Constructing Scientific Explanations: a System of Analysis for Students’ Explanations

Andrade, Vanessa de; Freire, Sofia; Baptista, Mónica

doi:10.1007/s11165-017-9648-9

Cited by 35 publications

(32 citation statements)

References 44 publications

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“…A questionnaire (Andrade et al, 2019) was designed to explore the curricular concepts of the particulate nature of matter previously taught in the chemistry classes. The current study analyzed students' drawings and written explanations in response to an item of the questionnaire about sugar dissolving in water, which was presented as follows:…”

Section: Data Sourcementioning

confidence: 99%

“…All students' written explanations were coded using a six-level system of analysis previously developed by the Andrade et al (2019). According to the model that supports this system, a written explanation with a high explanatory level involves a detailed description of the underlying mechanisms, and makes an account of both how submicroscopic entities produce the phenomenon and why the phenomenon behaves as observed (Andrade et al, 2019).…”

Section: Students' Written Explanationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These type of explanations provides a detailed account of the underlying mechanisms that give rise to phenomena as they focus on how and why the phenomena happen (Krist et al, 2018). Causalmechanistic explanations require students to i) consider different scalar levels (i.e., the level of the phenomenon and the level of the underlying mechanisms); ii) use science theories and models to identify relevant causal factors; iii) identify relationships and interactions among factors, and finally iv) trace a logical and coherent causal story that connects the underlying mechanisms back to the phenomenon (Andrade, Freire, & Baptista, 2019;Krist et al, 2018). Causal-mechanistic explanations are particularly useful in chemistry as, despite the fact that changes of the properties of matter are observed at the macroscopic level, an explanation of such observations can only be reached through the mechanisms that lie at the submicroscopic level (i.e., the level of atoms and molecules) (Cooper, 2015;Talanquer, 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Despite the importance of casual-mechanistic explanations in learning chemistry (Cooper, 2015;Talanquer, 2018), many studies have highlighted students' difficulties in constructing such explanations. Either students tend to simply describe the phenomena 2 / 13 at the macroscopic level without discussing how and why it is produced or they intuitively interpret the submicroscopic-level mechanisms directly from the observed behavior of the phenomenon, failing to establish a coherent connection between the phenomenon and its underlying mechanisms (Andrade et al, 2019;Becker, Noyes, & Cooper, 2016;Moreira, Marzabal, & Talanquer, 2018;Rappoport & Ashkenazi, 2008;Talanquer, 2010).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Constructing Scientific Explanations for Chemical Phenomena through Drawings among 8th-grade Students

Andrade

Freire

Baptista

2021

EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed

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The current study examines the progress of 8th-grade student drawings and written explanations of chemical phenomenon, subsequent to being involved in an instructional strategy that explicitly involves drawing as a supportive toll to construct scientific explanations. Additionally, the study examines the association between the representation of specific conceptual elements, such as structure, motion, and interactions, and the explanatory level of students' written explanations. These goals were addressed by comparing the students' collected drawings and explanations by applying the same open-ended question before and after the instructional strategy. Results show that after the instructional strategy significantly more students created more accurate drawings and drawings depicting more conceptual elements. Additionally, the students' written explanations significantly changed, progressing from descriptive accounts to discussions of specific underlying mechanisms at the submicroscopic level. Furthermore, the association between students' written explanations and drawings was stronger after the strategy. This study strengthens the argument for drawing interaction in explanation construction.

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Section: Data Sourcementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Students' Written Explanationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Constructing Scientific Explanations for Chemical Phenomena through Drawings among 8th-grade Students

Andrade

Freire

Baptista

2021

EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…As indicated previously, particularly with biological science explanations, they indicate the consideration of multiple causal, and often non-sequential, relationships and emergence to better portray how dynamic systems work (Bechtel 2011). In summary, a causal story facilitates a multi-faceted understanding of how and why a natural phenomenon occurred as depicted by the fundamental ideas in science (Braaten and Windschitl 2011;de Andrade et al 2017).…”

Section: Science Content Explanationsmentioning

confidence: 87%

Exploring the Complexity of Students’ Scientific Explanations and Associated Nature of Science Views Within a Place-Based Socioscientific Issue Context

et al. 2019

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In addition to considering sociocultural, political, economic, and ethical factors (to name a few), effectively engaging socioscientific issues (SSI) requires that students understand and apply scientific explanations and the nature of science (NOS). Promoting such understandings can be achieved through immersing students in authentic real-world contexts where the SSI impacts occur and teaching those students about how scientists comprehend, research, and debate those SSI. This triangulated mixed-methods investigation explored how 60 secondary students' trophic cascade explanations changed through their experiencing place-based SSI instruction focused on the Yellowstone wolf reintroduction, including scientists' work and debates regarding that issue. Furthermore, this investigation determined the association between the students' post place-based SSI instruction trophic cascade explanations and NOS views. Findings from this investigation demonstrate that through the place-based SSI instruction students' trophic cascade explanations became significantly more accurate and complex and included more ecological causal mechanisms. Also, significant and moderate to moderately large correlations were found between the accuracy and contextualization of students' post place-based SSI instruction NOS views and the complexity of their trophic cascade explanations. Empirical substantiation of the association between the complexity of students' scientific explanations and their NOS views responds to an understudied area in the science education research. It also encourages the consideration of several implications, drawn from this investigation's findings and others' prior work, which include the need for NOS to be forefront alongside and in connection with science content in curricular standards and through instruction focused on relevant and authentic place-based SSI.

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Students' mechanistic reasoning in practice: Enabling functions of drawing, gestures and talk

et al. 2021

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Mechanistic reasoning is a powerful form of reasoning central to scientific explanations. Despite mechanistic reasoning being an important dimension of scientific practice and a central dimension of science curricula, students face difficulties in developing such type of reasoning. Many authors have been proposing tools for supporting its development; drawing is one such tool. Studies that purposefully explore how drawing leverages and supports students' mechanistic reasoning while engage in a process of constructing explanations are still scarce. The goal of the current study was to understand how students' mechanistic reasoning emerges and is enacted when students are jointly involved in drawing creation. For that, we drew on a recent framework that identifies essential characteristics of students' mechanistic reasoning and also on theories of distributed and embodied cognition. In this paper, we present a pair of middle school students who jointly explain a chemical phenomenon by creating drawings and reasoning with them. Using a fine-grain analysis we examined the elements of students' mechanistic reasoning in relation to drawing creation and how talk and embodied actions on and with the drawings were used to support students' reasoning. Findings reveal that drawings played a key role in paving the way for students reasoning about mechanisms and in enacting mechanistic reasoning. In particular, drawings were essential for pushing students to look for a

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Constructing Scientific Explanations: a System of Analysis for Students’ Explanations

Cited by 35 publications

References 44 publications

Constructing Scientific Explanations for Chemical Phenomena through Drawings among 8th-grade Students

Constructing Scientific Explanations for Chemical Phenomena through Drawings among 8th-grade Students

Exploring the Complexity of Students’ Scientific Explanations and Associated Nature of Science Views Within a Place-Based Socioscientific Issue Context

Students' mechanistic reasoning in practice: Enabling functions of drawing, gestures and talk

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