Crystal Medlin
Orange County, NC
Cedar Ridge HS
Science

A Pedagogical Study:  Analyzing Student’s Approach to Problem-Solving and Critical Thinking in the Chemistry Classroom

Central research question:

How do students approach the critical-thinking process while solving conceptual word problems in chemistry?

Introduction

Using the University of Southern Australia's model of critical thinking, I studied critical thinking as a series of 5 major processes:  Inform & Describe, Discover & Explore, Negotiate & Cooperate, Test & Revise, and Integrate & Apply.  I think these are all very important and necessary steps in applying critical thinking to any kind of problem solving.  However, I have chosen to focus on how students apply these processes to problems in chemistry.

Research Questions

• What kind of thinking are students doing in chemistry?

• How do student approach chemistry problems?

• Do students understand what critical thinking is?

• How are they applying critical thinking to these problems?

Supporting Questions

• What happens as students begin “unpacking”/”decoding” a conceptual word problem that challenges them to understand the deeper meaning(s)?

• Why do some students have difficulty interpreting word problems conceptually, but seem to learn procedures with less difficulty? How is their conceptual thinking different than their formulaic thinking?

• How is my teaching approach helpful/harmful in teaching critical thinking?

• How do I lead students to become more independent thinkers?

• What exercises help students know “where to begin” with a word problem that they’re seeing for the first time?

Purpose

Students struggle in chemistry in their ability to apply previous knowledge, or new information to conceptual word problems.  Many times, the students try to apply the wrong set of steps to a new problem, from one that they have seen before.  Other times, students simply don’t know where to begin with a word problem that is newly worded or presented in a slightly different way. 

I am interested in finding out more about the general manner in which students approach word problems that require critical thinking.  In finding out more about how they approach conceptual chemistry problems, I hope to gain insight as how to help students become better critical thinkers. 

Additionally, by changing my teaching methods, I hope to improve student’s confidence in approaching word problems in other disciplines.

>> Click here to download a document summary of this gallery.

Methods & Implementation

The following schema of critical thinking was used during the data analysis portion of my project.  I felt that these processes best explained the aspects of critical thinking to be studied through student responses to survey questions, as well as audio taped cooperative learning groups. 

It was helpful in distinguishing the different aspects of critical thinking that are often difficult to differentiate.  I found this to be especially true when trying to categorize student responses into just one aspect, mostly because many of them over-lapped or had similarities.

 

General observations

Similarities of student responses

In the Pre-Survey Data collection component, students were given a list of 14 questions that were free responses, listed responses, and scale-based responses.  This survey was given at the beginning of the year-long course, in Fall 2008, when the project began.  The questions on this survey were to act as a springboard in identifying what students preconceived notions were about general problem-solving and critical thinking.  The following were general observations and findings I noted after creating a matrix of the students responses and studying similarities among them:

• Most students agree that critical thinking is important in science

• Most students rate themselves pretty high on critical thinking scale

• Most predict a grade similar to those that they’ve made in previous science courses

• Most agree that this class is hard

Pre-Survey

Designed to gauge students' understanding of critical thinking

Although these are very general statements, the purpose of the pre-survey was to gauge:

• Whether students had an idea about what problem-solving and/or critical thinking is

• Where they rate themselves prior to completion of this advanced level chemistry course, on a critical thinking scale

• If they felt that they had learned, used, or been challenged to think critically in other classes prior to this one.

>> Click here to see sample data from Pre-Survey

Data was collected throughout the course of a one-year upper level (International Baccalaureate) chemistry course.  The class consisted of 10 males and 11 females, for a total of 21 students. 

However, data was only collected on 18 random students in the class to serve as a focus group - (8 males and 10 females), or 86% of the total class.  The students completed one or more of the three components of the data collection – pre survey, audio taping samples of group work, and post surveys.

