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Active Learning
Strategies:
The Top
10 strategies to help
students overcome their
naive conceptions of science
Claudia Khourey-Bowers
3838 TThhee SScciieennccee TTeeaacchheerr
Active Learning Strategies: The Top 10
onceptual change instruction recognizes that stu- Figure 1
dents bring personal, or naive, conceptions to the
classroom, which they use to explain their world, A conceptual change lesson cycle.
Cinterpret situations, and create meaning (Driver et 1. Reveal students’ prior knowledge and establish in-
al. 2007). But what happens when students’ personal con- structional goals.
ceptions are inconsistent with experts’ views of scientific uu What are the recurring naive conceptions of stu-
knowledge? Even after direct instruction, many students dents? How do you know?
are held captive by their naive conceptions.
The persistence of these conceptions, as documented in uu What is the fundamental scientific concept you
The Private Universe Teacher Workshop Guide (Harvard- want students to understand?
Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics 1995), provides 2. Design a bridging lesson that creates dissatisfaction.
compelling evidence that traditional instructional strate-
gies are often ineffective at displacing naive conceptions. uu What bridging lesson can you use to challenge
Conceptual change instruction, however, creates opportu- naive conceptions?
nities to replace students’ naive conceptions with scientific uu How will this lesson create dissatisfaction by
concepts. helping students realize that their personal
This article describes the conceptual change cycle and naive conceptions are inadequate to explain
provides 10 active learning strategies to help students over- phenomena?
come their naive conceptions of science. I have found these uu What active learning strategy will you use to en-
strategies to be effective in teaching for conceptual change. gage your students?
Conceptual change 3. Present the “experts’” perspective on the concept.
Conceptual change theory (Posner et al. 1982) asserts that uu How will you present the experts’ scientific per-
learners must first become dissatisfied with their existing spective to students?
conceptions, and then be provided new concepts they find uu What representations (e.g., analogies, images, sym-
to be intelligible, plausible, and fruitful: bols, models) will you use to make
the experts’ perspective intelligible to your stu-
Dissatisfaction
uu arises when learners realize that their pre- dents?
existing ideas are no longer able to provide answers or
solve problems. 4. Provide an opportunity for students to apply the
A new concept is
uu intelligible when it can be used to repre- scientific concept, to test its fruitfulness and plausi-
sent a situation or solve a problem and it can be internal- bility.
ized by the learner; representations may take the form of uu What active learning strategy will students use to
analogies, metaphors, or images. apply the experts’ perspective to a novel situa-
uu For a new concept to be plausible, the learner must find tion?
it potentially believable and consistent with his or her ex- uu Will students find the new concept preferable to
periences and worldview. their prior understanding and fruitful as a prob-
uu For a concept to be fruitful, the learner must be aware of, lem-solving strategy?
generate, or understand novel practical applications or ex- uu What kind of posttest will verify that students
periments that the new conception supports or explains. have developed new knowledge?
A conceptual change lesson cycle, which incorporates uu Will students find the new concept plausible in
the phases of dissatisfaction, intelligibility, plausibility, and light of everything else they know about related
fruitfulness, can be designed to address any of the National concepts?
Science Education Standards (NRC 1996). The cycle begins 5. Ask students to reflect on their new understanding.
and ends with students’ understanding. In this kind of lesson uu Have students self-assess their cognitive process-
cycle, teachers do the following (Figure 1 provides a more es. What aspect of the lesson cycle caused them
detailed outline): to change their thinking? What convinced them
Reveal students’ prior knowledge and establish instruc- that the new concept was preferable to their
uu naive conceptions?
tional goals. How can journaling or other reflective strategies
Design a bridging lesson that will create uu
uu dissatisfaction. encourage students to think about thinking?
uu Present the “experts’” perspective on the concept.
April/May 2011 39
uu Provide an opportunity for students to apply the scien- with their own students, enjoyed similar successes. These
tific concept, to test its fruitfulness and plausibility. strategies are also supported by educational research, some
uu Ask students to reflect on their new understanding. of which is cited throughout this article.
