Thesis (M.S. - Renewable Natural Resources)--University of Arizona. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 244-251).

Thesis (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1970. / eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references.

M.Ed. (Subject Didactics) / Education in South Africa has had to face a process of unknown changes during the last few years of the past decade. One of the aspects of education which is receiving attention amid a wide spectrum of contributional factors concerning rationalisation, is the degree of success the current educational system is laying claim on. It is simply not economically viable to spend time in an unrealistic way regarding the instruction of science. There may be quite a few contributional factors which are eventually going to dictate the outcome of, among others, the teaching of Biology, but for the purpose of this thesis, the focus was on the possible existence of misconceptions among standard 9 pupils concerning genetics. The effect that misconceptions may have on the effectiveness of meaningful learning, is briefly covered in the theoretical basis of this study. During the last few years various articles of scientific nature have been published on the existence of misconceptions among pupils regarding the different sectional disciplines of Biology. Although, compared to the vast number of other scientific publications, relatively few publications concerned topics in Biology. The documentation of misconceptions regarding aspects of photosynthesis, respiration, various aspects of ecology and genetics (e.g. 1.3.1) seems to be well formulated. From the various articles it becomes clear that the existence of misconceptions concerning genetics is a definite factor which cannot be denied by the authors. The latter unanimously agree on the inhibitory effect that misconceptions have on the assimilation of new concepts of Biology which children encounter during formal education.

M.Ed. / Students exhibit misconceptions or deviations from universally accepted concepts. Constructivists trace these misconceptions back' to the unique conceptual frames of reference of students. Ausubel (1985:82) named prior knowledge as the single most important factor influencing learning. New teaching strategies were designed to prevent or eliminate these misconceptions. The strategies are based on guidelines postulated by researchers such as Posner and his co-workers (1982:211). Several strategies use media to motivate students or provide a more concrete base for concept formation. The side effects of the utilization of media are important to designers and users of media. An empirical investigation was launched to determine whether media could also stimulate the formation of misconceptions. The investigation indicated that two dimensional representations of atoms, molecules and ion lattices can lead to misconceptions. Greater care should be taken in the selection of illustrations for textbooks and other media. If these side effects are taken into account by media designers and teachers, media can play a major role in the prevention and elimination of misconceptions.