PARENT SESSION
Oral Session #50: Ecological Education. Presiding: A. Wallace.
Wednesday, August 8, 2001. 1:00 PM to 5:15 PM. Hall of Ideas L&M.
Alternative conceptions in biodiversity: a cross-age study focus in animal classification.
Yen, Chiung-Fen1, 1
ABSTRACT- This study examined student's alternative conceptions of animals and animal classification. Probing student's ideas at each of four educational levels, I investigated the extent to which these ideas remained intact through the elementary, secondary, high school, and college students. Multiple-choice/free-response instruments were administered to a total of 410 students. The student's attitudes to classification and their uses of classification inside and outside school were also probed by means of questionnaires. Results showed that students subscribed to a highly restricted view of animals, especially to common mammals. When asked to distinguish between vertebrate and invertebrate animals and to classify several species into vertebrate groups, a wide range of alternative conceptions also emerged. Cross-age comparisons indicate that many of the alternative views remained intact throughout the school years. Results also showed that personalized uses for classification might improve classroom performance as well as a more general competence on observation. I conclude with some practical suggestions for teaching concepts of animal diversity.
KEY WORDS: Classification, Biodiversity, Alternate conception, cross-age study