A Developmental Study to Determine the Levels of Understanding the Properties of Microorganisms

The aim of this study was to determine the level of understanding of microorganisms and to determine the current misconceptions of elementary school, middle school, high school and university students. The sample of the research; In Bayburt province, a randomly selected primary school (n = 30), a secondary school (n = 30), a high school (n = 30) and Bayburt University final year students (n = 30) are the students. In the research, developmental research method (latitude) was used. The data were collected by the Conceptual Understanding Test and semi-structured interview developed by the researchers. With the Conceptual Understanding Test, students' knowledge levels and misconceptions related to the characteristics of microorganisms were determined. In addition, semi-structured interview was used to learn the students' feelings and thoughts about this concept. Findings from the tests and interviews show that the understandings related to the characteristics of microorganisms are in different categories. In fact, misconceptions were encountered in all levels of learning related to the properties of microorganisms.