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Hello Romeel,
My answer is, “It depends!”
As you progress in your career you will likely amass a library of common and not-so-common misconceptions. My biggest advice is to always address them or they may spread amongst your students. There are many ways to handle misconceptions that arise as you’re teaching science. I caution against scoffing or ridiculing some outlandish claims. It might be better to say, “I haven’t heard of that. Shall we find out more?”
I feel that addressing misconceptions can and should become an integral part of your teaching and can offer excellent learning opportunities for your class. One way is to pre-empt them by discussing the more common ones in your general instruction. A better way is to gauge your class’s prior knowledge when you introduce a topic or ask them to supply you with three questions as an exit slip. Before the next class, sort the questions into ones that will be answered as part of your lessons and those that are either good questions but slightly off topic or misconceptions. The next time you meet, list all the questions that will be answered and tell them to hang tight. For the second list you can turn them back to the students as small research projects. In my class every student had to volunteer to answer one of these types of questions during the term with a small writeup and presentation.
The most powerful way to handle misconceptions, particularly egregious ones, is to build entire lessons as “Fact or Fiction” or “Mythbusters.” Have the students research, explain, demonstrate, and set the record straight for themselves. Students also learn about the nature of science and how we handle discrepancies in our knowledge.
Hope this helps!
Gabe
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