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One thing I think every science teacher (well, all teachers for that matter...) needs to be aware of is misconceptions. Because younger children are more likely to think in concrete terms, it's important that we address misconceptions early on. Some common misconceptions that I've come across recently is the inability for young students to grasp how large our solar system is in comparison to what they know in life. By creating multiple scaled versions, students can better see how to relate to the size of Earth and the solar system. Another common misconception young students have relates to the movement of the sun, moon and stars. The movement is very slow to the observant eye (besides the obvious day/night phenomenon). Children don't notice the movement of stars from night to night, for example. Since they think in concrete terms, movement to a child is limited to what they can see (cars and people moving around them). Lastly, I think it's also important to note the perceptions that posters and visual aids can display. When something is displayed in the classroom, it is important that the teacher make a mention of it or use/describe it in some detail. Without even realizing it, students are looking at the visual display on a day-to-day basis making their own judgments about what's there. If a teacher doesn't take the opportunity to use it as a teaching tool, they may be doing the student a disservice by leaving them to create their own conclusions from what they observe. Although hypothesizing is a great way to promote critical thinking, it's important that we address the misconceptions that can be conveyed.

I agree!! Student misconceptions can hinder the development of a strong understanding of content. I teach using the 5E learning cycle model in lesson planning. It is always my goal to flush out misconceptions and help students build strong foundations for their future learning. I design the "explore" phase of the 5E model to provide time for students to not only recognize, but also to adjust their misconceptions. So time to work through and rebuild their schema is also a very important part of the helping students identify and address their misconceptions.

Hi there! I just had to respond to this thread because I wanted to share my experience... I also agree that student misconceptions can hinder the development of a strong understanding of content. Also, I am a fan of the 5E model when teaching science as well. I am currently in my last semester at Southern Illinois University and my science education teacher utilizes the 5E method not only with us as a class, but also encourages us to write all of our assignments in the 5E model. I found that it is very effective not only with my own learning, but also with students of younger ages. No matter the age of your students the 5E model is beneficial for all! I had never heard of the 5E lesson until last semester. What a great way to get students engaged into a lesson, while having them be excited to learn and discover by exploring! I do think that the 5E method could be used across the curriculum, and should be utilized more often! Hannah

Hannah, I so agree with you abbout misconcpetions, preconceptions and/or naive conceptions. Sometimes I think we as well intentioned teachers enable students to develop some of these by trying to teach abstract concepts like the size of the solar system or the movement of the sun, moon and the stars before students are cognitively ready to learn them. I decided to check out the K-12 Conceptual Science Framework and this is some of what I found dealing with the concepts you mentioned. [u]Grade Band Endpoints for ESS1.A[/u] [b]By the end of grade 2[/b]. Patterns of the motion of the sun, moon, and stars in the sky can be observed, described, and predicted. At night one can see the light coming from many stars with the naked eye, but telescopes make it possible to see many more and to observe them and the moon and planets in greater detail. [b]By the end of grade 5[/b]. The sun is a star that appears larger and brighter than other stars because it is closer. Stars range greatly in their size and distance from Earth. [b]By the end of grade 2.[/b] Seasonal patterns of sunrise and sunset can be observed, described, and predicted [b]By the end of grade 5.[/b] The orbits of Earth around the sun and of the moon around Earth, together with the rotation of Earth about an axis between its North and South poles, cause observable patterns. These include day and night; daily and seasonal changes in the length and direction of shadows; phases of the moon; and different positions of the sun, moon, and stars at different times of the day, month, and year. Some objects in the solar system can be seen with the naked eye. Planets in the night sky change positions and are not always visible from Earth as they orbit the sun. Stars appear in patterns called constellations, which can be used for navigation and appear to move together across the sky because of Earth’s rotation. I also totally agree with you about how misleading the visual aids, posters, etc that are available commercially. Some of these products do contribute to students' misconceptions. Kathy

Would you mind explaining or offering a location where I can read more about the 5E system? I'm not familiar with it (that I know of) and would like to look into it. Thanks so much in advance! Tonya

Hi Tonya,
The 5 Es are engage, explore, explain, extend, and evaluate.
There are several resources in the NLC on the 5 E inquiry lesson model. I will share two that I think will be particularly helpful. One is a book chapter that explains the 5 E inquiry model. The other is a lesson plan written using the 5 Es. You will love them both,I hope :-).
Book Chapter:
BSCS 5E Instructional Model

Journal Article using the 5 E model:
Tried and True: Taking flight with an inquiry approach

Most of the lesson in the elementary and middle school NSTA journals model the 5 Es, so it is easy to find other examples in the NLC.

