Uncovering misconceptions

last updated:September 2010

How can pupils’ talk help you to uncover their misconceptions?

Research evidence
According to research, effective teachers believe that pupils can learn a lot from mistakes and learn most when they take the risk of exposing their ideas to others’ scrutiny. 

In these studies, effective teachers in mathematics and science assessed work carefully and listened to discussion so as to diagnose the thinking that lay underneath pupils’ errors.  They then explicitly discussed these misconceptions with the pupils to improve their understanding.

Your evidence
Would you find it helpful to consider the opportunities you offer pupils to expose their thinking and ideas in your lessons?

You may find it useful to record a lesson – or part of it – or ask a colleague to observe your lesson. You could focus on the types of questions you ask (distinguishing between factual questions requiring recall of knowledge and more open questions that require pupils to explain their thinking) and the answers your pupils give by recording your observations in a table. Questions might include:

• What answer did you get?  (factual)
• How did you work that out? (open)
• Can you explain why? (open)

 
Were your questions effective at revealing your pupils’ thinking? What do your pupils’ contributions tell you about their individual levels of understanding?

Next steps
Now you have reflected on how your pupils approach exposing their thinking you might like to work with a colleague on turning your factual questions into more questions so that you probe your pupils’ understanding more often and more deeply. You might also like to list possible answers your pupils may give for some of the questions, including possible misconceptions, and discuss with your colleague how you might respond.