Lava originates from the Earth’s core, doesn’t it? – A comparative analysis of some plate-tectonics-related misconceptions – ABSTRACT

ANETT KÁDÁR, Ms.– ANDREA FARSANG, Ms.

University of Szeged, Institute of Geography and Earth Sciences

a kdr.anett@gmail.com, b farsang@geo.u-szeged.hu

 

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The international research of geographical misconceptions is enormous compared to its Hungarian counterpart. The abundance of the literature and also the different kinds of misconceptions encouraged us to start our project of revealing geographical misconceptions in Hungary. Our present study aims at identifying plate-tectonics-related misconceptions of three distinctive groups of students: Grade-9 secondary grammar school students, Geography BSc students, and BA students of different academic interests. We employed a cross-case-based approach, and multiple kinds of data were collected for triangulation. A three-part diagnostic test was administered to students, and results were evaluated by comparative content analysis. We found that while culturally induced misconceptions were not present, mistakes 0in textbooks, the linguistic characteristics of the Hungarian language, the extensive media coverage of certain topics, and informal learning are most likely to be responsible for the emergence of geographical misconceptions. We argue that primary, secondary, and tertiary education should move to a more practical, innovative, and inclusive pedagogy where geographical knowledge is organically anchored into everyday life in order to refute possible misconceptions.

 

Keywords: geographical misconceptions, conceptual change, plate tectonics, problem-oriented teaching