Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
8941755 | Learning and Individual Differences | 2018 | 16 Pages |
Abstract
We examined the predictive value and interplay of elementary school students' understanding of the control-of-variables strategy, a domain-general experimentation skill, and their prior content knowledge for subsequent conceptual knowledge acquisition and conceptual change. Trained teachers provided Nâ¯=â¯1809 first to sixth graders with 15 lessons of guided inquiry-based instruction on floating and sinking. We assessed understanding of the control-of-variables strategy before instruction, and conceptual content knowledge from before to after instruction. A mixture model analysis, specifically, a latent transition analysis, indicates that understanding of the control-of-variables strategy predicts content knowledge structure before instruction, and content knowledge development from before to after instruction. These findings corroborate lab-based research on the interplay of experimentation skills and content knowledge in inquiry settings and extend it to teacher-guided classroom instruction. We describe how learning pathways vary depending on students' understanding of the control-of-variables strategy and prior content knowledge, and discuss implications for learning and instruction.
Related Topics
Social Sciences and Humanities
Psychology
Developmental and Educational Psychology
Authors
Peter A. Edelsbrunner, Lennart Schalk, Ralph Schumacher, Elsbeth Stern,