>> Click here to see the Pre-Survey and Post-Survey

Critical Thinking Model

> click here to see more detail

CT Processes w/ CODES

(Used for Post Surveys and Audio Tapes)

ID – Inform & Describe

Clarifying what you need to know, what you already know, & what information you have about your issue/topic       

DE – Discover & Explore

Looking at issue/topic more closely, starting to be more directed & purposeful in seeking more/new information

NC – Negotiate & Cooperate

Consider different perspectives, engaging in discussion with others

TR – Test & Revise

Weighing up the evidence, testing out different ideas and alternatives

IA – Integrate & Apply

Bringing together the various ideas to consolidate and articulate new understandings

Results and Conclusions

Most students in the class ranked themselves high as critical thinkers and problem-solvers.  The students also ranked themselves high as having experienced challenges to think critically in other courses, prior to taking this advanced level chemistry course.  So, this group had an idea about what it meant to think critically and felt that they had experienced it before. 

I chose not to explicitly teach the model of critical thinking as developed by Dewey and other influential thinkers on education, but instead to simply observe my students in this class and see if I observed all, most, or some of the processes described in the model. 

As a result of this survey, I was comfortable in studying this group of students mainly because I felt they had the most experience in knowing that at some point in their education they had been taught how to use critical thinking to solve problems.  I also felt that since they had experienced some model of critical thinking, they would also be able to describe and recognize their own methods of learning more effectively.  This became particularly useful in future data collection, the audio taping sessions and most importantly the post-surveys.

As a result of this component, and really the rest of the project too I came to realize, I was left with more questions after analyzing my data, rather than answers.  When reading student’s responses to the pre-surveys, I couldn’t help but wonder…..

• Do students feel that they have been challenged here to think critically?

• What would happen if I asked them to rate themselves again on critical thinking scale mid-semester? End-of-year? Beginning of next school year?  What changes would I see and could it be attributed in some way to age, grade, or gender?

• What are the SPECIFIC similarities and differences in the student’s general ideas about critical thinking vs. those in theory?

• Have the students developed in their own strengths and skills required for general critical thinking in THIS CLASS?  And do they feel that those skills could be carried on to other disciplines?

• Do students believe they deserve an A for trying really hard to understand something?

During my research project with Elon Teaching and Learning Partnership, I realized the value of doing educational research and the effect it has on my own teaching methodologies as a reflective practitioner.  It has been an effective way for me to look at what my student’s have learned about critical thinking, how they put their learned critical thinking skills to use, and how I can use an effective model of critical thinking processes to explicitly teach critical thinking to the students who enter my classroom in the future.  

My study consisted of many forms of data collection over the course of an entire school year.  However, the most useful piece of data, and the one I spent the most time analyzing, were the end-of-the-year post-surveys.  From these student responses I was most interested in finding out more about where the students in my school’s International Baccalaureate Program were in terms of critical thinking.  And it lead me to finding some very interesting answers to my research questions that were developed throughout the course of the study.

Data Collection:
Audio Tapes

Audio taping data and analysis - a work in progress!

Audio taping sessions were conducted in the classroom on a random basis.  Students worked in small, collaborative groups on a variety of chemistry problems that required them to use more than one concept to solve.  The problems were of a medium/difficult level and age appropriate.  After the tapes were recorded, they were transcribed and coded using the same criteria as the post-surveys.  I have designed the criteria based on a model created by John Dewey and published by the University of Australia, designed to teach critical thinking.  I am looking for the key words/phrases listed below, their frequency of use during the problem-solving activity, and any other important quotes students may use during their critical thinking process.

Results notes on audio tapes

Session A

(Limiting Reagent Problem – Students  AM/#11,  PG/#13,  TC/#6)

• Much off task commenting

• One student really dominating the conversation – problem solving.

• Boys – really guiding each other but in a more indirect manner….more questioning techniques guiding them as they problem solve

Session B

(Chemistry Marathon Problem – Students  JB/#9,  LM/#8,  AP/#15)

• Corrections made between the group members is a very powerful way to learn problem solving

• Dialogue really helps to guide the process – and having it done CORRECTLY!

• Girls – some questioning, some statements.  More of a self guided journey but needing the confirmation from one another regularly

• Knowing the content – or teaching the content effectively – is absolutely necessary to foster conceptual thinking/higher order thinking in chemistry….

