Hello there! I've been visiting Classical Magnet School and Hartford Public High School Nursing Academy in Hartford, CT for my inquiry and internship duties. Humans try to formulate explanations of natural phenomena, and these notions are then filed in our brains for years to come. Oftentimes, these notions are based on faulty reasoning and conflict with the views and beliefs of scientists. For example, a film entitled A Private Universe interviewed several Harvard seniors on the reason for season changes. Many of these students confidently explained that the elliptical orbit of Earth made Earth warmer as it came within close proximity of the sun. However, this is not the true scientific explanation of the season phenomena. Rather, we experience season changes as a result of the Earth’s rotation on an axial tilt. This tilt causes the different hemispheres to be at different angles to the sun at different times of the year (A Private Universe, 1988). Scientists and educators alike refer to these differing concepts as misconceptions, and they are created and reinforced throughout one’s lifetime. In order for successful learning to occur in a science classroom, it is essential to break the misconception cycle by having students question or challenge their preexisting views of the world by providing intelligible, plausible evidence for a new idea (Kyle, 1989). To do so, a constructivist approach to learning must be adopted. The teacher must first “identify those misconceptions, provide a forum for students to confront them, and then help students reconstruct and internalize their knowledge, based on scientific models” (Gooding, 2011, p. 36). One of the many intervention strategies used to break down students’ misconceptions is a type of science text called a refutational text.
Science texts have been and continue to be an important learning medium in the classroom. Science texts can be broken down into two main categories: expository and refutational. Expository texts are primarily used to inform the reader who lacks prior knowledge on the subject. Oftentimes, this information is presented in the form of a series of facts, and research has shown that this format is challenging for the reader to connect similar ideas (Diakidoy, 2003). On the other hand, research has shown that the “refutational text structure, where a prevalent misconception was acknowledged and directly refuted by preceding or following text information was more effective…than expository text which simply presented the new information” (Diakidoy, 2003, p. 337).
Despite the promising effects of refutational texts on students’ learning, the strategy has not been adopted in many science classrooms. Therefore, the purpose of this my inquiry project is to investigate the presence of student misconceptions in a science classroom and the instructional methods used by the teacher to address these misconceptions through student and teacher surveys as well as teacher interviews. I will also be analyzing the use of refutational texts to debunk student misconceptions in a science classroom at Classical Magnet School and Hartford Public High School Nursing Academy.
Furthermore, I will be investigating the reasons students choose to attend magnet schools in the Hartford school district. In particular, I will be surveying students on the reasons for attending Classical Magnet School. Classical Magnet School serves students in grades 6-12 from the greater Hartford region, and nearly fifty percent of the student body resides in 40 different towns in the area. Students apply for admission and are accepted through a lottery drawing. All students are required to follow a classical liberal arts curriculum in which the subjects of Latin, literature, mathematics, science, and social studies are studied throughout each of the seven years of school. The academic program proposed by Classical Magnet School ensures adequate student preparation for attending competitive colleges and universities. In addition, Classical also offers an extensive after school enrichment program for students interested in the arts, music, theater, social justice, and athletics. The school’s motto is “non scholae sed vitae discimus” which is Latin for “We learn not for school but for life” (CT Board of Ed., 2009).
Is a classical curriculum necessary for student success? Is this the reason why students attend Classical? I'm bound to find out why!
