Journal of The Korean Association For Science Education (한국과학교육학회지)

The Korean Association for Science Education (한국과학교육학회)
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A Study on Students Scientific Reasoning in Solving Pendulum Task

  • Published : 2003.08.30
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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.

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