Addressing Misconceptions

Greg Bartus, my Steven's PISA2 mentor, tells a story of a time he was teaching a group of middle schoolers about the phases of the moon. He taught an active lesson of why the moon seems to change appearance and what the phases are. When he was done, he assessed the students' knowledge and found out that they held a common misconception, that the earth revolves around the moon. So he retaught his lesson, and found that this misconception was a stubborn thing to change, as many still struggled with this concept.

I rediscovered this fact recently as well. When learning fractions, a student needs many hands on opportunities to discover the fact that the larger the denominator, the smaller the fraction. So even though 1/2 has a two as it's denominator, it is still bigger than 1/8.

The students practiced with fraction pieces. They played games with fraction pieces. We did comparisons with fraction pieces. Throughout this process we had oral assessments where I found many still thought the bigger the denominator, the bigger the fraction. Then, we drew models, made posters, and we worked in our math books. Some of us still held to the misconception. Now that the unit is over, and although many students were successful on our unit assessment, some of those same successful students have forgotten this concept. More work will be needed to solidify this idea in the students' minds. Thank goodness they revisit this concepts in fifth grade. Ms. Spurgin assures me that this year, this concept was a breeze for this year's 5th graders.

Assessments before, during, and after learning are essential to unearthing, addressing, and dispelling these misconceptions.