ERIC Number: EJ922584
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2011-May
Pages: 13
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0926-7220
EISSN: N/A
Core Knowledge Confusions among University Students
Lindeman, Marjaana; Svedholm, Annika M.; Takada, Mikito; Lonnqvist, Jan-Erik; Verkasalo, Markku
Science & Education, v20 n5-6 p439-451 May 2011
Previous studies have demonstrated that university students hold several paranormal beliefs and that paranormal beliefs can be best explained with core knowledge confusions. The aim of this study was to explore to what extent university students confuse the core ontological attributes of lifeless material objects (e.g. a house, a stone), living organisms (e.g. plants), and mental states (e.g., thoughts); whether some core knowledge confusions are more common than others; whether the confusions differ between students from different fields of study, and to replicate the finding that paranormal beliefs increase together with core knowledge confusions. The results showed that half of the participants considered at least four, and one quarter of the participants considered 8-30 confusion statements to be literally true and that the confusions were strongly and positively associated with the amount of paranormal beliefs. The findings indicate that university education does not abolish the misconceptions that characterize children's thinking.
Descriptors: Core Curriculum, Misconceptions, College Students, Student Attitudes, Scientific Attitudes
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A