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This article has been published in published been This has article or collective redistirbution other or collective or means this reposting, of machine, is by photocopy article only anypermitted of with portion the approval The O of E d u c at i o n

110 Misconceptions About the b y R o b ert J . F e l l er , Volume 4, a quarterly 20, Number The O journal of

Misconceptions impede student learn- at the University of Washington in sum- classes I’ve taught since 1970, one would ing, especially in science. As teachers mer 1970 (taught by Carmack, think that few misconceptions would go of science, we would be wise to by the way), I have come across stu- unheard or unread on tests, but this is identify misconceptions whenever pos- dent misconceptions too numerous to simply not the case. I still confront new sible before launching new topics in count. The very first one came during ones all the . Thanks to the our oceanography courses. A good way a one-on-one laboratory write-up help crop of students in my Fundamentals to do this is to pose creative, multiple- session in this class. The student was a of class, ceanography Society. C choice, PowerPoint questions that freshman nonoceanography, nonscience a few more were added to the list can be answered anonymously using major who wondered why people in just this semester. student-response systems, “clickers,” in the didn’t fall What you do with misconceptions can large introductory classes (Beatty et al., off the earth. For some odd reason, this vary quite a bit. Basically, I use a con- opyright 2007 by The O 2006; Caldwell, 2007) (Figure 1). Having same student also had trouble solving structivist inquiry approach built upon taught many such classes for nonscience rate x time = distance problems, not to the conceptual change model (CCM; majors—mostly without clickers—since mention difficulties with metric system Stepans, 2006). This learning model my very first laboratory as a teaching conversions. With class sizes ranging encourages students in the classroom to ceanography Society. A

assistant in the evening OCN 101 course from 15 to 415 in the 40+ oceanography confront their own preconceptions, as all correspondence to:ceanography Society. Send [email protected] Th e O or well as those of their classmates, and to then strive to resolve them. The CCM

has six stages: (1) students become aware Permission is reserved. ll rights granted to in teaching copy this and research. for use article Republication, systemmatic reproduction, ceanography Society, P O B

Figure 1. Example of a “clicker”—a multiple-choice, PowerPoint question that M D 20849-1931, U ox 1931, Rockville, can be answered anonymously using student-response systems in large intro- ductory classes. The slide on the right includes the responses obtained anony- mously from my students (n = 89 nonscience majors). Here, the green bar indi- cates the correct answer. This slide shows that many students have not made the connection of as , or that motion can be influenced by the . For some reason they view the tide simply as a change in the vertical height of water—how in the could a do something like that? S A .

