Chapter 6. Mechanistic Reasoning Using the Electron-pushing Formalism

AbstractDesigning problems and learning activities is a key factor to initiating students’ engagement with the course material and influencing their reasoning processes. Although tasks and problems are a central part of teaching and assessments in the chemistry classroom, they may not engage students in deep reasoning or in a way that is intended through a task. Some problems may cause an algorithmic or a surface approach. Even with designing clever problems, students may not use a larger variety of chemistry ideas and connect them in meaningful ways. Here the idea of scaffolding students’ answering process comes into play. Structuring students’ reasoning process through instructional prompts or structured worksheets supports students in activating and connecting knowledge pieces in a more meaningful way and positively slows down their fast decision-making process. This paper will discuss the importance of asking questions in chemistry teaching and highlights the idea of contrasting cases, drawn from cognitive psychology, as a task design principle. In addition to having contrasting cases as a good problem format, the idea of scaffolding students’ reasoning while solving contrasting cases through the use of instructional prompts that scaffold the reasoning process will be exemplarily showcased for mechanistic reasoning in organic chemistry.

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Stimulating Mechanistic Reasoning in Physics Using Student-Constructed Stop-Motion Animations

Journal of Science Education and Technology ◽

10.1007/s10956-021-09918-z ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Rayendra Wahyu Bachtiar ◽

Ralph F. G. Meulenbroeks ◽

Wouter R. van Joolingen

Keyword(s):

Conceptual Understanding ◽

Physical Phenomenon ◽

Ninth Grade ◽

Abstract Concepts ◽

Projectile Motion ◽

Mechanistic Reasoning ◽

Stop Motion ◽

Ninth Grade Students ◽

Scientific Phenomena

AbstractThis article reports on a case study that aims to help students develop mechanistic reasoning through constructing a model based stop-motion animation of a physical phenomenon. Mechanistic reasoning is a valuable thinking strategy for students in trying to make sense of scientific phenomena. Ten ninth-grade students used stop-motion software to create an animation of projectile motion. Retrospective think-aloud interviews were conducted to investigate how the construction of a stop-motion animation induced the students’ mechanistic reasoning. Mechanistic reasoning did occur while the students engaged in creating the animation, in particular chunking and sequencing. Moreover, all students eventually exhibited mechanistic reasoning including abstract concepts, e.g., not directly observable agents. Students who reached the highest level of mechanistic reasoning, i.e., chaining, demonstrated deeper conceptual understanding of content.

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