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Enhancing Science Teacher Professional Development: Lessons from a Study of Misconceptions of Junior Secondary Biology Teachers

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Chinese Science Education in the 21st Century: Policy, Practice, and Research

Part of the book series: Contemporary Trends and Issues in Science Education ((CTISE,volume 45))

Abstract

Students’ misconceptions of many scientific phenomena or scientific processes have been demonstrated by abundant research; however, investigations into the teachers’ misconceptions are insufficient. Despite the similarity in students’ and teachers’ misconceptions, as shown by the existing findings, a much deeper and more exhaustive study of the relationship between the two remains to be performed. This chapter will report findings of an empirical research study that examined common misconceptions about photosynthesis and respiration held by junior secondary school biology teachers and their students. The current study found the following results: some middle school biology teachers have a more or less incorrect or incomplete understanding of the key concepts in biology, teachers’ and students’ misconceptions display some similarities, these similarities are evident as statistically positive correlations, and the teachers’ misconceptions are likely to be the source of the students’ misconceptions. In conclusion, suggestions for professional training and further research are provided.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Dr. Cheng Liu for his ideas and help with data processing and revising the draft manuscript and Ph.D. candidate Wenyuan Yang for help with data processing.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. The College of Life Sciences, Beijing Normal University, 19 Xin jie kou wai Street, Beijing, 100875, China

    Enshan Liu & Mingyu Li

Authors
  1. Enshan Liu
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  2. Mingyu Li
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Correspondence to Enshan Liu .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. La Salle University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA

    Ling L. Liang

  2. Department of Learning & Instruction, Graduation School of Education University at Buffalo, SUNY, Buffalo, New York, USA

    Xiufeng Liu

  3. Department of Teaching and Learning, University of Iowa, Iowa City, Iowa, USA

    Gavin W. Fulmer

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Liu, E., Li, M. (2017). Enhancing Science Teacher Professional Development: Lessons from a Study of Misconceptions of Junior Secondary Biology Teachers. In: Liang, L., Liu, X., Fulmer, G. (eds) Chinese Science Education in the 21st Century: Policy, Practice, and Research. Contemporary Trends and Issues in Science Education, vol 45. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9864-8_18

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9864-8_18

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-94-017-9863-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-017-9864-8

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