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Investigating students' scientific reasoning through heuristic and analytical thought processes

Dimitrios Gousopoulos

arXiv:2311.07158v1physics.ed-ph

TL;DR

Students can know relevant physics yet fail to construct sound reasoning chains, and intuitive responses may displace analytical approaches. This study examines secondary students’ reasoning in projectile motion through a dual-process lens and identifies four heuristics used in their problem solving.

  • Problem

    Students may possess relevant knowledge but still fail to connect scientific principles into correct reasoning chains, while research on mechanisms behind such thought patterns remains limited.

    Source: Introduction · p. 1, The originality of the research · p. 5

  • Method

    The study examined secondary students’ projectile-motion reasoning using textbook-style questions and problems, interviews, and iterative analysis of response summaries.

    Source: Introduction · p. 2, Research Instrument · p. 6, Data Analysis · p. 7

  • Results

    The participating secondary students used associative activation, processing fluency, attribute substitution, and anchoring effect, often in conjunction when solving tasks.

    Source: Discussion · pp. 10–11

  • Takeaways & Limitations

    The study suggests that recognizing when students use heuristics and how to control their application may help address reasoning inconsistencies.

    Source: Discussion · p. 11

    Further research is needed across subjects and educational levels to examine heuristic use and possible curricular responses.

    Source: Discussion · p. 11

Abstract

from arXiv · show

In recent years there has been growing evidence that even after teaching designed to address the learning difficulties dictated by literature, many physics learners fail to create the proper reasoning chains that connect the fundamental principles and lead to reasoned predictions. Even though students have the required knowledge and skills, they are often based on a variety of intuitive reasoning that leads them to wrong conclusions. This research studies students' reasoning on science problems through heuristic - analytical thought processes (System 1 - System 2). System 1 operates automatically and quickly with little or no effort and no sense of voluntary control, while System 2 focuses on the demanding mental activities that require it and is slow based on rules. Specifically, we seek to study those cognitive processes and information available to students when they face science problems and, therefore, to explore the various heuristic processes that students use when solving physics problems. Our results indicated four intuitive heuristics in students' minds when they solve problems in Mechanics and especially in the unit projectile motion: associative activation, processing fluency, attribute substitution and anchoring effect. These heuristics prevent students from applying knowledge and methods that they already possess to solve a physics problem.

Introduction

The section frames a gap between students’ physics knowledge and their ability to build correct reasoning chains. It proposes examining intuitive reasoning through dual-process theory, using projectile motion problems to study students’ heuristics.

  • Students may possess the required knowledge and skills yet fail to connect fundamental principles into sound reasoning chains, with intuitive thinking often leading to wrong answers.Source: Introduction · p. 1
  • The study uses dual-process theory to investigate how students’ intuitive reasoning shapes their approaches to science problems.Source: Introduction · p. 2
  • The study examines secondary students’ heuristics in projectile-motion comparisons and problems requiring visualization, translation, concept selection, formula choice, and multistep calculation.Source: Introduction · p. 2

Theoretical Framework

The framework contrasts fast, intuitive System 1 with slower, rule-based System 2, and describes heuristics as shortcuts that can shape students’ reasoning. The study applies this lens to projectile-motion problems and situates its focus on domain-general reasoning strategies within science education.

Theoretical Framework

  • System 1 generates fast, automatic mental models that System 2 may test, but confidence in an initial model can override analysis and analytical reasoning may not correct it.Source: Theoretical Framework · pp. 2–3

Processing Fluency

  • Processing fluency gives greater weight to features the mind processes quickly, which can make easily observed information influential in students’ responses.Source: Processing Fluency · p. 4

Attribute Substitution

  • Attribute substitution occurs when System 1 answers an easier relevant question instead of the intended difficult question, such as replacing a projectile-distance question with range.Source: Attribute Substitution · p. 4

Associative activation

  • Associative activation rapidly connects information to prior experiences, potentially giving activated features excess weight while less activated relevant information is neglected.Source: Associative activation · p. 4

Anchoring Effect

  • Anchoring describes the extra weight given to initial information, which can ease its retrieval and influence judgments made through System 2.Source: Anchoring Effect · pp. 4–5

The originality of the research

Research Design

The study investigates which intuitive heuristics 11th-grade students use in projectile-motion problems. It selected students with demonstrated basic knowledge, designed and tested a problem instrument, and analyzed interview responses through iterative coding.