Top 10 strategies #10: Watch your language!
As seen in Figure 1 (p. 39), the conceptual change cycle Sometimes, multiple definitions of common words—such
combines teacher-centered and student-centered activi- as work, energy, size, shape, and growth—affect students’
ties. Student-centered activities should emphasize active understanding of fundamental scientific concepts. For
learning (Blank and Alas 2009) strategies in which stu- example, you might think of growth as an increase in the
dents are expected to manipulate knowledge and even- size or number of cells, but students might think of it as
tually construct understandings that are consistent with an increase in height or width—overlooking the concept
scientific conceptions. of cellular structure. Help students distinguish scientific
Active learning strategies transform learning from a pri- meanings from everyday meanings of words. Word Walls
vate, unexamined event to a public, shared process within (in which important terms are posted on a wall or bulletin
the classroom community. By manipulating knowledge and board as the terms are taught), student-illustrated vocabu-
talking about the phenomena with their classmates and teach- lary cards, and science notebooks can help students create a
ers, students’ naive conceptions are made visible and can be working vocabulary and develop understanding (Roberson
replaced with more scientific understandings. and Lankford 2010).
The “top 10” active learning strategies presented here #9: Go for the long haul
are suggested for conceptual change instruction. I have used
these strategies with middle and high school students and Design longitudinal studies by having students collect data
preservice and inservice teachers. These strategies helped over an extended period of days, weeks, or months. Grow
my students rethink their prior knowledge about science yeast colonies and make daily measurements of population
topics—allowing them to approach key concepts with fresh growth and collapse. Raise fast-growing plants such as rad-
attitudes—and in the end, develop more scientific ways of ishes and have students observe plant height, leaf number,
thinking. Inservice teachers, eager to try novel strategies length, and width over a period of several weeks. Have
students select an independent variable. Make seasonal
observations of ecosystems, including pond conditions,
Nonscientific conceptions: ground cover, light levels, and animal tracks. Long-term
Misconceptions, alternative, observations help students see trends and patterns, while
or naive? minimizing transitory or insignificant changes. Patterns
Each of these terms refers to strongly held interpreta- can be a powerful tool for analyzing the logic of students’
tions of natural phenomena developed by the learner. prior knowledge and assumptions.
The differences in these terms depend on the absolute #8: Use discrepant events to awaken curiosity and
or relative “inaccuracy” perceived by the teacher. inspire questioning
Misconceptions imply that the learner’s ideas are
simply wrong and should be removed from his or her Dynamic models such as the “drinking bird,” gyroscopes,
cognitive framework. and wind-up cars are surefire ways to get students asking
Alternative and naive conceptions recognize that the questions about motion. A static model, such as a center-
learner’s ideas are “prescientific”—meaning that they do of-mass demonstration, can be placed in a corner of the
not hold with accepted scientific explanations and have classroom for students to discover. Students will eventually
limited usefulness in solving problems or interpreting a ask what it is and how it works. Predictions and hypothesis
pattern of phenomena—when compared to scientific generation follow, as intrigued students are challenged to
ideas. Both terms imply that the learner’s ideas are par- apply scientific knowledge to explain the “unexpected.”
tially correct, relative to the scientific view. #7: Use novel associations to explore concepts
The term alternative conception recognizes that Rather than using textbook examples in the study of im-
the context of the learner’s knowledge has a strong in- portant concepts, use unique examples. Does every food
fluence on the usefulness of this knowledge. The term web consist of grass, a rabbit, and a fox? Consider instead
naive conception recognizes the developmental nature the food web on a rotting log. Why not use bacteria to
of cognitive development. Teachers can actively build convey concepts of population and abiotic factors? Study
on students’ naive conceptions to help them become the physics of motion by observing the family pet. Encour-
more scientific thinkers. age students to construct their own ecosystems or food
4040 TThhee SScciieennccee TTeeaacchheerr
Active Learning Strategies: The Top 10
webs by observing the school grounds or their backyards. or state of matter are simply rearrangements of the building
Have students apply content knowledge and methods of blocks of matter. For older students, those building blocks
scientific inquiry to investigate product claims, such as ul- can be identified as specific atoms and molecules. Measure-
traviolet (UV) light-sterilizing toothbrushes and fat-free ment helps develop the concepts of particulate nature and
potato chips. conservation of matter by guiding students to make and
#6: Demystify diagrams interpret observations and support their interpretations with
experimental evidence.
