This study assessed the level of awareness that teachers had about students' common misconceptions. Small focus groups discussed pupils’ misconceptions about the Sun and Earth they had encountered. The teachers involved were not physics teachers and during the study, some of the misconceptions the teacher held were noted. The research was carried out by university-based researchers in Belgium.

Learners’ ideas

• Teachers were not fully aware of the fact that the shape of the orbit approached a circle.
• The Earth is closer to the Sun in summer.
• The Earth's axis tilts from one side to the other during a year.
• The polar night lasted for six months in the whole polar region.
• That 24 hours of darkness and 24 hours of light could only happen at the poles.

Study Structure

Aims

The aim of the study was to increase the awareness of misconceptions held by secondary school students and discuss strategies to overcome these.

The research questions were:

1. To what extent are teachers aware of the mental models students have about astronomical concepts, more in particular about the cause of the seasons?
2. What kind of strategies do teachers use in order to achieve conceptual change?

Evidence collection

A series of focus group discussions were held, discussing teaching practices and resources, including a range of textbooks in current use.

Transcripts of the focus group discussions were made and analysed, data being entered in Nvivo. Quotations about each topic were identified, and categorised and some showed misconceptions held by the teachers themselves.

Details of the sample

A total of 27 teachers participated in 3 focus group interviews. The majority of these teachers were geography teachers, with two being history teachers.