• What’s the relationship between REASONING and THINKING?? Is it more procedural or conceptual?

• Students used instructor to clarify a question about finding percent yield in chemistry lab – incidentally this is an important SKILL but needs to be addressed logically….these students weren’t trying to apply logic, instead they were trying to remember the formula….once prompted by the instructor, taking a “big picture” approach, they worked through it and seemed to resolve the misunderstanding – GREAT EXAMPLE of benefit of approaching chemistry question is CONCEPT vs. FORMULA….

Data Collection:
Post Surveys

Post Survey Data and Analysis

The post surveys administered to the students at the conclusion of the school year (June 2009), is also based on the same critical thinking model as used in the audio tape analysis.  The results were studied as sets of responses to each question.  Here are each of the questions, student responses by number, and additional notes/observations made for each question.

>> Post Survey Results summary

Back to the Research Questions….

• What kind of thinking are students doing in chemistry?

• How do student approach chemistry problems?

Overall, from this study, I have found that students tend to spend more time actively solving chemistry problems while using 3 of the 5 major critical thinking processes as described in John Dewey’s model.  The three most prevalent processes I observed were “Inform and Describe”, “Discover and Explore”, and “Negotiate and Cooperate”. 

Inform & Describe – Most commonly seen as students described “reading problems carefully”, and several mentioned that understanding what a question is asking is key to performing well in problem solving.  I have noticed, from a teaching standpoint, that this is usually a large cause of frustration when students are faced with unfamiliar problems or challenges.  Not knowing what the question is asking, not relating prior knowledge or recognizing what concepts apply to the problem are all very critical components to being able to think critically.  The students at this level realize the importance of being able to do these things…. however, they also stated that it is a learned skill and must be taught.  The benefit in seeing this for myself through my research will allow me to use it as a method of direct instruction for future chemistry courses.  As a matter of fact, I hope to use the same model of critical thinking, one that has the same continuity and balance.

Discover & Explore - Students often see the benefits of breaking a problem up into it’s parts and attacking each piece one by one.  This perfectly described one of the key components of critical thinking, “Discover & Explore”, and is easily seen when students are presented with new word problems in small group settings.  However, this is not only applicable to chemistry problems.  As a matter of fact, without being asked about other disciplines, I found it interesting that on more than one occasion students would site this technique as being useful in subject areas such as English, Theory of Knowledge, and mathematics.

Negotiate & Cooperate – This process is perhaps the most common practice one would see upon entering my classroom on any given day.  I (and my students) have experienced great success in working together in small study groups on many different types of tasks….but for longer, more evolved, conceptual chemistry problems this is the way to teach!  So, I was happy to see that it too was a significant part of the critical thinking model I wanted to use for my research. 

However, upon entering my keyword frequency data, I found that students specifically addressed it the LEAST.  This was an interesting trend, and something I definitely wanted to consider.  I think there may be several reasons for this outlier, one being that this area was DEMONSTRATED by my focus group in the audio tapes rather than DESCRIBED in the surveys.  Although the data analysis didn’t reflect “Negotiate & Cooperate” in the student surveys I could not dismiss it as an important part of the critical thinking process.  Instead though, what I can take away is that it should be directly addressed to students as part of the learning process.  This way they might realize that working together in small groups is beneficial for working through problems because it allows you to consider different points of view, ideas, and solutions…..rather than just getting general “help” from each other.

• Do students understand what critical thinking is?

This group understands what it means to be a critical thinker, and often uses many of the processes outlined in Dewey’s model when asked to describe what it means to think critically.  For the IB student, much focus is placed on the process of thinking and learning, and they feel that because they have been exposed to this they have a better understanding about how they learn.  All of the students in this group believe critical thinking is a learned skill, and that it is something that needs to be taught well, practiced, and applied to be improved upon.

Some specific survey responses were of interest in helping to address this research question:

• “Analyzing and being thoughtful about your responses”

• “implies multi-step thinking that touches on multiple subject areas in order to answer (or solve) a single problem”

• “focusing on aspects and connecting them to figure out a problem OR looking at the problem as a whole to distinguish a course of action”

• “Someone is not only reflecting on presented ideas, but also analyzing them and qualifying the extent of their importance.  Comparing and contrasting and drawing conclusions are often results.”

