Misconceptions / Preconceptions

Start by identifying common misconceptions related to the content of your course. What misconceptions are your students likely to carry with them? Next, tailor your introductory background knowledge probes to collect data around the misconceptions most common for the course you are assessing. This data could prove valuable as you generate and evaluate your learning modules. For example, at what point in your learning module are you finding evidence that student misconceptions are changing? What inferences can you draw between this conceptual change and the most effective feature(s) of your learning module?

See this inventory of essential concept inventories in STEM fields to get started.