A Study on Scientifically-Gifted Students' Misconceptions regarding 'Small Living Things'

초등 과학 영재 학생들의 '작은 생물'에 대한 오개념 연구

The aims of this study were to investigate the differences of the proportion of misconceptions and the reasons for selecting responses related to questions about small living things between talented and average students. The study subjects were made up of three groups. They were a class of 37 talented elementary students in science attending J National University of Education, a class of 37 talented students in science attending J City Office of Education, and a class of 33 average students attending J City. A questionnaire was composed of 20 test questions for examination of concepts related to small living things. The data obtained in this study was analyzed using a statistical program. The major results were as follows: In general, the level of the scientific concepts possessed by the talented students was much higher than that of the average students, especially in question 14. The reasons for the misconceptions which were revealed through this study were classified into vagueness of the language used, hasty decision and deduction making, using the wrong analogical inference, mass communications (TV or internet) and experimental differences between individuals. In terms of the reasons for the selection of a given response, the talented students had also a higher frequency in the 'science books for children' category than the average students, indicating that various kinds of science books for children have an influence on the formation of concepts on small living things. The misconception proportion of male students was 5.4% higher than that of female students in mean frequencies of all questions, although the difference was not statistically significant except for question 4. Data from this study may help teachers involved in education for gifted students to reconsider their conceptions on small living things.