Misconception of students could influence learning and it can also create other kinds of misperception. Therefore, in order to promote correct learning, more research is necessary on the level of understanding and types of misconception that the stude...
Misconception of students could influence learning and it can also create other kinds of misperception. Therefore, in order to promote correct learning, more research is necessary on the level of understanding and types of misconception that the students display. Moreover, analyzing the misconception of learners could also be a method to understand about the learning process. Thus in this research, there are three purposes in total and it was carried out according to them. First of all, the purpose is to design a framework which classifies fallacies from students appearing on areas such as fan delta, high plantation surfaces or erosion basins, flood plains or back marsh. Secondly, the research aims to approach with a constructivist point of view, while the third is to discover the differences among misconception and errors through academic achievements, and search for the factors that cause these differences.
The scholars who researched on misconception and fallacies on a constructivist viewpoint used other terms such as mini-theory and science for students whereas scholars who positioned in the perspective of disability utilized phrases such as conceptual image and perceptional dysfunctions. Moreover, according to an investigation, students think in a more simple way compared to professionals and they have difficulties figuring out various circumstances and conditions, which could give a grasp that students have misconception. As this former research shows, misconception was studied under a certain viewpoint or terminology. In this research analysis, various terms and viewpoints were applied to find out about misconception and fallacies of students.
In the current research, students were grouped and interviewed in-depth in order to understand their misconception and fallacies using surveys. The subjects were 10th grade high school students who studied topography and they were divided into 3 groups by their academic achievements; advanced, intermediate, and developing. The students who participated in the experiment were 46 in total including the Pilot Test and the main experiment, and none were excluded from the test results. The questionnaire was modified and supplemented through two Pilot Tests. The modified survey had an attachment of "discussion 1" focusing on advanced group and "discussion 2" based on the whole group, which was carried out in the main experiment. The procedure of the experiment was first done by drawing mimetic diagrams on the survey and explaining about the geographical features in general. Afterwards, they were told to solve questions and give yes-or-no answers as well as clarify the reasons why they think so. Such procedure had 50 minutes elapsed time per group. The results of the research was analyzed by various definitions of misconception suggested from theoretical background and comparing the knowledge of professionals and amateurs. The summary of the research goes as the following.
First and foremost, there is a repetitive system for misconception and errors of students, and a framework was created to apply for distinguishing the types of errors. For geographic education, a detailed differentiating framework for classifying misconception and fallacies was non-existent, and most of them were done by landscape or climate. However, this research intended to apply a type appearing repetitively and systematically so that misconception of students could be analyzed.
In addition, students could establish and internalize personal knowledge where their results could be analyzed from a constructivist point of view. Furthermore, the students could discuss and interact actively with their colleagues, perceiving and modifying their own misconception on the way. Also, students learn concepts through thinking processes that are different from professionals. Students think in a more simple way compared to professionals and also through problem solving process they might not consider broad circumstances and conditions. They often interpret the whole with just one factor and even think through their self-conscious image concepts.
Thirdly, according to academic scores, the causes for misconception formation appear differently. In advanced groups, there were more cases where explanations of professors or textbooks were mentioned. This certainly proves that students from advanced group are being affected more by exterior factors. On the other hand, in intermediate and developing groups there were a lot more examples where personal concepts and mini-theories were displayed. To conclude, there are many cases where one's thoughts could be logically explained in defining concepts, where an individual's perception structure or experience became a cause and internal factor being a huge influence in the part.