Higher Level Thinking Questions’ Impact on Scientific Models’ Complexity and Accuracy

Abstract

Inclusion of model building in the learning process promotes a deep understanding of scientific content and concepts. Likewise, higher level questioning requires high cognitive demand and critical reasoning and leads to positive educational results. The purpose of this study was to determine whether the conjunction of higher level thinking questioning with scientific model processing would contribute to students’ construction of more complex and accurate scientific models. Research participants, upper level undergraduate college students, were required to construct models that shared a synthesis view of the eutrophication process. The business-as-usual group was required to build models on the basis of previous knowledge and/or classroom discussions, whereas the experimental group was required to read and answer questions regarding the process of eutrophication before constructing their models. The collected data were analyzed using the Mann-Whitney U test. The results of the data analysis indicated that higher level thinking questioning did not aid students in constructing more complex models. However, it helped students in providing greater detail while building their models, thus improving the models’ accuracy.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Rosa Aghekyan

Rosa Aghekyan ([email protected]) is a part-time lecturer in the Graduate School of Educational Psychology at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, in New Brunswick.