Misconceptions Die Hard

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In Educational Psychology, we watched a video called “A Private Universe.” In the video Harvard students informed the filmmakers confidently that eccentricity in Earth's orbit made Earth warmer when it was closest to the sun. They also thought that the phases of the moon were caused by Earth's shadow.

As a class, we laughed at how absurd some of the statements students made in defense of their explanations sounded. At the time I wondered how many of us that were watching had behaved similarly when forced to describe a scientific phenomenon. I am not even sure where some of the misconceptions come from -- were we taught incorrectly, were we never taught and just came up with something that sounded good?

In the article by Stepans, Beiswenger and Dyche, I found it interesting that the college students performed on about the same level as the K-3^rd graders. I am not sure how well I would interpret surface tension, displacement, volume and mass. I am not sure if this is an indictment of the science education system in America, but am sure many people would make that connection.

Based on the information that college-level students preformed on approximately the same level of the kindergarten students, it was only their explanations that were more complex, something is not occurring in our classrooms. I tend to be a hands-on-learner that needs a connection for information to stick with me. Just telling students that certain objects will sink due mass or surface tension is not enough for ensuring learning. Students need to see and connect the scientific phenomenon in order to fully under what is taking place and have a better understanding.
I think "Misconceptions Die Hard" points out to all future and current teachers that checking for understanding needs to go beyond asking students to repeat what educators and texts have told us. We need to  provide authentic assessments to ensure students are actually learning.