If you are familiar with Madeline Hunter and her model for lessons, you will find some similarities with this model (Example: The hook is like engage in the 5 Es). The 5 E model is an excellent planning tool in order to organize science lessons.

I just finished teaching a lesson today on the distances between each planet. I made sure to touch on the different posters that kids normally see around the school. These posters are cute and mysterious, but they're completely inaccurate. I'm also working on correcting student's misconceptions about the moon. It seems a lot of them think that the reason we have phases is because of the Earth's shadow. (Very common misconception.) Have any of you done multiple lessons on the moon? Can I ask what kinds of things you focused on? Distance? Night and Day? Tilt? I want to make sure I give my students a thorough understanding of the moon without necessarily sticking to what's found in their textbook. Thanks!! :D

Interestingly enough, many of the ways we think about dealing with misconceptions can actually strengthen them. I am thinking specifically about the structure of the solar system. I think even most adults really don't have a full understanding about the size of the solar system and the size of the objects in it (compared to earth). The posters and models we can construct to help students see relative distances usually end up showing the sizes that are too large compared to the distances and if we show relative sizes we end up showing distances too small. I do not think it is that kids have misconceptions about these things. I think it is more that they simply do not know or have not thought about it. The physical structure of the solar system is conceptually beyond many of us and children are no different.

I teach middle school and I still use KWL charts. They are a great tool that kids remember from elementary school and it works! I firmly believe that students must write down their predictions BEFORE a lab - misconceptions cannot change if students don't document that they even had a misconception. When kids don't write down their prior knowledge, they are more likely to believe they knew something all along.

Hi Carla and welcome to the discussion thread!
You asked, 'Have any of you done multiple lessons on the moon? Can I ask what kinds of things you focused on? Distance? Night and Day? Tilt? I want to make sure I give my students a thorough understanding of the moon without necessarily sticking to what's found in their textbook. '
I am wondering what grade level you teach Carla. If it is middle school, I came across an article sbout moon phases and how the moon looks different depending on whether you are viewing it from Earth or in space. It has students create models of the moon phases from the two reference points. It is an excellent lesson and is already written in the 5 E inquiry lesson format. It can be accessed at: A High-Stakes-Test Intervention: Moon-Phase Models as Viewed from Earth and Space
I plan to use it with my preservice class, too. Many adult learners have never had an opportunity in elementary school to ponder about why the moon seems to change its appearance. They often have lingering misconceptions that were never addressed in the earlier grades. This lesson will be useful for 5th graders on up through adults.
Let us know what grade you teach, and we can help you determine what is appropriate both from the grade level standpoint and based on your state's standards for that grade level.
Carolyn

Here's a huge list of science misconceptions posted here: http://homepage.mac.com/vtalsma/misconcept.html I think the first step it to be aware that misconceptions exists within our students. The second step is to identify the misconceptions and then to confront student misconceptions via inquiry. As teachers, we need to make sure we are not perpetuating misconceptions or using materials that may reinforce a misconception. Teachers need to be aware that as wonderful as inquiry is, it can actually reinforce misconceptions. A good way to identify misconceptions is through the use of Page Keeley's popular science probe books

I agree...misconceptions are always present in science. It isn't as straight forward as teaching a student to multiply or divide. When students are young teachers give students partial information which leads to later misconceptions. I find that as a fifth grade teacher I have to re-teach concepts that are brought by the students before you can add any new information. I find that lower level teachers, while they are fantastic at hat they do, they tend not to focus on science as it is not a primary foundational skill that gets tested. AS the students get up it the grades, they lack a set of foundational concepts to build upon.

