IMPACT OF PRIOR PHYSICS AND CHEMISTRY KNOWLEDGE ON LEARNING BIOLOGY

Misconceptions about science subjects and self-efficacy of teachers and pre-service teachers have been the focus of researchers and educators for a few decades. Students' alternative conceptions or naïve conceptions due to lack of scientific knowledge are called misconceptions. Students construct new concepts on prior knowledge. They fail constructing new concepts when they carry misconceptions. Research shows that students have misconceptions about many biology subjects; however, the effects of prior physics and chemistry knowledge on learning biology have not been studied extensively. This book attempts to provide in-depth information about how the pre-service teachers' beliefs and prior knowledge of physics and chemistry influence their own and their students' learning of biology concepts and achievement in biology by using a science concept test developed by the author. Previous research suggests that teachers who carry misconceptions are likely to introduce them to their students. The teacher development institutes, faculty members, researchers, pre-service teachers and the students can benefit from this book.