Incorporate assessment questions that elicit causal mechanistic reasoning through phenomena, scaffolded but not over-probed¶

Strategy · All strategies
Evidence · no claims cited

Description¶

The article recommends aligning assessments with instruction by including free-response exam questions that ask for molecular-level explanations of observed phenomena, similar to the study's prompts, since assessments signal importance to students. It states "we also recommend incorporating questions that elicit causal mechanistic reasoning through phenomena on assessments, similar to the prompts used in this study." Scaffolding questions can diminish cognitive load, but instructors should avoid too much scaffolding so students can think causal mechanistically without excessive probing.

Design Implications¶

Context¶

Requirements¶

• Assessment prompts must be written to target the resources instructors want students to grasp, considering what information is given to students.

Constraints¶

• The article discourages too much scaffolding, and clarifies it does not encourage avoiding noncausal mechanistic questions or rote memory concepts entirely.

Target Learners¶

• undergraduate introductory chemistry students

Target Learning Goals¶

• constructing causal mechanistic explanations on assessments

Related Strategies¶

• Incorporate practical and procedural knowledge into the Readiness Assessment Test

Examples¶

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Key Sources¶

• Scharlott, L. J.; Rippey, D. W.; Rosa, V.; Becker, N. M. (2024). Progression toward Causal Mechanistic Reasoning through Phenomenon-Based Learning in Introductory Chemistry. Journal of Chemical Education. https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jchemed.3c00517