Analysis of Two-Tier Question Scoring Methods: A Case Study on the Lawson’s Classroom Test of Scientific Reasoning

Abstract

The Lawson’s Classroom Test of Scientific Reasoning (LCTSR) is a popular instrument that measures the development of students’ scientific reasoning skills. The instrument has a two-tier question design, which has led to multiple ways of scoring and interpretation. In this research, a method of pattern analysis was proposed and applied to analyze two-tier item pairs on the subskill of Control-of-Variable (COV) of LCTSR. The data were collected from students in grade 4 through college in both the United States and China. Students’ response patterns to two combined item pairs were analyzed and compared against students at different grade levels and reasoning development levels. Six performance levels were established based on students’ response patterns, serving as indicators of COV reasoning development levels. With the new method, a relation was obtained between students’ level of COV skills and grade level, as well as their level of overall reasoning development. It can provide useful information on the possible developmental levels of students’ reasoning skills. Keywords: control-of-variable, grade level, pattern analysis, scientific reasoning

Pensamiento científico en la educación secundaria: acercamiento al estado de la cuestión

“…El desarrollo del pensamiento científico desde esta perspectiva busca fortalecer la alfabetización científica de los estudiantes de secundaria desde diferentes enfoques de formación (Costa et al, 2021). Esto se corroboró en investigaciones de diferentes países alrededor del mundo, en las que se buscó probar, mejorar, intervenir y comparar diferentes métodos de enseñanza (ABI, ABP, modelo instructivo 5E, basado en preguntas y la instrucción directa), variaciones del método de enseñanza por indagación como el modelo VerE (Nowak et al, 2013), estrategias de aprendizaje como aquel basado en problemas y sus modificaciones (Fitriani et al, 2020;Wilder, 2015) para fortalecer el desarrollo de actitudes científicas como la curiosidad o la creatividad (Jirout, 2020), las competencias científicas en sus múltiples dimensiones (Franco-Mariscal, 2015) y las habilidades consideradas relevantes en la práctica de la ciencia en el aula (Fang, 2021;Gillies y Rafter, 2020;Rind y Ning, 2020;Zhou et al, 2021). Al describir las características de las intervenciones educativas, se comparten las observaciones hechas por Gasparatou (2017), quien indica que propuestas como la educación científica basada en investigación, la enseñanza a través de la argumentación e incluir la filosofía como elemento importante en el cultivo del hábito de pensar, al igual que la incorporación de las ciencias sociales en la rama de la educación científica que sugieren Jewett y Kuhn (2016), son apuestas que fomentan el desarrollo del pensamiento científico en la escuela, pues desafían implícitamente el cientificismo presente en muchas aulas actualmente.…”

Development of Quizizz-Based Interactive Questions to Measure Scientific Reasoning Skills

“…The results of the literature study show that students sometimes answer questions by guessing. Students do not think about answers correctly based on understanding (I. G. N. Darmawan et al, 2020;Moore & Rubbo, 2012;Xiao et al, 2018;S.-N. Zhou et al, 2021).…”

“…The low factor of scientific reasoning is produced by students answering guessing questions. The student does not explain the answer correctly (I. G. N. Darmawan et al, 2020;Moore & Rubbo, 2012;Xiao et al, 2018;S.-N. Zhou et al, 2021). Students need to be accustomed to working on scientific reasoning questions as an exercise in reasoning.…”

“…Students in answering questions sometimes make guesses so that students do not think about the answer correctly (I. G. N. Darmawan, Vosniadou, Lawson, Van Deur, & Wyra, 2020;R. Darmawan, 2015;Moore & Rubbo, 2012;Xiao et al, 2018;S.-N. Zhou, Liu, Koenig, Li, & Bao, 2021). Teachers assess student work really need time.…”

“…The development of interactive questions to measure scientific reasoning skills is a step towards solving the problem. Various types of scientific reasoning instruments and assessments have been developed (Han, 2013;Opitz, Heene, & Fischer, 2017;S.-N. Zhou et al, 2021). Mobilized learning can improve test results, engagement, and reflection from students (Looi, Sun, & Xie, 2014).…”