Development and evaluation of introductory physics lab curriculum to promote scientific reasoning abilities

Research indicates students with more formal reasoning patterns are more proficient learners, while certain critical thinking abilities are important for living in modern society. Unfortunately, college courses do not typically promote these skills. In order to address this concern, we have developed a first semester introductory physics lab curriculum in which students engage in experimental design with emphasis placed on the use of evidence-based reasoning in making decisions in the lab and in report writing. This paper describes the underlying framework on which the curriculum is based and presents data which demonstrates significant shifts in student development of certain aspects of scientific reasoning.