[KSCI] Korea Science Citation Index Service

A Study on Students Scientific Reasoning in Solving Pendulum Task

Yang, Il-Ho (Korea National University of Education)

Publication Information

Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education / v.23, no.4, 2003 , pp. 430-441 More about this Journal

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of students' prior knowledge on scientific reasoning in solving a pendulum task with a computer simulation. Subjects were 60 Korean students: 27 fifth-grade students from an elementary school and 33 seventh grade students from a middle school located in a city with 300,000 people. This study adapted a pendulum task presented with a computer simulation on which subjects would use a pattern of multivariable causal inferences. The subjects were interviewed individually in a three-phase structured interview by the researcher and three assistants while he/she was investigating the pendulum task. This study showed that most students across grades focused heavily on demonstrating the primacy of their prior knowledge or their current hypothesis. In addition, students' theories that are part of one's prior knowledge have a significant impact on formulating, testing, and revising hypotheses. Therefore, this study supported the notion that students' prior knowledge had a strong effect on students' experimental intent and hypothesis evaluation.

Keywords

prior knowledge; scientific reasoning; hypothesis generation; pendulum;

Citations & Related Records

Reference

1	Bruner, J. S., Goodnow, J. J., & Austin, G. A. (1956). A study of thinking. Wiley, New York, 330 p
2	Njoo, M., & de Jong, T. (1993). Exploratory learning with a computer simulation for control theory: Learning processes and instructional support. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 30, 821-844 DOI ScienceOn
3	Sodian, B., Zaitchik, D., & Carey, S. (1991). Young children's differentiation of hypothetical beliefs from evidence. Child Development, 62, 753-766 DOI ScienceOn
4	Germann, P. J., Haskins, S., & Auls, S. (1996). Analysis of nine high school biology laboratory manuals: Promoting scientific inquiry. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 33(5), 475-499 DOI
5	Kuhn, D., Schauble, L., & Garcia-Mila, M. (1992). Cross-domain development of scientific reasoning. Cognition and Instruction, 9, 285-327 DOI ScienceOn
6	Staer, H., Goodrum, D., & Hackling, M. (1998). High school laboratory work in Western Australia: Openness to inquiry. Research in Science Education, 28(2), 219-228 DOI
7	Klayman, J., & Ha, Y. W. (1987). Confirmation, disconfirmation, and information in hypothesis testing. Psychological Review, 94, 211-228 DOI
8	Penner, D. E., and Klahr, D. (1996). The interaction of domain-specific knowledge and domain-general discovery strategies: A study with sinking objects. Child Development, 67, 2709-2727 DOI ScienceOn
9	De Jong, T., & Van Joolingen, W. R (1998). Scientific discovery learning with a computer simulations of conceptual domains. Review of Educational Research, 68(2), 179-201 DOI ScienceOn
10	Klein, P. D. (1998). The role of children's theory of mind in science experimentation. Journal of Experimental Education, 66(2), 101-124 DOI ScienceOn
11	Kuhn, D., Garcia-Mila, M., Zohar, A. & Andersen, C. (1995). Strategies of knowledge acquisition. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 60(4), 1-128 DOI
12	Schauble, L., Glaser, R., Duschl, R. A., & Schulze, S. (1995). Students understanding of the objectives and procedures of experimentation in the science classroom. Journal of the Learning Sciences, 4, 131-166 DOI ScienceOn
13	Schauble, L., Klopfer, L.E., & Raghavan, K. (1991). Student transition from an engineering model to a science model of experimentation. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 28(9), 859-882 DOI
14	Klahr, D., & Dunbar, K. (1988). Dual space search during scientific reasoning. Cognitive Science, 12, 1-48 DOI ScienceOn
15	Klahr, D., Fay, A. L., & Dunbar, K.(1993). Heuristics for scientific experimentation: A developmental study. Cognitive Psychology, 25, 111-146 DOI ScienceOn
16	Kuhn, D., Amsel, E., & O'Loughlin, M. (1988). The development of scientific thinking skills. Academic Press, London, 249 P