Primary science assessment item setters' misconceptions concerning biological science concepts

A major theme of science education research throughout the past three decades has been students' misconceptions of scientific phenomena. The terms 'alternative conceptions' and 'alternative frameworks' have been coined to describe misconceptions or views of science that are at odds with concepts currently accepted by the community of scientists.

Studies in students' alternative conceptions (ACs) in science have a long history, being traceable back to Piaget's early work on children's views of natural phenomena (Piaget, 1929, 1930). There is now a substantial body of literature documenting the various types of alternative conceptions or preconceptions held by students in various conceptual areas (Driver & Oldham, 1985; Carmichael et al, 1991; Hershey, 2004; Pfund & Duit, 1998.) Driver et al. (1994) identified, among many other misconceptions, a number of biology misconceptions held by secondary students. One of these misconceptions was the belief held by students that respiration and breathing are labels given for the same process that occurs in mammals, including human beings. Hershey (2004) surfaced 50 plant misconceptions under five categories, namely, oversimplifications, overgeneralizations, obsolete concepts and terms, misidentifications and flawed research.

The origin of ACs have been examined by many researchers. Among the sources of ACs suggested are the following, some of which overlap:

From everyday experience and observation (Strauss, 1981; Viennot, 1979).
From the use of perceptual thinking, which is related to the previous source, and is seen in a number of studies where students' explanations of scientific phenomena are dominated by what is immediately perceptible (Driver, 1985; BouJaoude, 1991).
From diagrams or statements in textbooks (Stor ey, 1992a, 1992b).
From teachers and student teachers (Osborne & Cosgrove, 1983; Bar & Travis, 1991).

ACs or misconceptions generate more mistakes because they are incorrect representations of conceptual relationships (Strike, 1983). This means that a student's preconceptions or existing ACs hinder effective concept learning in the future. This has been shown in a number of studies (e.g., Cachapuz and Martins, 1987; Schultz et al. 1987).

Local research has shown that Singapore students and teachers are not immune to the problem of misconceptions related to basic scientific phenomena. Toh, Boo and Woon (1999) reported on Singapore students' misconceptions of light and vision whilst Boo (1995) reported on the students' misconceptions of the chemistry of burning. Boo (2006) identified a range of question setters' or teachers' misconceptions about state changes of water from a pool of primary science assessment items. However, to-date there appeared to be hardly any published papers on biology misconceptions among Singapore students or teachers.

In this paper, apparent misconceptions in the area of biological phenomena revealed in MCQ assessment items set for primary science examination papers (first and second semestral assessment science papers, ie SA1 and SA2) are discussed. It is based on a scrutiny of more than 200 sets of primary science SA1 and SA2 science papers in schools. Papers have been provided through a number of avenues: namely, vetting school examination papers with a view to helping schools improve the quality of their examination questions; conducting school-based workshops on how to craft better examination questions and conducting in-service courses for primary school teachers. Feedback, together with suggestions on how the items could be improved, have been provided to question setters.

All items are baselined to the Singapore Primary Science Syllabus introduced by the Ministry of Education in Primary 3 (P3) in 2001 and progressively introduced into the schools with full implementation completed and tested at the PSLE (Primary School Leaving Examination) at P6 in 2004. The grade level of each question is indicated for each test item discussed: P3 to P6 (Primary 3 to Primary 6) - mainstream - corresponding to pupils aged 9-12 years.