1Third Misconceptions Seminar Proceedings (1993) Paper Title: Students ' Personal Knowledge of Regulation and Homeostasis: Pioneering in Biology Classrooms

Abstract: Regulation and homeostasis are vital functions in living systems. Understanding these concepts can be considered as an essential element in biological literacy (Demastes & Wandersee, 1992). However, up to now neither tradition nor theory seems to exist about how to arrange biology education on the concept of homeostasis. This paper, firstly, reports the results of a survey carried out to describe and to analyze the status of the concept of homeostasis in scientific biology. If one of the aims of biology education is to show the specific nature of the discipline it is necessary to have at hand an updated 'state of the discipline', serving as a source of information on the subject matter. Secondly, views on teaching and learning are elaborated, starting from a constructivistic educational approach. This section focusses on the crucial role of pre-knowledge in learning processes, and on consequences of this approach for decision making on an intende