From the point of view of constructivist teaching, there is
considerable consensus regarding the need to have a
detailed image of students’ understanding of a physical
phenomenon before it is formally studied. This must be
taken into account when one is planning and implementing
learning activities aimed at the acquisition of scientifically
accepted knowledge. Indeed, many cognitive psychologists
and constructivists have stated that people construct new
knowledge based on what they already know and believe,
even if parts of this knowledge and understanding, which
we shall call ‘prior ideas’ or ‘misconceptions’, are not
consistent with scientific conceptions (C¸ alik and Ayas
2005; Chang et al. 2007; Eshach and Schwartz 2006;
Wittmann et al. 2003).