New Perspectives in Science Education

In Japan, misconception research is conducted relatively frequently in the field of physics and chemistry, but it is not very actively pursued in the field of earth sciences. The reasons for this are thought to be related to the fact that many elementary- and middle-school science teachers in Japan major in fields other than earth sciences at university, and in turn, many university teachers who train science teachers specialize in fields other than earth sciences. Upon surveying undergraduate students on the basis of this hypothesis, we discovered that there are many misconceptions in the field of earth sciences. Misconceptions that the author is currently aware of have been revealed to arise in various units, including weather maps and wind direction, clouds, and other parts of the field of meteorology, and the distance between the sun and the planets, and light emission by meteor in the field of celestial bodies. Misconception research in the field of earth sciences leads to extremely important research for protecting citizens from meteorological disasters, such as heavy rain, typhoons, heavy snow and thunder, that occur in Japan each year and from earthquake and volcanic disasters. This study gathers information on the actual situation of students with cooperation from middle- and high-school teachers, based on case examples of misconceptions in the field of earth sciences that the author investigated of in his university classes, and then presents methods of improving teaching.

Keywords: Misconception, meteorological disasters, earthquake disasters, improvement of teaching.

 

References:
[1] Barke, H.-D., Hazari, A. & Yitbarek, S. (2009). Misconception in Chemistry: Addressing Perceptions in Chemical Education. Springer. p. 294

[2] SHIGENO Tetsuhide (2019). ‘Kishō bun’ya ni okeru misukonsepushon wo seiki sasenai saigen jikken kyōzai’ [Re-enactment experiment materials to prevent misconceptions in the field of meteorology], Kyoto Chigaku, no. 36. Kyoto Society of Earth Science and Astronomy Education. pp. 2–6

[3] TAGA Masaru (2019). ‘School-Made Misconception no seiin no kakutokugo no henka’ [Origins of school-made misconception and changes after acquisition]. Ryukoku Journal of Teacher Education, no. 6, pp.114-115