The most familiar diagrams—of food webs, the water #4: Say it with flowers…
cycle, and chemical equations, for example—attempt to
convey complex relationships simply, using a combination …and pictures, words, and mathematical symbols! Dif-
of words, pictures, numbers, and symbols. But how many ficult concepts such as photosynthesis can be represented
students really understand what these shorthand images with concrete examples (flowers), images and diagrams
represent? For example, in a food web, arrows point to (pictures), words (descriptions), and symbols (the equation
the higher-order consumer. Why isn’t the arrow pointing for photosynthesis). We expect that high school students
toward the organism that is consumed? How can we make are abstract thinkers, but in some domains, they may still
sure that students understand that matter and energy are think concretely. For example, students tend to think
both moving from producers to consumers? that individual atoms demonstrate the same properties as
Similarly, the water cycle typically pairs specific processes macro-amounts of substances. Give students time to talk
with specific parts of Earth. For example, evaporation is or write about their macroscopic perceptions of matter be-
shown over the ocean, and transpiration is shown over plants. fore presenting theories based in the particulate nature of
Doesn’t water both evaporate and transpire from plants? matter. Then scaffold students’ progress through multiple
And doesn’t water evaporate from roads, parking lots, and levels of representation by specifically addressing their
puddles, as well as from the ocean? current understanding. As you and your students discuss
Chemical equations, symbolic of types and ratios of matter, different models used to explain the phenomena, they will
present further problems. Do arrows in chemical equations begin to understand that each model has strengths and
mean the same thing as arrows in food webs? Are the prod- limitations.
ucts consuming the reactants? #3: Use concept maps
In an effort to simplify, some diagrams can lead to in-
complete understanding. Replace stereotypical thinking by Concept maps are versatile learning tools, which can be
presenting students with the opportunity to create their own used as pretests to determine students’ prior knowledge
images, before relying on standard diagrams. Have students or as posttests to assess learning. More important, concept
make drawings and diagrams that depict their interpretations maps can help build knowledge as students actively con-
of the concept. As instruction proceeds, the drawings should struct meaning through recognizing associations between
become more complete and more consistent with standard concepts. These relationships, or propositions, reveal how
representations. students are organizing ideas. Begin the process of concept-
#5: Measure twice, lecture once! mapping with a focus question that serves to guide the orga-
nization of concepts, such as “What are the parts of a cell?”
Just like the carpenter’s adage of “measure twice, cut once,” “How are parts of the cell adapted for specific functions?”
the suggestion here is to spend time making quantitative and “How are prokaryotic cells different from eukaryotic
observations to develop understanding of fundamental con- cells?” Each of these focus questions results in a unique
cepts, particularly the conservation of matter. Measurement concept map, using different propositions to organize key
can be used in the study of physical and chemical changes. terms.
Start by measuring matter involved in physical changes, Remember to provide students with key terms and a
such as mixtures or solutions. When working with chemi- skeleton template for the concept map (Novak and Cañas
cal changes—especially when gases play a role—use closed- 2008). The template should provide enough structure that
system designs, such as reactions in freezer bags. Measure- the primary divisions are suggested, but be open enough for
ment can help students realize that matter is conserved in students to incorporate their own associations.
both chemical and physical changes. #2: Write to learn
By massing matter before and after physical or chemical
changes, quantitative data (e.g., measurements) and quali- Use of structured writing tasks, such as observations,
tative data (e.g., observations of changes in state, color, or interactive lab reports, and science notebooks, can im-
shape) can help structure classroom discussions. For younger prove conceptual understanding through metacognition
students, discussion can center on how changes in appearance (McDermott 2010; Roberson and Lankford 2010). Meta-
April/May 2011 41
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