In the Great Teaching Toolkit: Evidence Review, Element 1.4 highlights the importance of teachers having knowledge of common student strategies, misconceptions and sticking points in relation to the content they teach.

Students don’t enter our classrooms as blank slates. They bring with them ideas, experiences and existing knowledge that shape how they make sense of new learning. Sometimes those ideas are accurate; sometimes they are incomplete, overgeneralised, or simply not quite right.

What the research says

Misconceptions feel plausible because they develop from reasonable interpretations of students’ experiences or from knowledge that has been useful in other contexts. Simply giving students the correct answer may not be enough to change their thinking (Smith, diSessa & Roschelle, 1993).

Conceptual change involves rethinking and reorganising existing understanding when an explanation no longer works and a new idea makes sense, seems plausible and is useful (Posner et al., 1982).

Recent research suggests that changing misconceptions is not simply a matter of replacing knowledge. Old and new ideas can be activated together, with new understanding becoming stronger through repeated opportunities to connect, apply and reinforce it (Kendeou, 2024).

Why misconceptions matter in inclusive classrooms

When misconceptions are not addressed, they can become further embedded in students’ understanding, creating barriers to future learning and potentially contributing to widening gaps in attainment.

Understanding misconceptions helps us respond to what students are thinking, rather than making assumptions about what they need. Diagnosing misconceptions is an important part of adaptive expertise, allowing us to provide appropriate support while maintaining high expectations for all.

Signs you might want to work on misconceptions

You might notice that:

• correcting an answer does not appear to change the underlying thinking
• students appeared to ‘get it’ last week, but cannot recall or apply it today
• students can recall facts but struggle to explain how ideas connect
• students give an explanation that sounds plausible but oversimplifies the concept
• students can answer correctly in one context but struggle in another

These moments can be useful prompts to explore the thinking behind an answer before deciding what to do next.

Strategies to consider

Misconceptions are not always resolved through a single explanation. Building secure understanding takes time, with opportunities to identify, challenge and revisit students’ thinking.

1. Diagnostic questioning

Use carefully chosen questions to surface the thinking behind students’ answers before deciding how to respond.

How to implement it:

• Plan the question around the key knowledge or concept you want to check
• Ask the question before explaining, so you can see what students already think
• Probe the response with questions like “How do you know?” or “Tell me more”
• Listen for patterns in students’ responses, not just individual wrong answers
• Use what you find to decide whether to reteach, clarify, challenge or move on

The aim is not simply to identify whether an answer is right or wrong. It is to understand what the answer tells us about the student’s thinking.

2. Create ‘cognitive conflict’

Use carefully designed activities to challenge students’ existing ideas and help them reconsider explanations that no longer work.

How to implement it:

• Identify a misconception you’d like to explore with students
• Ask students to make a prediction or give an initial explanation
• Present evidence, examples or outcomes that challenge their existing thinking
• Encourage exploration, reflection and discussion
• Introduce a new explanation or model that helps students make sense of the evidence

Use the activity to scaffold students to reconsider, reorganise and refine their thinking for themselves, rather than simply telling them what is correct.

3. Revisit misconceptions regularly

Give students regular opportunities to retrieve, apply and reconnect knowledge over time. Focus particularly on misconceptions that are important building blocks for future learning.

• Select a key misconception that you identified and addressed in a lesson
• Actively plan to revisit it after a gap, rather than assuming it is resolved
• Mix recent and previously learned content to activate relevant knowledge
• Ask students to explain and apply this idea in different contexts
• Revisit insecure ideas through further practice and connection-making tasks

Getting it right once does not mean the misconception has disappeared. Regular retrieval and practice help strengthen the correct understanding over time.

Misconceptions are a natural part of learning, but they can become barriers when they go unnoticed or unaddressed. By identifying what students are thinking, responding to the underlying misconception, and revisiting important ideas over time, we can help students develop more accurate, connected and secure understanding.

You can explore these strategies in more depth within the Great Teaching Toolkit. Access resources, feedback tools, and courses to support the ongoing development of your practice. Book a demo to see what the platform can do for you.

References

Coe, R., Rauch, C. J., Kime, S., & Singleton, D. (2020). Great Teaching Toolkit: Evidence review. Evidence Based Education. https://evidencebased.education/the-great-teaching-toolkit-evidence-review/

Kendeou, P. (2024). A theory of knowledge revision: The development of the KReC framework. Educational Psychology Review, 36, 44. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10648-024-09885-y

Posner, G. J., Strike, K. A., Hewson, P. W., & Gertzog, W. A. (1982). Accommodation of a scientific conception: Toward a theory of conceptual change. Science Education, 66(2), 211–227. https://doi.org/10.1002/sce.3730660207

Smith, J. P., diSessa, A. A., & Roschelle, J. (1993). Misconceptions reconceived: A constructivist analysis of knowledge in transition. The Journal of the Learning Sciences, 3(2), 115–163. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327809jls0302_1