Non-STEM students show the poorest performance on proportional reasoning (25%) and score 30% on hypothetico-deductive reasoning items¶

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? Population averages show significant difficulty with proportional reasoning, isolation of variables, and hypothetico-deductive reasoning, with proportional reasoning lowest at 25% and hypothetico-deductive application at 30%. → 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

Analysis of LCTSR sub-pattern scores (Fig. 2) for the non-STEM population: significant difficulty with proportional reasoning, isolation of variables, and hypothetico-deductive reasoning; hypothetico-deductive application items averaged 30%. Most students showed some proficiency with correlation and probabilistic reasoning, a contrast the authors call puzzling.

"Students within this population demonstrated the poorest performance on proportional reasoning (25%), which could be attributable to poor preparation in mathematics."

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Non-STEM majors in conceptual physics and astronomy courses score significantly lower pre-instruction on the LCTSR than STEM majors — related
• A majority (56%) of non-STEM students are classified as transitional reasoners, while formal operational reasoners predominate among STEM majors — 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