• “a way of thinking that requires logic and substantial prior knowledge to develop higher level thoughts”

• “think outside the box and connecting what you have learned to other things”

Some other general conclusions about what students thought about critical thinking….

A variety of responses, many centered on ANALYSIS, LOOKING AT A PROBLEM IN-DEPTH, GOING ABOVE AND BEYOND, THINKING OUTSIDE THE BOX, EXAMINING ALL PARTS OF A PROBLEM, REACHING CONCLUSIONS…..

I appreciated these well thought-out responses, and seeing how students interpreted what they’ve already learned about critical thinking.  One reason I chose this group of students to study as a focus group is because I felt that although these students are already at the top of their class, I could also depend on them in recognizing that they had been taught critical thinking skills at some point – yet still gain insight about to what degree they understand how critical thinking works, how they describe it as a process from their own experiences…..so it only made sense that I chose a focus group that indeed believed that they used critical thinking on a regular basis

Most believe it’s learned; supporting my reasoning for studying this focus group and demonstrating that these students generally feel that critical thinking is a skill that you must practice and apply….

Interesting….school helps practice, “formulas” mentioned several times, does chemistry overlap these ideas?

Did the word “skill” in the question influence results / responses?

• How are they applying critical thinking to these problems?

In order to gain a better understanding of how students solved problems in chemistry, and how they were using a critical thinking model to do so, I once again studied not only their actual taped problem solving techniques but I also found a great deal of information when the students were asked directly “How do you typically solve a chemistry problem?”.  From the responses I concluded that most of their ideas of how included very formulaic techniques, but not unlike the model describes.  However, the real question should be…..Do you know AND USE these techniques?  If so, why do they not always work for you?  OR How are chemistry problems approached differently than other types of problems?  Again….more questions than answers.

Nonetheless, many have described very effective methods, such as “breakdown all parts”, “read question several times”, “apply concepts”.  My next step is to use the taped work sessions to try and identify MORE of this type of problem-solving to see if the students are using it the way they say they are using it, and maybe I’m just not seeing it as clearly in my day to day practice.

>> Click here to see Results Summary presentation 

REFLECTIONS

What have I learned?

One of the most valuable lessons I’ve learned from doing this project is how important reflective practice is, and the effect it can have on your success as a teacher.  The questions that arose during this process might never have made it to paper had I not been working on this pedagogical study.  By making myself really examine not only WHAT I was doing, but WHY…that was the largest gain for me as a teacher.

What has been most valuable about doing research in my classroom?

By doing the research in my very own classroom, on my terms, I was able to ask (and answer) whatever question came to mind.  I really loved the freedom to make this project my own.  I didn’t feel that I was constricted to study or look for something that I wasn’t interested in knowing the answer to.  Since I was the one creating the questions I had a lot more invested in the study.  Additionally I liked being able to talk about the research I was doing with my colleagues.  It wasn’t obvious everyday that I was running a research study in my room, to most it looked like “business as usual”, but when I talked with them about what I was finding……that’s when I really started to literally see a light bulb go off in their heads saying “umm…I wonder what my students would do?”

How has this project affected the way I think about teaching and my teaching practices in the classroom?

This project has definitely affected the way I teach by forcing me to think about WHY I choose to practice certain strategies in the classroom over others and WHY those strategies may or may not be effective.  There are always certain things you feel more comfortable with doing in your own classroom than others, and much of that has to do with personal style.  But I have always believed that teachers should continue to find ways that challenge them as teachers and in return challenges their students.  If you get too comfortable with your methodologies and don’t reflect on what and why you make those decisions then your effectiveness in the classroom dwindles over time.  This project has provided me with a means to view myself as a reflective and now RESEARCH DRIVEN practitioner.  Prior to this project I enjoyed the challenges of everyday teaching, but needed more focus on HOW students were thinking IN MY CLASSROOM as opposed to general instructional strategies geared toward all subjects.

