CIRTL Scholar Project: Laboratory Arguments

CIRTL Scholar is the highest CIRTL designation and represents entrance into the field of teaching and learning. CIRTL Scholars take an aspect of their teaching or research from their time in the CIRTL program and publish or present on this work for a specific audience. If you're interested in becoming a CIRTL Scholar, let us know!

In the journal article, co-written with two faculty in the Department of Chemistry, Steven analyzes written student arguments during the first semester of a college organic chemistry laboratory.  Arguments were characterized by a set of domain-general coding categories that were related to the nature and quality of student arguments. Their analysis revealed no trends on the effect of experiment order or general type on the quality of student arguments; however, the amount and types of data sources as well as the level of scaffolding provided both had an impact on student argument quality.

Petritis, S., Kelley, C., and Talanquer, V. (2022). "Analysis of Factors that Affect the Nature and Quality of Student Laboratory Argument," Chemistry Education Research and Practice.