170 Oceanography Vol. 20, No. 4 of their preconceptions about a concept “That’s what I was thinking” or “Yeah, my tions, most have been uttered in some by thinking about it and making predic- science teacher told us that” or “Isn’t that way by undergraduates but, unfortu- tions (commit to an outcome); (2) they what the book says?” or “That’s the way nately, many come from an alarmist expose their beliefs by sharing them, ini- my friend explained it to me” or some media or science teachers (and par- tially in small groups and then with the such remark. They love confirmation of ents!) whose only, if any, undergraduate entire class; (3) they confront their beliefs their way of thinking, right or wrong— courses in science were of the “rocks for in small group discussions; (4) students that’s just human . It is never a jocks” and self-paced astronomy ilk. If then resolve conflicts between their good idea for the teacher to simply state you want to learn more about science ideas (based on classroom discussions) that they are wrong and tell them here’s misconceptions in general, a great place and their observations (based on new the way it is—this doesn’t get to the root to start is Driver et al. (1994). You will or additional information provided), of their misconception. They have to be amazed by their findings. The recent thereby accommodating the new con- reach a state of confusion before they can article by Bloom and Weisberg (2007) cept; (5) students extend the concept rectify their thinking based on the new on resistance to understanding science by trying to make connections between evidence or information. Once you have is also quite instructive to anyone who what they just learned in the classroom sort of gotten them hooked into your line teaches science in any . It is now and their daily ; lastly, (6) students of reasoning, then you can back up and time to HEM and HAW—Help Eradicate are encouraged to go beyond their level explain where the flaws exist by showing Misconceptions and join the Hunt for of understanding and pursue additional the new (to them, anyway) information Additional Wisdom. I must now turn questions related to the concept. In brief, again and explaining why you reject that my attention to misconceptions in biol- you lead students to a quandry that con- particular line of reasoning. ogy and . Did you know that flicts with their current level of under- I provide some common misconcep- the nonliquid a tree accumu- standing (the misconception or incorrect tions on the next two pages (with apolo- lates as it grows from a seed comes perception), so they must now confront gies for an obvious southeastern seafood from the soil? Those who teach carbon their level of understanding with evi- bias engendered by wonderful field trips cycles and global warming better attack dence or data to the contrary that should, with students to barrier off the this one right away. I guess CO2 is just hopefully, lead them to a new under- South Carolina ). They are catego- blowing in the … standing of whatever is the “truth.” rized rather loosely, and the number I also sometimes simply discuss a assigned to each has no significance as References PowerPoint slide directly with the class to how frequently I’ve heard it or how Beatty, I.D., W.J. Gerace, W.J. Leonard, and R.J. Dufresne. 2006. Designing effective questions for after seeing how many have selected an deeply embedded it is. Many of these classroom response system teaching. American answer that would indicate a misconcep- you will have encountered before, some Journal of Physics 74(1):31–39. Bloom, P., and D.S. Weisberg. 2007. Childhood origins tion exists. I try to figure out why some- may be new, but none had as great an of adult resistance to science. Science 316:996–997. one would think that way, and I do this impact on me as #40, dutifully pro- Caldwell, J.E. 2007. Clickers in the large classroom: out loud, sort of reasoning to myself. nounced about 20 years ago by one of Current research and best-practice tips. CBE Science Education 6(1):9–20. Surprisingly, having heard my line of rea- my children’s elementary-level science Driver, R., A. Squires, P. Rushworth, and V. Wood- soning to justify reaching the incorrect teachers. Because of its obvious potential Robinson. 1994. Making Sense of Secondary Science: Research into Children’s Ideas. Routledge, KY, answer, students will frequently blurt out for causing harm, this single uninformed 210 pp. misstatement of fact about and Stepans, J. 2006. Targeting Students’ Science Misconceptions. Physical Science Concepts Using the Robert J. Feller electricity was the initial impetus for ([email protected]) Conceptual Change Model, 3rd ed. Showboard, Inc., is Professor, Science Program my more recent formal forays into the Clearwater, FL, 286 pp. and Department of Biological Sciences, complex, challenging world of science and Director, Center for Science education—I simply had to get more This is Contribution No. 1464 from the Education, University of South Carolina, deeply involved. Belle W. Baruch Institute for Marine & Columbia, SC, USA. As for the origins of these misconcep- Coastal Sciences.

Oceanography December 2007 171 110 Misconceptions About the Ocean

Waves/Tides/Currents 27. Nuclear routinely dive to the bottom 1. Waves are highest near , don’t break much in of the ocean. the open ocean. 28. The clearest ocean water is in the . 2. The open ocean is static, still, and quiet compared to 29. The Bermuda Triangle is a really unsafe, dangerous place. the coast’s big waves. 30. There are no more pirates on the high —that’s just in 3. occur after every underwater earthquake. the movies. 4. Tides are caused by Earth’s rotation. 31. = “under-toe,” the /backwash 5. Tidal currents are fast and therefore deadly. underfoot on the . 6. Ignoring tides, level is the same everywhere. 32. Where does seawater go when drops? It changes 7. Spring tides are a seasonal phenomenon. phase from to gas. 8. Ocean currents are caused by the tides. 33. The edge of the is a steep . 9. The is stagnant, never changes. 34. The Panama runs east-west. 10. is an actual (as in F = m a). 11. The is a in the sea. / 12. Currents in the Northern and Southern hemispheres 35. It doesn’t as much over the ocean as it does on . run in the same direction. 36. All Atlantic hurricanes come off the African coast. 13. A north current flows from the north, just like a 37. and control the climate much more than north wind. do ocean currents or sea-surface . 14. You can swim against a or and 38. Coastal areas are safe places to live except in Florida make it back to shore. and the (thank you, Andrew and Katrina, respectively). Geographic/Bathymetric/Global 39. A water spout is not the same thing as a . 15. The ocean is basically a bowl, deepest in the middle. 16. The ocean is blue from sky reflection. Chemical 17. UV light does not penetrate water. 40. water does not conduct electricity. 18. Syzygy is why some people think the world is coming 41. have the same everywhere. to an end. 42. They’re salty because of deep-sea vents. 19. Global warming means the ocean is getting hotter 43. They’re salty because of river runoff for eons. and hotter. 44. All icebergs are made of salt water. 20. Global warming makes more, and more intense, 45. When sea creatures make shells, hurricanes. this sequesters C in the ocean. 21. Sea level is rising rapidly due to melting — 46. You can drink seawater, just not too much, especially big are coming! if you’re dehydrated. 22. Melting sea causes sea level to rise. 47. Table salt + water = seawater. 23. The three big oceans are not connected; each acts alone. 48. Salty oceans are not linked to land’s freshwater cycle. 24. are caused by changes in Earth’s distance from the sun. Biological/Organismal 25. There are no real seasons in the ocean. 49. () are . 26. We have the technology to dive to any desired depth 50. are like insects of the sea. in the ocean. 51. Food chains are the linear portions of food webs. 52. The is the same depth everywhere.

