A four-level framework for identifying and classifying student conceptual and reasoning difficulties

In this paper we describe a framework for identifying and classifying stude nts' alternative conceptions and unscientific patterns of reasoning within a particular scientific domain. The framework provides a basic system for i ndicating how much researchers know about students' non-scientific concepti ons and reasoning. Classification at level 1 indicates that students' alter native conceptions or unscientific reasoning were unanticipated by the rese archers, at level 2 means the researchers suspected them, at level 3 means they have been partially established (in limited contexts) and at level 4 m eans they have been established in numerous contexts. The use of the framew ork is illustrated in identifying student difficulties in biochemistry, in which little such research has been reported. We then suggest how the frame work may prove useful, not only for systematically exploring student diffic ulties in new content areas but also for synthesizing existing research in domains in which a variety of researchers have worked.