Animated science education: possible pitfalls of computer supported collaborative learning

Misconceptions – This notion is one of the grand themes of educational research in general and science education in particular. Students’ misconceptions of various scientific principles are recurrent topics in numerous studies, in for instance physics (D. E. Brown, 1992; Jones, 1991), biology (C. R. Brown, 1990; Odom, 1995) and chemistry (Goh, 1993; Nicoll, 2001; Sanger & Greenbowe, 1999). The means to meet the educational challenges spelled out by educators and educational researchers has obviously varied, but throughout the twentieth century, the use of technological innovations has been an increasingly frequent strategy (Petraglia, 1998a, 1998b).