[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":3,"doc-seo-590528-105":59,"doc-detail-590528-en":130},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",[7,13,18,23,28,33,38,43,48,51,55],{"id":8,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":10,"show_sort_weight":11,"slug":12},1,"Document","Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":14,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":15,"show_sort_weight":16,"slug":17},2,"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":19,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":20,"show_sort_weight":21,"slug":22},4,"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":24,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":25,"show_sort_weight":26,"slug":27},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":29,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":30,"show_sort_weight":31,"slug":32},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":34,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":35,"show_sort_weight":36,"slug":37},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":39,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":40,"show_sort_weight":41,"slug":42},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":44,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":45,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":47},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":46,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":49,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":50},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":52,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":53,"show_sort_weight":52,"slug":54},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":56,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":57,"show_sort_weight":24,"slug":58},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":60,"data":61},"ok",{"site_id":62,"language":63,"slug":64,"title":65,"keywords":66,"description":67,"schema_data":68,"social_meta":123,"head_meta":125,"extra_data":127,"updated_unix":129},105,"en","understanding-misconceptions-teaching-and-learning-in-middle-school-physical-science","Understanding Misconceptions - Teaching and Learning in Middle School Physical Science","","Explores how teachers’ knowledge of common student misconceptions relates to middle school physical science learning outcomes. Examines why learners struggle to replace ideas that seem reasonable, and how research using proxies like degrees and grades has not directly measured specific misconception knowledge. Uses identical multiple-choice assessments for teachers and their students, controlling for student demographics, to test whether teachers’ ability to identify wrong answers predicts student gains.",{"@graph":69,"@context":122},[70,84,105],{"@type":71,"itemListElement":72},"BreadcrumbList",[73,77,79,82],{"item":74,"name":75,"@type":76,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":78,"name":9,"@type":76,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":80,"name":40,"@type":76,"position":81},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/",3,{"item":83,"name":65,"@type":76,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/understanding-misconceptions-teaching-and-learning-in-middle-school-physical-science/590528/",{"url":83,"name":65,"@type":85,"image":86,"author":91,"headline":65,"publisher":94,"fileFormat":97,"inLanguage":63,"description":67,"dateModified":98,"datePublished":99,"encodingFormat":97,"isAccessibleForFree":100,"interactionStatistic":101},"DigitalDocument",{"url":87,"@type":88,"width":89,"height":90},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/understanding-misconceptions-teaching-and-learning-in-middle-school-physical-science/590528.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":92,"@type":93},"Stanley","Person",{"url":74,"name":95,"@type":96},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-30","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":102,"interactionType":103,"userInteractionCount":24},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":104},"ViewAction",{"@type":106,"mainEntity":107},"FAQPage",[108,114,118],{"name":109,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":111},"Why are misconceptions difficult for students to change in science learning?","Question",{"text":112,"@type":113},"Misconceptions often form ideas that make sense to learners, so replacing them with scientific explanations requires unlearning old ideas as well as learning new ones.","Answer",{"name":115,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":116},"What gap does the research address about teachers’ misconception knowledge?",{"text":117,"@type":113},"Earlier discussions rely on indirect proxies (degrees, courses, grades) and provide limited assessment of teachers’ knowledge of specific misconceptions and its direct impact on student learning.",{"name":119,"@type":110,"acceptedAnswer":120},"How did the study measure the relationship between teacher knowledge and student learning?",{"text":121,"@type":113},"Teachers and their students completed identical multiple-choice assessments, and teachers were asked to choose which wrong answer students would most likely select; student gains were measured over the school year with demographic controls.