Students often struggle with solving mechanism problems in organic chemistry courses. They frequently focus on surface features, have difficulty attributing meaning to symbols, and do not recognize tasks that are different from the exact tasks practiced. To be more successful, students need to be able to extract salient features, map similarities…

The development of scientific visual literacy has been identified as critical to the training of tomorrow's scientists and citizens alike. Within the context of the molecular life sciences in particular, visual representations frequently incorporate various components, such as discipline-specific graphical and diagrammatic features, varied levels…

A perspective is presented on how the representation mapping framework by Hahn and Chater (1998) may be used to characterize reasoning during problem solving in chemistry. To provide examples for testing the framework, an exploratory study was conducted with students and professors from three different courses in the middle of the undergraduate…

Abstraction is one of the methods for learning knowledge with using mental processes that cannot be obtained through experiment and observation. RBC model that is based on abstraction in the process of creating knowledge is directly related to mental processes. In this study, the RBC model is used for the high school students' processes of…

A growing body of research has examined the experiential grounding of scientific thought and the role of experiential intuitive knowledge in science learning. Meanwhile, research in cognitive linguistics has identified many "conceptual metaphors" (CMs), metaphorical mappings between abstract concepts and experiential source domains,…

While many researchers in science education have argued that students' epistemological understanding of models and of modelling processes would influence their cognitive processing on a modelling task, there has been little direct evidence for such an effect. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the relation between students' epistemological…

We applied a mixed-method research design to investigate the patterns of reasoning used by novice undergraduate chemistry students to classify chemical substances as elements, compounds, or mixtures based on their particulate representations. We were interested in the identification of the representational features that students use to build a…

Two selection and nine evaluation hypothesis testing tasks varying systematically with respect to causality, response alternatives, and context continuity were administered to two samples of adults (N=35; N=32). It was to determine effects of these variables and the degree to which subjects reasoned with material conditional, biconditional,…

Argues that much of current science curricula and instructional strategies do not accommodate the thinking and reasoning capabilities of students. Level of capacity for abstract logical reasoning, whether the capacity can be cultivated/enhanced, consequences of mismatched intellectual levels and instructional modes, and what thinking/reasoning…

Assesses the ability of tenth grade students (n=364) to acquire meanings of graphs that are frequently used in their biology textbooks. Indicates that the main source of failure to process information equally well from tables and graphs was not a lack of basic analytical skills but rather a lack of understanding of the relationship between…

Illustrates advantages of research on practical factors in reasoning. Discusses role of factual knowledge and diagnosis of specific task-based errors in reasoning, influence of individual aptitudes on reasoning, and effect of educational interventions designed to change reasoning. Presents Piagetian position for each position, discusses evidence…

The level of thinking that is characteristic of the typical college freshman and the skills needed by college science courses are addressed, and the Development of Reasoning in Science project (Project DORIS) at California State University, Fullerton, is described. While the typical college freshman functions at the concrete level of thinking,…

Students (N=387) in grades 8, 10, 12, and college were administered eight reasoning items to test hypothesis that the basic logic utilized in individuals in scientific hypothesis testing is the biconditional and that the biconditional is a precondition for development of formal operations. Results and implications for science instruction are…

Describes a schema-theoretic view of how analogies enhance students' prior knowledge; reviews some of the recent studies using analogies to assist students' comprehension of science text; and illustrates the use of an analogical study guide in biology. (HOD)

Discusses whether formal thought constitutes a structured whole and role of propositional logic in advanced reasoning. Presents aspects of advanced reasoning model, considering hypothesis generation/testing as central processes in intellectual development. Argues that advanced reasoning schemata are linked by these processes and should be…