During the last 10 years, cognitive science researchers have produced research findings that have great potential for increasing students' understanding of science. However, commercial publishers continue to produce textbooks and teacher's guides in traditional ways. This project developed a prototype unit which used an alternative approach to…

Discusses the causes and effects of conceptual errors inadvertently introduced and nurtured by scientists, teachers, and textbook writers. Cites ways to prevent the communication breakdowns that prevent the learning of science. (RT)

Misconceptions interfere with the formation of new insights and provide a faulty foundation. This causes difficulty in the learning of new materials. Therefore, effective teachers strive to know which misconceptions students have, and then develop a plan by which these suspected misconceptions can be corrected or averted. This paper reports on an…