The Future of Education

The purpose of this study was to investigate the level of awareness of elementary school teachers regarding biological misconceptions related to the systems of the human body in the 5th grade science curriculum in Kuwait’s public elementary schools. The study was conducted with 60 teachers who taught at least one section of the 5th grade science curriculum during the last four years. The Biological Misconception Survey, which consisted of 15 statements, was used to identify the teachers’ misconceptions prior to workshop instruction about misconceptions in biological concepts. The survey statements were grouped into categories about the function of systems of the human body. The teachers’ answers were evaluated based on a rubric of four levels, assessing their scientific accuracy, level of expression, and logical reasoning. The study revealed many misconceptions and lack of clarity among teachers in Kuwait’s public elementary schools, indicating problematic issues concerning the teaching of biological concepts. The findings suggest that this study could help in identifying or developing strategies to reduce or eliminate such misconceptions and implement these strategies at the appropriate level of students’ cognitive development.