Studying Transfer Of Scientific Reasoning Abilities

Abstract. Students taking introductory physics courses not only need to learn the fundamental concepts and to solve simple problems but also need to learn to approach more complex problems and to reason like scientists. Hypotheticodeductive reasoning is considered one of the most important types of reasoning employed by scientists. If-then logic allows students to test hypotheses and reject those that are not supported by testing experiments. Can we teach students to reason hypothetico-deductively and to apply this reasoning to problems outside of physics? This study investigates the development and transfer from physics to real life of hypothetico-deductive reasoning abilities by students enrolled in an introductory physics course at a large state university The abilities include formulating hypotheses and making predictions concerning the outcomes of testing experiments. (The work was supported by NSF grant REC 0529065.

Design and non-design labs: Does transfer occur

Abstract. This paper is the second in the series of three describing a controlled study "Transfer of scientific abilities". The study was conducted in a large-enrollment introductory physics course taught via Investigative Science Learning Environment. Its goal was to fmd whether designing their own experiments in labs affects students' approaches to experimental problem solving in new areas of physics and in biology, and their learning of physics concepts. This paper reports on the part of the study that assesses student work while solving an experimental problem in a physics content area not studied in class. For a quantitative evaluation of students' abilities, we used scientific abilities rubrics. We studied the students' lab reports and answers to non-traditional exam problems related to the lab. We evaluated their performance and compared it with the performance of a control group that had the same course but enrolled in nondesign labs instead of design labs. The project was supported by NSF grant DRL 0241078

Using action research to improve learning and formative assessment to conduct research

The paper reports on how educational research informed and supported both the process of refinement of introductory physics laboratory instruction and student development of scientific abilities. In particular we focus on how the action research approach paradigm combined with instructional approaches such as scaffolding and formative assessment can be used to design the learning environment, investigate student learning, revise curriculum materials, and conduct subsequent assessment. As the result of the above efforts we found improvement in students’ scientific abilities over the course of three years. We suggest that the process used to improve the curriculum under study can be extended to many instructional innovations.National Science Foundatio

Spending Time on Design: Does it Hurt Physics Learning?

This paper is the first in a series of three describing a controlled study “Transfer of scientific abilities”. The study was conducted in a large enrollment student introductory physics course taught via Investigative Science Learning Environment. Its goal was to find whether designing their own experiments in labs affects students’ approaches to experimental problem solving in new areas of physics and in biology, and their learning of physics concepts. The theoretical framework for the design of the study was based on transfer theories such as “preparation for future learning”, “actor-oriented transfer”, “transfer of situated learning’’ and “coordination classes”. In this paper we describe the design of the study and present data concerning the performance of experimental and control groups on multiplechoice and open-ended exam questions and on the lab exams that assess student understanding of the physics and the reasoning processes used in the lab experiments. We found that the experimental group outperformed the control on labbased and traditional exams and the difference increased as the year progressed. The project was supported by NSF grant DRL 0241078

From Physics to Biology: Helping Students Attain All-Terrain Knowledge.

This paper is the third in a series of three describing a controlled study “Transfer of scientific abilities”. The study was conducted in a large-enrollment introductory physics course taught via Investigative Science Learning Environment. Its goal was to find whether designing their own experiments in labs affects students’ approaches to experimental problem solving in new areas of physics and in biology and their learning of physics concepts. The part of the project presented in this paper involves students in the experimental and control groups solving a biology-related problem that required designing an experiment and evaluating the findings. We found that students who were in the sections where they had to design their own experiments during the semester were able to transfer the abilities they acquired in physics laboratories to solve a novel biology problem. The project was supported by NSF grant DRL 0241078

Design and Non-design Labs: Does Transfer Occur?

This paper is the second in the series of three describing a controlled study “Transfer of scientific abilities”. The study was conducted in a large-enrollment introductory physics course taught via Investigative Science Learning Environment. Its goal was to find whether designing their own experiments in labs affects students’ approaches to experimental problem solving in new areas of physics and in biology, and their learning of physics concepts. This paper reports on the part of the study that assesses student work while solving an experimental problem in a physics content area not studied in class. For a quantitative evaluation of students’ abilities, we used scientific abilities rubrics. We studied the students’ lab reports and answers to non-traditional exam problems related to the lab. We evaluated their performance and compared it with the performance of a control group that had the same course but enrolled in nondesign labs instead of design labs. The project was supported by NSF grant DRL 0241078

How long does it take? A study of student acquisition of scientific abilities

Most of the time, instructors of introductory physics limit their goals to students’ acquisition of basic concepts and end-of-the-chapter problem solving efficiency. They overlook the development of students’ science process abilities required for constructing scientific knowledge and approaching complex problems as scientists do. This goal is attainable and very valuable at the same time. This paper describes how learners improved their scientific abilities during the course of one semester and reports on the activities and facilitations that helped students in the process. We investigated how long it takes for novices to develop complex scientific abilities and whether the content and the context of the tasks affect the abilities that students demonstrate. We found that students need to conduct several cycles of scaffolded investigations to gain competence in the application of scientific abilities. Depending on the particular ability, a period of five to eight weeks of work is necessary to achieve it