Hi everyone! Has anyone else here used anticipation guides at the beginning of their units? Anticipation guides are a literacy strategy that I modify at the beginning of a new unit (not each individual lesson). It consists of a three-column grid. The left column is where students put their "pre-lesson" answers and these are always true/false or yes/no type questions. The middle column is the question or statement they're responding to and the third column is where they put their "post-lesson" answers. It's a quick and easy way to reveal student misconceptions to me so I can tailor my lessons to their needs. I find it's more effective than "pre-tests" because they're very short (maybe 5 or 6 questions) and students revisit them after going through the learning experiences. If you're interested, here's a link that gives examples of several anticipation guides for different subjects. http://wvde.state.wv.us/strategybank/AnticipationGuide.html Thanks! Kendra

The anticipatory guides are a great idea, I do something similar but usually when doing language arts I got it from a reading comprehension set it's called F(facts) Q(questions)and R(response). There are tow ways you can do the questions section, it can be questions you have from just previewing the chapter or it can be questions while reading or learning about the topic. The response section can be answered along the way as the students are learning. The facts are also done as the students find important facts. I have found students gain a better understanding and can take their FQR charts home with them to study and they can share it with each other to gain more facts.

Dealing with misconceptions depends on the student and where they are. The first step is always finding a way to help students have an open mind. Discourse around a topic with more than one idea or conception needs to happen often. Children need to be comfortable thinking out loud and being "wrong" as well as finding the right answer. Taking students outside the classroom and letting them see the stars, the sun rise and set in different parts of the sky during different times of the year, and letting them consider possibilities without criticism prior to their opportunities for discoveries is very important. Whether it is the study of the earth in space or something of a very different nature, students can grasp enough to grow further with an open mind when they are ready to take the next step. We must not cheat them of the opportunity.

Nancy, I agree with ALL you say.it is very important not to cheat students of chance to experience ideas first hand. As teacahers we need to be good listeners, observe and know how to respond to ur student when they have questions.

I also agree that students should feel "safe" when learning. Students should be taught that making mistakes is half of Science. The other have is finding the "truth" Students think that these great scientific minds discovered everything on the first try. When we learn about the solar system I tell my students how some of the most famous astronomers who thought the sun was in the middle of the solar system were laughed at. Students then feel more comfortable to take risks and answer questions they are unsure of, but I tell them mistakes aren't important but finding the answer is.

One thing I think every science teacher (well, all teachers for that matter...) needs to be aware of is misconceptions. Because younger children are more likely to think in concrete terms, it's important that we address misconceptions early on. Some common misconceptions that I've come across recently is the inability for young students to grasp how large our solar system is in comparison to what they know in life. By creating multiple scaled versions, students can better see how to relate to the size ofEarth and the solar system.Another common misconception young students have relates to the movement of the sun, moon and stars. The movement is very slow to the observant eye (besides the obvious day/night phenomenon). Children don't notice the movement of stars from night to night, for example. Since they think in concrete terms, movement to a child is limited to what they can see (cars and people moving around them). Lastly, I think it's also important to note the perceptions that posters and visual aids can display. When something is displayed in the classroom, it is important that the teacher make a mention of it or use/describe it in some detail. Without even realizing it, students are looking at the visual display on a day-to-day basis making their own judgments about what's there. If a teacher doesn't take the opportunity to use it as a teaching tool, they may be doing the student a disservice by leaving them to create their own conclusions from what they observe. Although hypothesizing is a great way to promote critical thinking, it's important that we address the misconceptions that can be conveyed. Dan I do agree with you. I believe that although addressing misconceptions is important, I also think that students having misconceptions is a strengthening quality. This means that students are thinking on their own and critical thinking is happening. As a future teacher, I will talk to my students about their misconceptions and find out why they made that reasoning instead of just correcting them. I think we should start seeing misconceptions as a step for critical thinking rather than a negative aspect. Nevertheless, we should always make sure that we talk about students’ misconceptions.

Talking about student misconceptions and trying to find out why they have them is a starting point. But if teachers and adults do not try to help students clear up their misconceptions they will go through life with the wrong information. It is very hard to get students to let go of a misconception, but the best way is to try to find a hands-on activity to explain and clear up a misconception. Unfortunately, there are a lot of misconceptions that do not lend themselves to hands-on activities though. Page Keely's series of books on science probes is a good source to help with misconceptions.

I noticed during my Teaching Elementary Science Methods class while learning about science content to teach students that I held most of these misconceptions myself. I will admit that I was wrong about why we have seasons and the elliptical shape I thought we had due to some of the illustrations in textbooks. I feel ashamed that I'm discovering some of these misconceptions now but I understand how easy is it for a student to form their opinion from misinterpreted information. It's hard to change it when you become my age, haha. But definitely, right off the bat, find out what a student knows through an open discussion and start your lesson from there. Students at any age can definitely hold conversation about how they think things work.

