Development and Validation of a Scientific (Formal) Reasoning Test for College Students

Autor/inn/en	Kalinowski, Steven T.; Willoughby, Shannon
Titel	Development and Validation of a Scientific (Formal) Reasoning Test for College Students
Quelle	In: Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 56 (2019) 9, S.1269-1284 (16 Seiten)Infoseite zur Zeitschrift PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Zusatzinformation	ORCID (Kalinowski, Steven T.)
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0022-4308
DOI	10.1002/tea.21555
Schlagwörter	Science Tests; Test Construction; Science Instruction; Introductory Courses; Correlation; Abstract Reasoning; Thinking Skills; College Students; Probability; Hypothesis Testing; College Science; Psychometrics; Test Reliability; Scores; Student Attitudes; Scientific Concepts; Evolution; Biology; Multiple Choice Tests; Montana + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Testaufbau; Teaching of science; Science education; Natural sciences Lessons; Naturwissenschaftlicher Unterricht; Einführungskurs; Korrelation; Abstraktes Denken; Denken; Denkfähigkeit; Collegestudent; Wahrscheinlichkeitsrechnung; Wahrscheinlichkeitstheorie; Hypothesenprüfung; Hypothesentest; Psychometry; Psychometrie; Testreliabilität; Schülerverhalten; Biologie; Multiple choice examinations; Multiple-choice tests, Multiple-choice examinations; Multiple-Choice-Verfahren
Abstract	We present a multiple-choice test, the Montana State University Formal Reasoning Test (FORT), to assess college students' scientific reasoning ability. The test defines scientific reasoning to be equivalent to formal operational reasoning. It contains 20 questions divided evenly among five types of problems: control of variables, hypothesis testing, correlational reasoning, proportional reasoning, and probability. The test development process included the drafting and psychometric analysis of 23 instruments related to formal operational reasoning. These instruments were administered to almost 10,000 students enrolled in introductory science courses at American universities. Questions with high discrimination were identified and assembled into an instrument that was intended to measure the reasoning ability of students across the entire spectrum of abilities in college science courses. We present four types of validity evidence for the FORT. (a) The test has a one-dimensional psychometric structure consistent with its design. (b) Test scores in an introductory biology course had an empirical reliability of 0.82. (c) Student interviews confirmed responses to the FORT were accurate indications of student thinking. (d) A regression analysis of student learning in an introductory biology course showed that scores on the FORT predicted how well students learned one of the most challenging concepts in biology, natural selection. (As Provided).
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Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2020/1/01