Misconceptions in Elementary Science Learning: Patterns, Sources, Diagnostic Approaches, and Conceptual-Change Strategies
DOI:
10.29303/jppipa.v10i9.14221Published:
2024-09-30Downloads
Abstract
This narrative review examines misconceptions in elementary science learning, with emphasis on physical science, life science, and Earth-space science, and discusses their sources, diagnostic approaches, and remediation strategies. Peer-reviewed studies and scholarly reviews published mainly between 2015 and August 2026 were synthesized thematically, while selected seminal studies were used to clarify conceptual-change principles. Across the literature, recurring misconceptions include the belief that motion requires a continuing force, heat and temperature are identical, matter disappears during evaporation, plants obtain food directly from soil, electric current is consumed by bulbs, and astronomical phenomena can be explained only from everyday visual impressions. These conceptions are associated with intuitive reasoning, everyday language, oversimplified textbook representations, limited inquiry experiences, and teacher-held alternative conceptions. The literature also shows that conventional right-wrong tests are insufficient to distinguish misconceptions from lack of knowledge or guessing. Multi-tier diagnostic tests, interviews, drawings, concept maps, and confidence-based measures provide stronger evidence. Effective remediation requires making prior ideas explicit and confronting them with evidence through conceptual-change models, Predict-Observe-Explain, discrepant events, inquiry, argumentation, simulations, and contextual experiments. The review concludes that misconception diagnosis should be integrated into routine elementary science assessment and teacher education, with instruction prioritizing explanatory reasoning over factual recall
Keywords:
Conceptual change Diagnostic assessment Elementary science Misconception Science educationReferences
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