PERC 2015 Abstract Detail Page
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| Abstract Title: | Analyzing Inconsistencies in Student Reasoning Using Dual Process Theory |
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| Abstract: | A set of theoretical ideas, referred to broadly as dual process theory, asserts that human cognition relies on two largely independent thinking systems. The first is fast and intuitive, while the second is slow, logically deliberate, and effortful. A common, and particularly puzzling phenomenon has been a focus of an ongoing, collaborative investigation: introductory students often demonstrate competent reasoning on one task, but not on other, closely related tasks. In some cases, students may simply not possess the formal knowledge and skills necessary to arrive at a correct answer. In other cases, however, students may switch their cognitive mode, seeming to abandon the formal knowledge and skills in favor of (perhaps more appealing) intuitive ideas. In order to probe the nature of such inconsistencies, we developed a paired-question methodology that allows us to disentangle reasoning approaches from conceptual understanding and use dual process theory to account for the observed inconsistencies. This work is supported in part by the National Science Foundation under Grant Nos. DUE-1245999, DUE-1245993, DUE-1245313 and DUE-1245699. |
| Abstract Type: | Symposium Talk |
| Parallel Session: | Disentangling Student Reasoning from Conceptual Understanding |
Author/Organizer Information | |
| Primary Contact: |
Mila Kryjevskaia North Dakota State University |
