Non-STEM majors in conceptual physics and astronomy courses score significantly lower pre-instruction on the LCTSR than STEM majors¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · associational r1 · q2 · i2 medium
Currency · newest study 2011 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person · overdue for a recheck since 2016: baselines and conditions change

Subclaims¶

q2 i? Non-STEM students in conceptual physics/astronomy courses average 54% on the LCTSR pre-instruction versus 75% for STEM majors in calculus-based physics. → Moore 2011

Evidence¶

Moore 2011¶

Moore, J. C., & Rubbo, L. J. (2011). Scientific reasoning abilities of non-science majors in physics-based courses. https://arxiv.org/abs/1110.2764 doi:10.48550/arxiv.1110.2764

q2 · i2 · associational · r1

Observational comparison of pre-instruction LCTSR scores: the authors' non-STEM population (N = 109, avg. = 54%) scored significantly lower than the STEM comparison sample (N = 1208, avg. = 75%) reported by Bao et al. No significant difference was found between physics and astronomy courses or between the two institutions.

"Table I shows average LCTSR pre-instruction scores (N = 1208, avg. = 75%) for science and engineering majors enrolled in a calculus-based introductory physics course, as reported by Bao, et al."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• A majority (56%) of non-STEM students are classified as transitional reasoners, while formal operational reasoners predominate among STEM majors — related
• Non-STEM students show the poorest performance on proportional reasoning (25%) and score 30% on hypothetico-deductive reasoning items — related
• In physics-based courses for non-science majors taught with active-engagement pedagogy, normalized gains were 0.38–0.42 on content tests but 0.06 on a scientific-reasoning test — related
• Pre-instruction LCTSR scores correlate with normalized learning gains, most strongly for theoretical content (TUG-K r=0.59) and more weakly for descriptive content (DIRECT r=0.50) — related