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Hypothesis testing in students: Sequences, stages, and instructional strategies
Author(s) -
Moshman David,
Thompson Pat A.
Publication year - 1981
Publication title -
journal of research in science teaching
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.067
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1098-2736
pISSN - 0022-4308
DOI - 10.1002/tea.3660180409
Subject(s) - falsity , relation (database) , interpretation (philosophy) , logical reasoning , piaget's theory of cognitive development , epistemology , cognition , psychology , statistical hypothesis testing , cognitive development , test (biology) , sequence (biology) , mathematics education , cognitive psychology , computer science , cognitive science , mathematics , paleontology , statistics , genetics , philosophy , database , neuroscience , biology , programming language
Six sequences in the development of hypothesis‐testing conceptions are proposed, involving (a) interpretation of the hypothesis; (b) the distinction between using theories and testing theories; (c) the consideration of multiple possibilities; (d) the relation of theory and data; (e) the nature of verification and falsification; and (f) the relation of truth and falsity. An alternative account is then provided involving three global stages: concrete operations, formal operations, and a postformal “metaconstructive”stage. Relative advantages and difficulties of the stage and sequence conceptualizations are discussed. Finally, three families of teaching strategy are distinguished, which emphasize, respectively: (a) social transmission of knowledge; (b) carefully sequenced empirical experience by the student; and (c) self‐regulated cognitive activity of the student. It is argued on the basis of Piaget's theory that the last of these plays a crucial role in the construction of such logical reasoning strategies as those involved in testing hypotheses.