DRAWING ON STUDENTS’ PRIOR KNOWLEDGE OR (MIS)CONCEPTIONS DURING CLASSROOM INSTRUCTION TO FACILITATE THEIR DEVELOPMENT OF DEEPER UNDERSTANDINGS ABOUT GROUNDWATER AND AQUIFERS

Having a deep understanding of fundamental hydrological concepts – such as what groundwater and aquifers are – is essential to understanding more complex issues such as groundwater movement, quality, and availability. Constructivist theories of learning suggest that students’ prior knowledge or (mis)conceptions can be incorporated into teaching methods to help students cognitively construct new knowledge by building upon their existing knowledge base. However, it is often up to instructors to figure out how to draw out students’ prior knowledge or (mis)conceptions and apply them to teaching methods or activities for a specific topic, content, and context. This is a case study that examines how identified student (mis)conceptions about groundwater and aquifers were applied to the design of in-class activities aimed at helping students achieve specified learning goals for a week-long unit on water resources.

This case study was conducted in the naturalistic setting of an undergraduate, introductory-level, and lecture-based Environmental Geology course. Of the 48 students enrolled in the course, 29 completed the pre- and post-instruction assessments (i.e., concept sketches) and granted permission for their student work to be part of this study. Data sources for this study include students’ completed assignments, classroom assessments, and instructional records. Concept sketches were used simultaneously as an instructional tool to facilitate learning and as an assessment with which to monitor individual student progress. The concept sketches were subjected to constant comparative analyses and scored using a rubric.

In this presentation, this study’s students’ (mis)conceptions about groundwater and aquifers will be presented and compared with (mis)conceptions that have been identified in the geoscience education research literature. In addition, an illustration of how this population of students’ (mis)conceptions about groundwater and aquifers were applied to the design of different activities that support three kinds of teaching methods (i.e., prior knowledge checks, interactive demonstrations, and concept sketching) will be provided. Lastly, a discussion on the cumulative impact that the in-class activities had on students’ understanding of groundwater and aquifers will be discussed.