Dissertation Information for Woei HungNAME:
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SCHOOL: ADVISORS: COMMITTEE MEMBERS: MPACT Status: Fully Complete Title: An investigation of the role of causal reasoning methods in facilitating conceptual understanding of college students in physics Abstract: It is well documented that college students have difficulties in solving physics problems. Most researchers and educators agree that the students' difficulties largely result from a lack of conceptual understanding of the topic. This phenomenon is evident in students' tendencies to use formula-centered problem solving approaches, instead of approaching problems conceptually. The processes of conceptual learning in fact reflect the fundamental nature of the causal reasoning process. Thus, causal reasoning is essential to conceptual knowledge construction. The covariational approach and the mechanism-based approach are the two major causal reasoning methods of researching cause-effect phenomena. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of different causal reasoning approaches on students' conceptual understanding of physics concepts. 125 college students enrolled in an introductory physics class were randomly assigned into a covariational group, mechanism-based group, and control group. The results showed that the mechanism-based group significantly outperformed the other two groups in solving conceptual rotational motion problems. However, no significant differences were found among the three groups in solving computational rotational motion problems. The educational implications drawn from these results include that students' utilization of qualitative problem solving methods, systems thinking skills, and causal reasoning models need to be enhanced in order for the mechanism-based approach to take full effect in helping students construct conceptual understanding and a framework of the concepts. Detailed analyses of the results and findings, alternative hypotheses, educational implications, limitations of the study, and recommendation for future studies are discussed. |
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