If I could further my research, what would I study?

If I could continue my research, I would use what I’ve seen presented by this focus group of students regarding critical thinking and use it to continue studying critical thinking in other science courses.  One thing I would change is in the direct instruction of the critical thinking model first.  I think it would be very interesting to compare how a group of students, who were explicitly taught the critical thinking model and all of its parts in problem-solving, used the model in practice.  I could then compare the results of those who were taught the model in the classroom to those who were not taught (this year’s focus group) and see what differences and similarities existed between them.  I wonder if by teaching the model as part of the direct instruction in the classroom, would the students be more balanced in the processes of critical thinking they used in chemistry….or would they still favor some of the processes over others?

This is just one of the possible extensions to my research.  But having experienced action research in my own classroom as a result of the ETLP I know that I now possess the tools and knowledge to take on any kind of instructional investigations I may have, and that my own observations and inquiries have a place in education research.

Other notes/findings…..

What are the benefits of critical thinking?

• Only one reference to other subject matter other than science, and one to “real-world” situations…..new question: What areas do student believe critical thinking is MOST valuable?
• Most believe that critical thinking somehow gives you an advantage over others – “get ahead”, “develop your own way”, “increase awareness”, “engage more”, “take tests faster”, “learn more”

Why do you think critical thinking is uncommon?

• NOT ENOUGH TIME
• AREN’T CHALLENGED ENOUGH
• NOT TAUGHT   
• TAKES EXTRA EFFORT…. Extra “time”, “work”, “concentration”
• IT’S NOT EASY TO THINK CRITICALLY
• Interesting….many think that critical thinking is a learned skill (as mentioned in another question) but feel that it isn’t taught well…..and that’s the reason it’s uncommon
• A couple say that it is common, but not for a few
• One said that it is uncommon in the population as a whole, but not is subgroups

Name 4-5 characteristics of a critical thinker:

• I found it interesting that students generally think that critical thinking means to go “above and beyond” in some sense…..yet only a few listed 5 characteristics of a critical thinker, and only stopped at the 4 (minimum asked)
• Most common answers:  OPEN-MINDED, PATIENT, READER, PERCEPTIVE, INTELLIGENT/SMART, FOCUSED, ANALYTICAL

Of the following list of terms, rate each in order of MOST IMPORTANT in critical thinking to LEAST IMPORTANT.  With 1 being MOST IMPORTANT, and 9 being LEAST IMPORTANT.

• Most felt FAIRNESS as LEAST IMPORTANT in critical thinking……what might their interpretation have been?
• Most felt DEPTH and LOGIC to be MOST IMPORTANT in critical thinking

Does school offer enough opportunities for you to grow as a critical thinker?  Explain.

• Emphasized in IB – but spoken from a strictly IB taught group of Juniors (1st year in program)
• Not in other courses
• Overall not high opinion of general education and it’s challenge in having students think critically

What would you like to do better to improve upon your critical thinking skills?

Major themes on what would improve critical thinking skills

• Reading
• Analyzing
• Taking more time in general
• “smarter”

Resources

• University of Southern Australia, John Dewey’s Critical Thinking Model; Author Associate Professor Lynne Barnes and the University of South Australia are the source and copyright owner of the material
• Dr. Linda Elder, Dr. Richard Paul:  The Foundation for Critical Thinking; www.criticalthinking.org
• Eric Mazar – Harvard; Peer Instruction
• Deonna Kuhn – Teachers College; Education for Thinking
• Scott Simkins – NC A&T State University; simkinss@ncat.edu
• Group Members – Christie Fitch, Valerie Sellers, Ayesha Delphish, Jeffrey Coker
  
• Project Directors – Peter Felten, Katie King, Kim Pyne, Ben McFadyen
• Beth Costello – USC – Columbia, College of Ed.; costellp@gwm.sc.edu; 803-777-9963
• Alexa Darby - Elon Professor, Qualitative Educational Research
  

Note: Crystal Medlin teaches Honors and IB Chemistry in the Science Department of Cedar Ridge High School, where she has been selected as Teacher of the Year for 2009-2010.