PARENT SESSION
Oral Session #68: Ecological Education -- Research and Theory.
Presiding: L. Mueller
Wednesday, August 7. 1:00 PM to 4:45 PM. Grand Ballroom West, Radisson.

Alternative conceptions in biodiversity: a cross-age study focuses in amphibians and reptiles.

YEN, CHIUNG-FEN^*,1, Yau, Chung-Wei¹, Chiou, Yu-Chih¹, ¹ Institute of Ecology, Taichung, Taiwan, R.O.C.

ABSTRACT- This study examined students' alternative conceptions of reptiles and amphibian and the extent to which these conceptions remain intact through the elementary (3-4 grade and 5-6 grade), junior, and senior high school students. We administered multiple-choice and free-response instruments to a total of 410 students. We also interviewed at least 20 students at each education level to get in-depth view of original conceptions. The result showed that most students were able to classify lizards and snakes as reptiles, in contrast, only about 50% of the students across different ages classified sea turtles as reptiles, and the remaining 50 % classified sea turtles as amphibians. More students were able to classify frogs as amphibians than they did on toads. Interestingly, the alternative views of sea turtles as amphibians remained intact throughout the school years. Interview data indicated that students classified sea turtles as amphibians largely due to the fact that sea turtles are able to live in terrestrial and aquatic habitats. Semantically, "amphi-" means living on land and in water. When asked to distinguish between reptiles and amphibians and to classify several species into those two groups, a wide range of alternative conceptions also emerged and the origin of those alternative conceptions were discussed. We conclude with some practical suggestions for teaching concepts of animal diversity.

KEY WORDS: Biodiversity, Amphibians, Reptiles, Alternative concepts