Sabtu, 28 Juli 2018

Students achievement in Lawsons Classroom Scientific Reasoning (LCTSR) The effect of gender and age on scientific reasoning ability

Novia1), Syamsu2), and Riandi3)

1)  Departemen PGSD, Universitas Tadulako, Soekarno Hatta KM.9, Palu 94148, Indonesia
2)  Departemen Pendidikan Fisika, Universitas Tadulako, Soekarno Hatta KM.9, Palu 94148, Indonesia

3)  Sekolah Pascasarjana Pendidikan IPA, UPI, Jl. Dr. Setiabudi No. 229, Bandung 40154, Indonesia


Nowadays scientific reasoning is currently considered the central of goal for development of 21st century people. Scientific reasoning is important factor in science learning. This study aims to examine the effect of gender and age influenced students scientific reasoning ability. This research was a descriptive quantitative. The samples of the result were 200 students (female=100, male=100) on first year physics education class of Tadulako University in Palu, Indonesia with the age range was 18-20 years old. The data on students scientific reasoning ability were taken from a multiple choice test on scientific reasoning ability using Lawson Classroom Test of Scientific Reasoning (LCTSR). LCTSR was administered to investigate students scientific reasoning ability in six constructs namely (1) Conservation of Mass and Volume, (2) Proportional Thinking, (3) Control of Variables, (4) Probabilistic Thinking, (5) Correlational Thinking, and (6) Hypothetical-deductive Reasoning. The results showed that no statistical difference between male and female on scientific reasoning means scores were observed. The gender and age do not significantly impact on students scientific reasoning ability for each construct. In addition, the lowest mean score for the students reasoning ability for both genders was control of variable.

Keywords: LCTSR, Gender, Age, Scientific Reasoning