Overcoming misconceptions in science: An on‐line study of prior knowledge activation

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Abstract
Students with misconceptions about the principles of motion either had their misconceptions activated or not. They then read one of two types of text‐text which refuted misconceptions or text without refutation. Testing revealed that, while there was no significant difference relating to the type of text, students who had misconceptions activated did better on short answer and true false tests, but not on an application task. In order to explore how readers overcome misconceptions, a selected group of students was asked to recall their thinking as they reread their text on the computer and/or were interviewed in relation to each of the assigned tasks. On the basis of these data, it was suggested that students who have misconceptions after formal experience may have a more difficult time overcoming them than students who have no formal experience in physics. Further, students who use a variety of strategies for processing the information may have an advantage over students who use fewer strategies.