Ask the question before you explain. Then use the response pattern to choose what pupils should compare, invite a revision and test the idea in a changed case.
That sequence is more careful than calling one wrong answer a misconception. A selected option shows a choice, not a pupil’s complete reasoning. Until an idea is explained and persists across cases, it is safer to call it an existing idea.
This lesson uses a ball moving upwards after it has left a pupil’s hand. State the assumptions clearly and ensure every force diagram and distractor follows them consistently.
[1]Prediction gives a starting point — not a diagnosis
The teacher connects a force model, the class pattern and a changed case.
After release
Air resistance ignored1 Predict
Choose a force diagram and give a short reason.
2 Inspect
Anonymous class patternRead choices beside the reasons pupils actually gave.
Teacher interprets3 Compare
Evidence or modelChoose the next comparison from the evidence in front of the class.
Explicit teacher decision4 Revisit →5 Transfer
Revise or retain
with a reason→Changed
caseA changed answer is evidence of what a pupil now says.
It is not proof of durable conceptual change.
Ask for a prediction and a reason
Begin with an image of the ball in flight and three or four force diagrams. In Praktikal, place the image beside a closed question, then use a separate short-response item for the reason. Review the reason rather than treating the scored choice as a diagnosis.
Ask pupils to answer individually before discussion. The closed choice can be scored automatically, but keep the task low stakes. Its purpose is to reveal a pupil’s starting point, not decide what that pupil understands. A short reason makes the response more useful, while still remaining partial evidence.
[1]- Teacher decision
- decide in advance which distinctions each distractor is intended to expose. Do not improvise meanings after seeing the chart.
Use the live pattern to choose the next comparison
During a live Praktikal lesson, you can see answers and progress as pupils respond. Read the pattern, then select two contrasting options or reasons for the class to compare. Paraphrase written reasons or remove pupils’ names before sharing them.
The platform collects the responses; it does not diagnose them. Two pupils may choose the same option for different reasons. Your next question might be:
- What is moving?
- What object is exerting each force?
- Does upward motion require an upward force after the hand is no longer in contact?
- Teacher decision
- model again if the class is confusing motion with force; compare reasons if the diagram choices are similar but explanations differ; continue only when the evidence supports it.
Put the initial account beside evidence or a model
Show a slow-motion clip, force diagram or simulation. Praktikal includes image, video/embed and simulation content blocks, so the evidence can sit in the same lesson as the prediction and follow-up questions.
Pause on the moment after release. Ask pupils to name the interaction behind each force rather than treating the picture as self-explanatory. The media format is not a shortcut to engagement or conceptual change; it becomes useful through the comparison you ask pupils to make.
[2]- Pupil action
- state which feature of the evidence or model supports, challenges or leaves uncertainty in the original answer.
Revisit the same idea
Use a second, clearly labelled copy of the force-diagram question. Ask pupils to revise or retain their answer, then explain why in a short response. Review results and give feedback during or after the lesson.
A changed answer is useful evidence of what a pupil now says. It is not proof that the idea has been replaced or will be retained.
Change the surface, not the physics
Finish with a transfer question: What forces act on the ball at the top of its path? Keep the model assumptions consistent, but change the moment pupils must reason about.
Deliver the check live, as homework or as self-paced work. Review the result, give feedback and decide whether the next move is another model, a comparison of explanations or progression to a new force context.
What this lesson can and cannot show
It can show pupils’ selected diagrams, bounded reasons, revisions and transfer responses. It can give you evidence for a next teaching decision. It cannot automatically identify a misconception, interpret an explanation, score a force diagram or establish durable conceptual change.
Source notes
Education Endowment Foundation, Improving Secondary Science Evidence-informed guidance for secondary science. It supports making pupils’ existing ideas explicit, using models deliberately and acting on assessment evidence; it does not test this lesson sequence or Praktikal.
Neito and colleagues, Predicting situational interest by individual interest and instructional activities in physics lessons Observational study of 179 Estonian lower-secondary pupils in a physics workshop. Activity type alone was not a significant predictor of situational interest in the final models; the study does not evaluate this lesson sequence.
Teacher feedback
The hand is no longer in contact. Explain why Earth still exerts a force when the ball reaches the top of its path.