Evaluating Students' Abilities to Construct Mathematical Models from Data Using Latent Class Analysis

Autor/inn/en	Brandriet, Alexandra; Rupp, Charlie A.; Lazenby, Katherine; Becker, Nicole M.
Titel	Evaluating Students' Abilities to Construct Mathematical Models from Data Using Latent Class Analysis
Quelle	In: Chemistry Education Research and Practice, 19 (2018) 1, S.375-391 (17 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Zusatzinformation	ORCID (Brandriet, Alexandra) ORCID (Becker, Nicole M.)
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	1756-1108
DOI	10.1039/c7rp00126f
Schlagwörter	Mathematical Models; Multivariate Analysis; Qualitative Research; Introductory Courses; Science Instruction; Chemistry; Stoichiometry; Logical Thinking; College Science; College Students; Mathematics; Questioning Techniques; Online Surveys; Test of Logical Thinking + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Mathematical model; Mathematisches Modell; Multivariate Analyse; Qualitative Forschung; Einführungskurs; Teaching of science; Science education; Natural sciences Lessons; Naturwissenschaftlicher Unterricht; Chemie; Stöchiometrie; Collegestudent; Mathematik; Befragungstechnik; Fragetechnik
Abstract	Analyzing and interpreting data is an important science practice that contributes toward the construction of models from data; yet, there is evidence that students may struggle with making meaning of data. The study reported here focused on characterizing students' approaches to analyzing rate and concentration data in the context of method of initial rates tasks, a type of task used to construct a rate law, which is a mathematical model that relates the reactant concentration to the rate. Here, we present a large-scale analysis (n = 768) of second-semester introductory chemistry students' responses to three open-ended questions about how to construct rate laws from initial concentration and rate data. Students' responses were coded based on the level of sophistication in their responses, and latent class analysis was then used to identify groups (i.e. classes) of students with similar response patterns across tasks. Here, we present evidence for a five-class model that included qualitatively distinct and increasingly sophisticated approaches to reasoning about the data. We compared the results from our latent class model to the correctness of students' answers (i.e. reaction orders) and to a less familiar task, in which students were unable to use the control of variables strategy. The results showed that many students struggled to engage meaningfully with the data when constructing their rate laws. The students' strategies may provide insight into how to scaffold students' abilities to analyze data. (As Provided).
Anmerkungen	Royal Society of Chemistry. Thomas Graham House, Science Park, Milton Road, Cambridge, CB4 0WF, UK. Tel: +44-1223 420066; Fax: +44-1223 423623; e-mail: cerp@rsc.org; Web site: http://www.rsc.org/cerp
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01