In reply to Amanda Lizano I have the same science class and we were shown a video where they interviewed college graduates on the phases of the moon and seasons. The answers they gave blew my mind. Some where along their education road they formed what they though were logic reasons to answer the questions on why the moon has phases or why we have seasons. It was important to me as a future teacher to realize that students have their own ideas when it comes to the why in science.

It is so important for our students to learn the importance of observation to be able to develop questions that address their misconceptions. Kids that do not have the opportunity to actively participate in observations are at a disadvantage, in my opinion. I understand learning increasingly is focused on e-delivery mechanisms, but I think that students need to really experience so many concepts directly. Think about shooting a projectile off a cliff. We could use Angry Birds to illustrate the concepts, but it becomes so much more real to use a launcher. The same analogies could be drawn for so many disciplines. My question is, how many of you find that your students actually seem to develop misconceptions as electronic delivery, especially of simulations, becomes an increasing part of our delivery plan? Any of you with one-to-one laptop programs find your students more focused on the technology than the concepts?

I think a fundamental approach to addressing a misconception is to set up an environment where it is the learner that is faced with an inconsistency due to their misconception, and is self-directed to correct it. They conclude their world model is wrong, it bothers them, and they take the lead in correcting that world model. This allows them to demonstrate why the misconception must be wrong, to anyone, and the correction will last a lifetime. Example: Standing in a U.S. classroom, you ask "if I could dig a hole right through the center of Earth to the other side, where would I come out"? Class will like shout out "China". Question to class: "hmmmm, what hemisphere is the U.S. in?" Class: "Northern" Question to class: "what hemisphere is China in?" class: "Northern" Question to class: "Does anybody see a problem with that?"

Jeff, I think you make an excellent point about students discovering that there is a misconception and then try to explain it themselves. But what do you do with a misconception that a student has no way of explaining other than written research?

Hi All, Thanks so much to everyone who had added ideas and input to this thread! I've really learned a lot as I read through posts! Jeff, I agree that the best way to address student misconceptions is to give our students authentic opportunities to see that the misconception is incorrect. As Jennifer pointed out, using hand-on activities helps our students learn, understand, and internalize science concepts. I, too, found that using hands-on activities really helps young learners understand scientific concepts and is a great way to combat common science misconceptions. Amanda, you've made the first step in becoming an awesome teacher who identifies and address common misconception and that is realizing that we all still have a lot to learn! I know I am constantly finding out new information that contradicts something that I thought before. NSTA has some excellent resources to help you identify and address common misconceptions. I've attached a collection with some of my favorite misconception resources. Maureen

Misconceptions Collection (13 items)

Science Sampler: Why we have seasons and other common misconceptions

- Journal Article

Science Sampler: Correcting student misconceptions

- Journal Article

Tried and True: Making the connection—Addressing students’ misconceptions of circuits

- Journal Article

View All 13 Items

Students relate topics of study with what they have experienced, some of our students have limited experiences with forests, oceans, rivers, canyons etc. Technology provides us with tools to represent perspective. I am always looking for more effective ways to build this type of relative knowledge for our students.

There is a lively discussion of misconceptions in one of my linked in groups. Someone posted this link to the RCS list of misconceptions in chemistry. I love this! http://www.rsc.org/Education/Teachers/Resources/Books/Misconceptions.asp There is also a pdf book here http://www.rsc.org/images/Misconceptions_update_tcm18-188603.pdf Another resource mentioned in the thread is NSDL Science Literacy Maps NSDL Science Literacy Maps are a tool for teachers and students to find resources that relate to specific science and math concepts. The maps illustrate connections between concepts as well as how concepts build upon one another across grade levels. Clicking on a concept within the maps will show NSDL resources relevant to the concept, as well as information about related AAAS Project 2061 Benchmarks and National Science Education Standards. http://strandmaps.nsdl.org/ Enjoy, Pam

I thought I would share something I have just read and posted about in Ready, Set, Science. Chapter 3 starts off discussing what young students know and are capable of learning. It then discusses misconceptions of those same age children. It says that" young students' misconceptions are "necessary stepping stones on a path toward more accurate knowledge" It also discusses how some of them are partially acccurate, some of the misconceptions the student will self correct as they get older and others that need explicit instruction. It certainly has my interest piqued. What do others think about these statements? Kathy

There is a great body of work on addressing physics misconceptions. The Reddish group at the University of Maryland has a great website with lots or resources http://www.physics.umd.edu/perg/ The University of Maryland Physics Education Research Group is a combined effort of the Physics Department and School of Education to study the learning and teaching of physics at all levels from elementary school to the graduate level. Our program focuses includes both qualitative and quantitative research and relies heavily on video data of authentic classroom and learning environments.