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":83,"og:type":124,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":95,"og:description":67},"article",{"robots":126,"canonical":83},"index,follow",{"doc_id":128,"site_id":62},590528,1792888682,{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":131},{"doc_id":128,"user_id":132,"nickname":92,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":39,"category_name":40,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":67,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":24,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":34,"language":139,"language_code":63,"site_id":62,"html_lang":63,"table_of_contents":140,"faqs":141,"seo_title":142,"seo_description":67,"update_tm":143,"read_time":144,"preview_page_count":4},2336477405376,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_29158cc5080c5b710cf443261637dec0","Understanding Misconceptions  \nTeaching and Learning in Middle School Physical Science  \nILLUSTRAT IONS BY JAMES YANG  \nBy Philip M. Sadler and Gerhard Sonnert  \nEverybody wants teachers to be knowledgeable. Yet there  \nis little agreement on exactly what kinds of knowledge  \nare most important for teachers to possess. Should teachers have deep knowledge of the subject matter they are teaching, gleaned from college study, additional graduate courses, or even research experience? Do they need to understand  \nPhilip M. Sadler is the director of the Science Education Department at the Harvard-Smithsonian Centerfor Astrophysics. His researchfocuses on assessing students’ scienti􀀞c misconceptions; the highschool-to-college transition of students who pursue science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) careers; and enhancing the skills of science teachers. Gerhard Sonnertisa research associate atthe Harvard-Smithsonian Centerfor Astrophysics. His research focuses on gender in science, the sociology and history of science, and science education. is article is adaptedfrom Philip M. Sadler, Gerhard Sonnert, Harold P. Coyle, Nancy Cook-Smith, and JaimieL. Miller,“ eIn􀀝uence of Teachers’ Knowledge on Student Learning in Middle School Physical Science Classrooms,” American Educational Research Journal 50 (2013): 1020–1049. Copyright © 2013 by the American Educational Research Association. Published by permission of SAGE Publications, Inc.  \nhow students typically think when they approach a problem or theory? Is there some optimal combination of these di􀀞erent types of knowledge?  \nResearchers have long speculated that a teacher’s knowledge of common student misconceptions could be crucial to student learning.1 is view recognizes that learning is as much about unlearning old ideas as it is about learning new ones.2 Learners often 􀀝nd it di􀀜cult to change their misconceptions, since these are ideas that make sense to them. Some researchers advocate, therefore, that teachers should know common student misconceptions for the topics that they teach,3 and others suggest that teachers interview4 or test5 their students to reveal student preconceptions early on in the learning process. Yet the research falls short in assessing teachers’ knowledge of particular student misconceptions and the actual impact of this knowledge on student learning.  \nSuch discussions as these, if they use data at all, are often based on indirect methods of gauging teacher knowledge. College degrees earned, courses taken, and grades achieved often serve as proxies for a teacher’s subject-matter knowledge, which is  \n26 AMERICAN EDUCATOR | SPRING 2016  \nidenti􀀝ed as the general conceptual understanding of a subject ate the teachers’ knowledge of both subject matter and students’area possessed by a teacher.6 But studies that rigorously investi- misconceptions and examine if these teacher measures predict gate the relationship between the different kinds of teacher student gains in middle school physical science classrooms.  \nknowledge and student gains in understanding are rare.7 Science learners often struggle with misconceptions, and  \nWe set out to better understand the relationship between multiple-choice tests function well in diagnosing popular misteacher knowledge of science, speci􀀝cally, and student learning.8 conceptions that can impede the learning of science concepts.10 We administered identical multiple-choice assessment items both Good examples include the causes of the seasons and of the to teachers of middle school physical science (which covers basic phases ofthe moon. For instance, a particularly common view, topics in physics and chemistry) and to their students throughout often held by adults, is that the seasons are caused by the earth’sthe school year. Many of the questions required a choice between elliptical orbit rather than the changing angle of the sun’s rays accepted scienti􀀝c concepts and common misconceptions that hitting the surfac","cbCaieXuxszC7yqs","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaieXuxszC7yqs","pdf",215722,"English","# Understanding Misconceptions\n## Teaching and Learning in Middle School Physical Science\n## Teachers’ Knowledge of Misconceptions\n## Measuring Teacher Knowledge and Student Gains\n## Study Design and Controls","[{\"question\":\"Why are misconceptions difficult for students to change in science learning?\",\"answer\":\"Misconceptions often form ideas that make sense to learners, so replacing them with scientific explanations requires unlearning old ideas as well as learning new ones.\"},{\"question\":\"What gap does the research address about teachers’ misconception knowledge?\",\"answer\":\"Earlier discussions rely on indirect proxies (degrees, courses, grades) and provide limited assessment of teachers’ knowledge of specific misconceptions and its direct impact on student learning.\"},{\"question\":\"How did the study measure the relationship between teacher knowledge and student learning?\",\"answer\":\"Teachers and their students completed identical multiple-choice assessments, and teachers were asked to choose which wrong answer students would most likely select; student gains were measured over the school year with demographic controls.\"}]","Understanding Misconceptions - Teaching and Learning in Middle School Physical Science | PDF",1792069832,18]