Research Design

  • The research aims to identify intuitive heuristics used by students solving projectile-motion problems in Mechanics.Source: Research Design · p. 6

Participants

  • Forty-five 11th-grade students who answered a preliminary projectile-motion screening question correctly formed the sample after five weeks of curriculum instruction.Source: Participants · p. 6

Research Instrument

  • The instrument adapted textbook-style problems to probe comparison and formula-use reasoning, including intuitions about height, velocity, mass, and time intervals.Source: Research Instrument · pp. 6–7

Data Collection

  • Students completed a 30-minute semi-structured think-aloud interview, with two minutes per question and no review of earlier questions.Source: Data Collection · p. 7

Data Analysis

  • Researchers iteratively compared answer summaries to identify reasoning patterns, revising codes until two coders reached approximately 90% agreement.Source: Data Analysis · p. 7

Findings and Analysis

Students used four intuitive heuristics in projectile-motion reasoning: associative activation, processing fluency, attribute substitution, and anchoring. These patterns included intuitive answers and cases where students abandoned correct analytical steps.

Findings and Analysis

  • 9/29 (31%) abandoned analytical reasoning near the square-root calculation and divided incorrectly to preserve their expected proportional relationship.One participant said they were sure the range doubled despite suspecting a mathematical mistake.Source: Findings and Analysis · p. 8
  • 12/45 emphasized initial velocity and 8/45 emphasized body mass, associating each cue with arrival time; processing fluency accompanied associative activation.Students predicted that the body with twice the initial speed or mass would arrive sooner or later.Source: Findings and Analysis · pp. 8–9
  • For the third question, asking for body velocity at ground, 10/45 students (22.2%) substituted “What is the body speed?” and omitted direction, consistent with attribute substitution.Source: Findings and Analysis · p. 9
  • 16/36 (44.4%) of students using the correct formula substituted t = 2 sec instead of the requested t = 1 sec, consistent with anchoring on arrival time.The first three questions concerned arrival at t = 2 sec; the final question asked for the rate of change of kinetic energy at t = 1 sec.Source: Findings and Analysis · p. 10
  • 44/45 participants answered both horizontal-shot questions correctly, while 65% of the 20 students showing cognitive ease on A2 also showed it on A3.The A2-to-A3 overlap was 13 students.Source: Findings and Analysis · p. 10

Discussion

The study identifies four heuristics in secondary students’ projectile-motion reasoning and describes how they can work together, leading students to rely on intuitive responses despite having relevant knowledge and skills.

Discussion

  • Secondary students used associative activation, processing fluency, attribute substitution, and anchoring when answering projectile-motion questions, sometimes abandoning formal analytical reasoning.The tasks included comparisons between systems and multi-step analytical problems.Source: Discussion · p. 10
  • Accessible task features, including initial velocity and mass, triggered related knowledge and could constrain judgments when strongly activated.The study describes this interaction in comparison tasks and analytical problems.Source: Discussion · p. 11
  • Some students substituted the more accessible quantity of speed for velocity, answering a simpler question than the one posed.A few students also relied on the initially supplied t = 2 sec instead of updating to the newly requested time interval.Source: Discussion · p. 11
  • The heuristics often act together, making it difficult to propose targeted strategies to help students avoid these cognitive biases.The discussion suggests helping students recognize when heuristics arise and how to exert control over their use.Source: Discussion · p. 11
  • Further research is needed across different subjects and educational levels, including how science curricula can support heuristic monitoring and recognition.Source: Discussion · p. 11

Compass, 5(10), 914-926.

The supplied bibliography entries cover research on heuristic reasoning and dual-process approaches across chemistry, physics, and cognitive judgment.

Compass, 5(10), 914-926.

Appendix

The appendix presents three projectile-motion comparison questions about how launch height, horizontal velocity, and mass relate to range or landing time.

Appendix

  • Question A1 asks students to compare projectile ranges for spheres launched from heights h and 2h with equal horizontal initial velocities.Source: Appendix · p. 15
  • Question A2 asks whether bodies launched horizontally from the same height at velocities υ0 and 2υ0 reach the ground simultaneously.Source: Appendix · p. 15
  • Question A3 asks students to compare landing times for bodies of different masses launched from the same height with equal horizontal velocities.Source: Appendix · p. 15

Problem B

Problem B gives a horizontally launched body’s mass, height, and initial velocity, then asks for four quantities under negligible air resistance.

Problem B

  • The problem specifies a 2 kg body launched horizontally from 20 m with initial velocity 10 m/s.Source: Problem B · p. 15
  • Students are asked to calculate the time until the body reaches the ground and its horizontal travel distance.Source: Problem B · p. 15
  • Students are asked to calculate the body’s velocity when it hits the ground.Source: Problem B · p. 15
  • Students are asked for the rate of change in kinetic energy at t = 1 s, using g = 10 m/s2 and negligible air resistance.Source: Problem B · p. 15
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