Take a look at the Science Beliefs Quiz at Oakland University (Michigan). They have identified about 60 of the most common. https://www2.oakland.edu/secure/sbquiz/

The University of California at Berkeley had a good website on misconceptions in evolution http://evolution.berkeley.edu/evolibrary/misconceptions_faq.php

This website delves into common chemistry misconceptions https://camtools.cam.ac.uk/wiki/eclipse/Grounded%20learning%20impediment.html The typology of learning impediments is intended as a diagnostic tool for thinking about where science learning 'goes wrong'. It is a model of the different types of 'learning bugs' that may occur when our teaching does link to students' thinking in the ways we intend. One category of substantive learning impediment is a grounded learning impediments. Substantive Learning Impediments occur where learning does not match the intended learning because the student interprets teaching in terms of existing ideas in a different way to intended. Grounded learning impediments occur because existing understanding (prior learning) is inconsistent with accepted scientific thinking.

The New York department of education had put together a list of common science misconceptions http://newyorkscienceteacher.com/sci/pages/miscon/subject-index.php

Daphne Koller is using technology to identify student misconceptions and then develops targeted intervention http://www.ted.com/talks/daphne_koller_what_we_re_learning_from_online_education.html

Intersting, because the movement of the sun, moon, and stars are relative to the earth and relative to the observer. The sun, for example, does not move as it is apparently moving. The movement of the sun that we are ble to observe is actually no movement at all. When we say the sun rises in the east and sets in the west we are describing an apparent motion of the sun based on our vantagepoint being stationary which it is not. Often the"misconception" we are thinking about are actually common conceptions of the average american adult. In many ways, these are not really misconceptions, they are valid descriptions of the motion of the heavenly using our position on earth as stationary. The rest is what makes science interesting. A la the galaxy song of Monty Python... We are standing on a planet thats evolving and revolving at 900 miles an hour, at18 mile a second so its recond around a sun that is the source of all our power... And so on. T

Hello Everyone, During some of the past PD seminars and curriculum design projects in which I was involved, classroom educators helped to identify and establish student prior conceptions in physics and physical science. During the past several decades, cognitive researchers (some of whom have been high school teachers) have interviewed students trough video (as in the film interviewing graduates of a top school in Boston who received stellar grades in science and still held misconception about the Earth, Moon, and Stars) or established techniques to interview students through carefully designed probes (Jim Minstrell is one of the early researchers in this field.) and similar probes are found in Keeley's recent offerings. An overarching model of this cognitive research established Constructivism as a paradigm for teaching and learning. While reading through the many interesting threads and wonderful suggestions offered therein, I did not see this model discussed. So, I am putting it out there for consideration and review. Constructivism continues to be a foundation for many of the 'newer' models for identifying how students learn and how we best teach to root out misconceptions and promote sound understanding. A great deal of research has been done at Harvard, Cornell, Tufts, U of Washington, Berkeley, Dickinson U., U. of Minnesota, U. of Maryland and many, many other institutions on constructivism, but if you are unaware of its basic structure, you may opt to view this site: http://www.thirteen.org/edonline/concept2class/constructivism/index.html It clearly outlines what was a new paradigm and continues to be the foundation for current ones. ~ patty

Constructivism resources found through a quick search in the Learning Center: The NSTA Learning Center search engine returned 13 resources when the keyword 'constructivism' is used. I will list a few below and invite you to do your own search of the LC Resources and to put together a personal collection on constructivism in your library. The cool thing is that this information will always be at your fingertips as long as you can access your LC personal library. 1. Research and Teaching: Cooperating with Constructivism—Getting the Word Out on the Meaning of “Constructivism” By: David T. Crowther Grade Level: College 2. The Prepared Practitioner: Constructivism and Conceptual Change, Part I By: Alan Colburn Grade Level: High School 3. The Prepared Practitioner: Constructivism and Conceptual Change, Part II By: Alan Colburn Grade Level: High School 4. Editor’s Corner: Doing Science With PBS By: Steve Metz Grade Level: High School This leads in Project Based Science, which is rooted in constructivism as well as a lot of Wiggins. ~patty

