We know it is important to elicit prior knowledge, but it seems so time-consuming. How can we realistically assess what students know? Science communicator Mike Stone investigates.
What is prior knowledge?
Prior knowledge refers to what a learner already knows or understands about a topic before they encounter new information. This knowledge is held in the long-term memory. It can develop through formal education, informal learning, and everyday life experiences. Prior knowledge is the foundation upon which new learning is built.
What does the research say?
The Learning in Science Project (LISP) was large scale, longitudinal NZ study into science learning and teaching that spanned 20 years. It found that many factors contribute to effective science teaching, including taking students’ thinking into account (Osborn & Freyberg, 1985). Through prior experiences and learning, students develop their own ideas about how the world works, some of which may not be scientifically correct. LISP showed that eliciting and addressing students’ conceptions and misconceptions positively impacted their science learning. In this research, teachers used students’ prior ideas to guide curriculum planning, choice of teaching and learning activities, and shape their interactions with the students.
Graham Nuthall’s Hidden Lives of Learners (2007) confirmed that students make sense of new ideas in relation to what they already know. Students with the most prior knowledge tend to benefit more. Students have a wide range of prior knowledge much of which is unseen or unknowable. As a result, different students can learn vastly different things from the same classroom experience.
Research shows that students learn by building on what they already know. By eliciting students’ prior knowledge and experiences, teachers can:
- Help students build a bridge between existing and new knowledge, leading to deeper understanding.
- Tailor teaching to suit students’ needs, interests and prior experiences.
- Identify and address student misconceptions.
- Reduce students’ cognitive load.
- Be culturally responsive.
What can classroom teachers do?
Eliciting prior knowledge is important, but teachers are busy and need strategies that are quick to prepare and easy to analyse. Some effective approaches include:
Talk and discussion:
Class discussion – Use targeted questions to brainstorm what students already know about a topic e.g. the moon or gravity. Build responses into a list or concept map on the board or screen.
Images or data prompts – For example identify the mammals or things that fly from a group of images, match adult animals with young, or group objects or images.
“What if” questions – Pose scenarios like “What if there was no sun?’ or “What if there was no friction?”
Stories and pūrakau – Read a story and ask targeted questions. For example, The Elephant Man (mutations), Archimedes (floating and sinking), Rona me te Marama (moon), Goldilocks and the Three Bears (heat). Classroom resources can be found in the Google Drive Folder (GDF).
Written responses:
KWL charts – Ask students to think and write these individually but are time-consuming to analyse. A quick option is to have students share thoughts with a partner and then the class See GDF.
Vocabulary task – Provide a list of key words for the topic. Ask students to underline words they have heard before, circle words they can define, and use five words in individual sentences. A quick glance at each response gives the teacher a feel for common knowledge and gaps. Vocabulary clusters can serve a similar purpose. See GDF.
Question based tools:
Closed-end questions – Multiple choice or True/False/Don’t know questions can be useful springboards to discussion. See GDF.
Quizzes and polls – Use paper, online or verbal formats (e.g., Kahoot, Wayground, Google Forms or Microsoft 365). These tools often provide automatic analysis.
LISP questionnaires – These offer useful prompts on topics like energy, animal, kitchen chemistry, and electricity. The questionnaires offer models that help show a learner’s current understanding of a topic.
Keogh, Millgate House Publishers]. Used with permission.
Explaining concepts:
Make and explain a model – Ask students to create a physical model and describe how it works e.g. flower, volcano, dam.
Thought models – Give students a diagram (e.g. a cell, two wires and a connected bulb) and ask them to choose which model best explains the concept. (LISP activity). PhET simulations are another option. See GDF.
Concept cartoons – These are great for exploring students’ scientific thinking.
Observation, predictions and activities:
Activity or video observations – For example compare weathered and fresh rock, observe a prism making a rainbow, or use an instrument to check understanding of volume and pitch.
Make predictions – Ask students to predict outcomes (e.g. what will happen to this wet handprint on a paper towel?)
Activity stations – For example an energy or forces circus.
Some of these may be useful as Do Now activities. If your school has not already planned for this, it may be fruitful to discuss with colleagues how best to elicit prior knowledge for each topic.
Next steps
Once teachers know some of what students think, what then?
Broaden experiences – Some students may need extra exposure through practical activities, readings, videos, field trips, expert speakers to catch them up to their classmates.
Address misconceptions – Expect to encounter them. Use hands-on and collaborative activities. Just telling students something will not change what they think, students need to challenge their prior misconception to shift their thinking.
Use meaningful contexts – Zoom in to focus on science concepts and zoom out to apply thinking to real world situations.
Embed literacy – Ensure all students understand key terms in the same way by integrating literacy into science instruction.
Build connections – As you teach, link new learning to familiar everyday applications. Ask “Where have we seen this before?” or “What does this look like?”
Plan with understanding in mind – Use insights into students’ thinking to decide what to skim, what to cover in depth, and how to target misconceptions.
References
Nuthall, G. (2007). The hidden lives of learners. NZCER Press: Wellington NZ
Osborne, R., & Freyberg, P. (1985). Learning in Science. The Implications of Children’s Science. Heinemann Educational Books, Inc: New Hampshire, USA.
The items in the Google Drive Folder (GDF) can be found here
My thanks to Carolyn Haslam, Lian Soh, Lisa Janek, Alison Dodds and Jo Standley, whose input improved this article.
Ngā kupu
aranga – To become known, rise to the surface
huritau – To reflect, consider
mātauranga – Knowledge
ohia manomano – Brainstorm
pōhēhētanga – Misconception, mistaken belief
whakamārama – Explanation