172 Oceanography Vol. 20, No. 4 53. High latitudes, being cold, must be unproductive. Seafood 54. Deep-sea creatures are large, fearsome, bizarre. 88. Bottom feeders are not good to eat, will taste bad. 55. Zooplankton are “bugs” (way too many geologists 89. All king come from Alaska, all come say this!). from Maine. 56. All have swim bladders. 90. Fishermen don’t catch enough to have to change 57. reefs occur everywhere. their fishing methods. 58. The largest live deepest or near the bottom. 91. Saltwater taste better than . 59. Soft sediments (e.g., mud flats) are dead zones. 92. The “vein” in a is for blood circulation, must 60. Ctenophores are . be removed. 61. are . 93. All cans of tuna fish are “-safe” now. 62. Phytoplankton die only from grazing. 94. A has no shell—at least I’ve never seen one 63. As in my garden , more nutrients = more on my plate. phytoplankton. 95. Big clams are better to eat than little clams. 64. Nothing much lives in the middle depths of the ocean. 96. Blue crabs can’t hurt you if you pick them up. 65. There are no reptiles (snakes) on , just flies 97. Fish are abundant; it’s impossible to overfish any . and mosquitoes. 66. Sea birds probably taste funny, hence are inedible. Pollution 67. “Sea monkeys” are really some sort of marine monkeys. 98. All areas of the ocean are monitored regularly—we’re 68. A is a sponge is a sponge; same for nematodes. on top of it. 69. Salt marshes are just smelly swamps. 99. Humans have no permanent effect on the ocean—it 70. Detritus is just , not useful for anything. will recover. 71. Nothing lives in anoxic mud. 100. The ocean is like a sponge, so just dump stuff in and it 72. Marsh grass is pretty to look at but otherwise useless. will absorb it. 73. The fastest swimming fish is a barracuda. 101. Newer ocean-going oil tankers can’t sink. 74. saved the ocean from certain death. 102. Most oil in the ocean comes from tanker spills. 75. never sleep, have to swim all the time to stay alive. 103. Fish kills only happen in the Gulf of Mexico around 76. Phytoplankton are too small to be important—trees win. Florida. 77. Sharks are out to eat humans, thus attacks are 104. Sailors can outdrink and outcurse anyone. premeditated. 105. The ocean is huge, vast, endless in its dilution capacity 78. Sharks are the most dangerous animals in the ocean. for pollution. 106. Turbid coastal are polluted because you can’t see Marine Mammals through them. 79. spout water through their blow holes. 107. Water will be clean if you just remove like 80. Killer whales are not whales. my water filter does. 81. Seals are the same as sea lions. 108. Human activities inland can’t possibly harm or impact 82. All whales are endangered species. the oceans. 83. Only indigenous people harvest whales now. 109. If tourists just look, they can’t harm coral reefs very much. 84. Flipper is a . 110. die as soon as they reach salt water. 85. exist to help people. 86. A shark is a whale, not a fish. 87. Marine mammals are intelligent, like humans.

Oceanography December 2007 173