Thanks for reading a bit about constructivism. The middle school journal article, Constructive Connections' description says, "An effective way to implement constructivism in the classroom is through the use of K'NEX building sets, an ideal exmple of toys that teach. In this activity, students construct knowledge by building bridges. K'NEX building sets allow students to visualize and manipulate concepts—for example, structure and strength can be a hands-on activity." The website and the NSTA Journal articles are found in the collection appended to this post. ~patty

Constructivism - a Paradigm for Teaching Collection (9 items)

Constructivism as a Paradigm for Teaching and Learning

- User Uploaded Resource

Research and Teaching: How Constructivist Are We? Representations of Transmission and Participatory Models of Instruction in the Journal of College Science Teaching

- Journal Article

Point of View: A Curious Thing Happened On The Way To Constructivism…

- Journal Article

View All 9 Items

Hello, I appreciate you sharing your thoughts about misconceptions, I have to totally agree that we need to familiarize ourselves with them and become knowledgeable and teach the students.  I am currently a student teacher and did a solar system 5E lesson.  I definitely stated some of the misconceptions and we discussed and it was clear that by the end of the lesson the students were understanding the objective without misconceptions because they had been cleared.  Thanks Cielo 

I definitely see the value in using the 5e lesson to help avoid and clear up misconceptions!

Hi there, Regarding science misconceptions. ARE ENERGY TRANSFER AND ENERGY TRANSFORM THE SAME THING? I need your help with that point.

I agree! Misconceptions should be addressed immediately. It often takes creativity to address misconceptions in a way that is developmentally appropriate for students. Misconceptions can also hinder the learning process and development of scientific concepts. It is important to take into consideration prior to teaching lessons is the possible misconceptions students already possess. By keeping misconceptions in mind, a teacher can brainstorm and chose demonstrations or activities for students to adjust their misconceptions. Providing students with hands-on and engaging experiences are great ways for students to adjust their misconceptions. Because young students think in concrete terms, it is important that their learning and development is supported in ways that enhance learning and adjust their misconceptions. Strategies such as critical thinking, hands-on experiences, and the incorporation of real-world contexts are ways in to address misconceptions. 

I agree with all of the comments posted here! I am a preservice teacher and I realized that I believed most of the misconceptions without knowing that they are not true. Science has never been my strongest subject, so I can relate to students who might believe something because they were not taught correctly. It can be very confusing! What is the best way to guide children in a way that they will not have as many misconceptions?

I agree with everything that you had to say! It is best to teach our students early on when it comes to misconceptions. We need to assist them in knowing what is correct and what needs to fix. It is better to do it as early as we can so that confusing our students would not happen.

Recently I found the following PDF addressing common misconceptions in science for elementary school children. Here is the link: Operation Physics at www.amasci.com/miscon/opphys.html
I am gathering more resources to this topic on my library if anyone has more links with resources, I would appreciate it.

Ayda

I couldn't agree with you more. At my work, I notice how a lot of kids have a misconception of what a scientist is. They see a crazy, white coat man testing all these chemicals. This small misconception shows that a lot of kids may not understand science for what it really is. It is actually really interesting to listen to the different misconceptions younger kids have. As a preservice teacher, I can't wait to learn more about how to bring science into everyday lessons and I can't wait to show kids the importance of science and hopefully shape their misconceptions.

I am a preservice teacher this semester and we are required to have two interviews with students about misconceptions of science. I think this will be an interesting interview face-to-face with the students because it is my first exposure to science as a preservice teacher. These are great things to look out for in misconceptions. Thanks for sharing!

You brought up some excellent points! I agree that models/ posters can be very misleading to children, particularly when they are not to scale. I see these types of misconceptions very often when it comes to various concepts at the science center I work at. Without assistance, you cannot fault a student for taking what is before them literally, and concepts should definitely to be broken down into more digestible, easily understood chunks to avoid misconceptions as much as possible.

As a preservice teacher, we discuss misconceptions and creating formative assessments to test those prior conceptions. What are some successfully implemented assessments you have used in your classrooms? What is the most effective way to provide evidence to replace these misconceptions with proven statements?