• Open Access

Exploring and supporting student reasoning in physics by leveraging dual-process theories of reasoning and decision making

J. Caleb Speirs, MacKenzie R. Stetzer, Beth A. Lindsey, and Mila Kryjevskaia
Phys. Rev. Phys. Educ. Res. 17, 020137 – Published 24 November 2021

Abstract

Because of the focus of introductory physics courses on improving students’ problem-solving and reasoning skills, researchers in physics education have been developing and refining theoretical frameworks for how students reason through physics problems. Recently, researchers have begun to apply dual-process theories of reasoning (DPToR), from cognitive science and psychology, to support mechanistic predictions of student reasoning in physics. In this article, we employ a novel methodology involving reasoning chain construction tasks in order to test DPToR-based predictions for two physics questions in which salient distracting features have been found to cue incorrect first-available mental models. In a reasoning chain construction task, students respond to a physics question by drawing from a list of reasoning elements (all of which are true) in order to assemble a chain of reasoning that leads to a conclusion. Two sets of experiments were conducted to test the hypothesis that students would be unlikely to abandon an incorrect first-available model unless they were provided with information that called into question the satisfactoriness of that model. We found that providing increased access to information relevant to the correct line of reasoning did not produce large differences in student answering patterns. However, providing increased access to information refuting the first-available model did produce large differences in student answering patterns, but only among those students who demonstrated that they possessed the relevant mindware (i.e., conceptual understanding). Our findings are consistent with DPToR and further illustrate the applicability of such reasoning frameworks in the context of physics.

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  • Received 22 October 2019
  • Revised 15 July 2021
  • Accepted 23 September 2021

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevPhysEducRes.17.020137

Published by the American Physical Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license. Further distribution of this work must maintain attribution to the author(s) and the published article’s title, journal citation, and DOI.

Published by the American Physical Society

Physics Subject Headings (PhySH)

Physics Education Research

Authors & Affiliations

J. Caleb Speirs

  • Department of Physics and Astronomy and Maine Center for Research in STEM Education, University of Maine, Orono, ME 04469, USA
  • School of Mathematical and Physical Sciences, University of New England, Biddeford, ME 04005, USA

MacKenzie R. Stetzer

  • Department of Physics and Astronomy and Maine Center for Research in STEM Education, University of Maine, Orono, ME 04469, USA

Beth A. Lindsey

  • Department of Physics, Penn State Greater Allegheny, McKeesport, PA 15132, USA

Mila Kryjevskaia

  • Department of Physics, North Dakota State University, North Dakota, Fargo, ND 58108, USA

Article Text

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Issue

Vol. 17, Iss. 2 — July - December 2021

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