment. Dissertation. Bielefeld 2001. ( http://bieson.ub.uni-bielefeld.de/volltexte/2003/188/pdf/0044.pdf )
• H. Krist: The integration of intuitive knowledge in school learning. In: Journal for Educational Psychology. Volume 13, No. 4, 1999, pp. 191-206.
• R. Müller, R. Wodzinski, M. Hopf: Student ideas in physics. Festschrift for Hartmut Wiesner. Aulis-Verlag Deubner, Cologne 2004. (Collection of articles on preconceptions that are important for physics teaching.)
• Dieter Nachtigall : Concepts in the field of mechanics. In: Natural sciences in the classroom - physics / chemistry. Volume 13, 1986, pp. 16-20.
• Elke Sumfleth: Teaching and learning processes in chemistry lessons. The prior knowledge of the student in a cognitive-psychologically sound teaching concept. Publishing house Peter Lang, Frankfurt am Main 1988.
• MTH Chi, JD Slotta: The ontological coherence of intuitive physics. In: Cognition and Instruction. Volume 10, 1993, pp. 249-260.
• JD Slotta, MTH Chi: Helping students understand challenging topics in science through ontology training. In: Cognition and Instruction. Volume 24, 2006, pp. 261-289.
• J. Werther: Evolution theory and basic scientific education. Preconcepts of children for the adaptation of living beings taking into account the access to nature. Dissertation at the University of Bremen. Julius Klinkhardt Publishing House, Bad Heilbrunn 2016.
• H. Wiesner: Improvements in learning success in teaching about mechanics. Student ideas, learning difficulties and didactic conclusions. In: Physics in School. Volume 32, 1994, pp. 122–127 and reprint In: R. Müller, R. Wodzinski, M. Hopf: Schülvorstellungen in der Physik. Festschrift for Hartmut Wiesner. Aulis-Verlag Deubner, Cologne 2004.
• R. Wodzinski: Learning difficulties in mechanics. In: R. Müller, R. Wodzinski, M. Hopf: Student ideas in physics. Festschrift for Hartmut Wiesner. Aulis-Verlag Deubner, Cologne 2004.
• Tobias Dörfler: Importance and necessity of taking into account students' ideas in chemistry lessons. A teaching concept to avoid and correct misconceptions using the example of the neutralization topic. Dissertation. Westphalian Wilhelms University, Münster 2008.

Web links

• IPN book: Use of computer-based concept maps for knowledge diagnosis in chemistry.
• Powerpoint presentation on student ideas in chemistry class (PDF file; 1.32 MB)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ M. Hopf, H. Schecker, H. Wiesner: Physikdidaktik compact. Aulis Verlag, 2011, p. 34.
2. ^ Ausubel (1968), based on Norbert Seel: Psychologie des Lernens. 2nd Edition. Munich 2003.
3. ↑ ^{a b} H. Krist: The integration of intuitive knowledge in school learning. In: Journal for Educational Psychology. Volume 13, No. 4, 1999, pp. 191-206.
4. ↑ Tobias Dörfler: Importance and necessity of taking into account student ideas in chemistry lessons. A teaching concept to avoid and correct misconceptions using the example of the neutralization topic. Dissertation. Westfälische-Wilhelms-Universität, Münster 2008, p. 22.
5. ↑ after Reinders Duit: Learning as a change of concept in science lessons. In: Reinders Duit, Christoph von Rhöneck (ed.): Learning in the natural sciences. Kiel 1996, ISBN 3-89088-105-X , pp. 145-162.
6. ↑ J. Clement: Using bridging analogies and anchoring intuitions to deal with student's preconceptions in physics. In: Journal of research in Science Teaching. Volume 30, 1993, pp. 1241-1257.
7. ↑ ^{a b} J. Werther: Theory of Evolution and Basic Scientific Education. Preconcepts of children for the adaptation of living beings taking into account the access to nature. Dissertation at the University of Bremen. Julius Klinkhardt Publishing House, Bad Heilbrunn 2016.