3 ways to address misconceptions in the classroom

Misconceptions are inevitable. A group of students walk into a classroom (this is not the beginning of a joke, by the way) and they enter with packages of knowledge that they have gathered before going into that classroom. The packages may have been added to from another classroom and teacher, or TV, or a parent, or the internet (I’m look at you, YouTube!)

Those packages often contain some information that is correct and effectively supports the pupils’ future learning. But commonly, the packages are also filled with incorrect information, some of it understandable and common, some of it weird and wonderful.

Regardless, it’s incredibly important to address those incorrect pieces of information, or misconceptions. But how?

1) Find out what the misconceptions are

This has got to be the first port of call. You might do this through assessment for learning, whether it be formative or summative. Commonly, at the beginning of the academic year, teachers will either have the results from a summative assessment from the end of the previous year, or set about completing a test with the students in the first couple of weeks.

Either way, summative assessment can give insight into where the common misconceptions are for an entire class. But what about on an individual basis? You can use Learning by Questions to find out the common and individual misconceptions through the results matrix. This matrix provides insight into which questions in a Question Set pupils got wrong the most commonly. It can even provide the most common answer provided.

What’s more, the questions are written by teachers and who would know the most common misconceptions than people who have been in your position? When provided with multiple choices, children will be presented with answers that demonstrate the most common misconceptions, providing you with insight into what misconceptions they have entered the classroom with.

2) Provide a safe environment for pupils to become aware of their own misconceptions

As human beings, particularly British human beings, we hate being wrong. It’s embarrassing and publicly demonstrates our short-comings. It is really important to provide an environment that celebrates being wrong, but it is also possible to provide pupils the ability to find out their own misconceptions and do that privately.

With Learning by Questions, pupils can complete work privately and work at their own pace. As pupils work through questions, they are provided with personalised feedback that address any misconceptions directly whilst also giving pupils the guidance on how to answer correctly the next time. Pupils not only get to know their misconceptions up close and personal; they are given the opportunity to learn from them.

3) Provide meaningful feedback

On feedback, opening discussions about misconceptions, where they might have come from and external influences that could have curated them is incredibly beneficial. This is much easier to do when it is the majority of the class that has the misconception. But it is more difficult, with one teacher and 30 pupils, to provide individual feedback on misconceptions. Yet individual feedback of this sort could be effective in ensuring the progress of your pupils.

Learning by Questions can provide that extra 29 bodies needed for effective feedback. Because the feedback given to pupils after each question has been written by teachers, misconceptions are dealt with in the moment; a very effective method for pushing pupils beyond.

Far from replacing the teacher, Learning by Questions can give teachers the ability to have more time for meaningful verbal feedback within the lesson with individuals who are struggling, whilst still providing meaningful learning experiences for the rest of the class. It’s win-win for everyone involved.

Try LbQ for free today and nip those misconceptions in the bud early. Alternatively, if you would like a free online demonstration of LbQ, please contact us.