Misconceptions, p-prims and bridging analogies in Physics teaching

Teacher Reflection

Published on: September 12, 2018

5 min read

A student misconception, for a teacher, is similar to what a fever is for a medical practitioner: it is an unequivocal indicator that something is amiss. Ofsted (2019, p. 9) asks teachers to ‘check learners’ understanding systematically, identify misconceptions accurately and provide clear, direct feedback’ [emphasis added]. The ‘clear, direct feedback’ is, no doubt, intended to eliminate all trace of previous misconceptions. As Coldplay put it in their hauntingly plangent song: ‘Lights will guide you home / And ignite your bones / And I will try to fix you.’ We will try to fix you The ‘misconceptions’ we are talking about are things like ‘If a body is at rest, then no forces are acting on it’ or ‘Electric current is used up as it passes through a resistor’. There is a vast and growing body of research on student misconceptions in science, especially in physics. This dates back, to the best of my knowledge, to the early 1990s and Rosalind Driver’s ven

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This article was published in September 2018 and reflects the terminology and understanding of research and evidence in use at the time. Some terms and conclusions may no longer align with current standards. We encourage readers to approach the content with an understanding of this context.