The Research About Scientific Explanation Based On Learning Psychology

As one of the scientific literacy that citizens should possess,scientific explanation ability has been widely concerned at home and abroad.International assessment programs have incorporated it into the evaluation framework,and many national science curriculum standards have emphasized its importance.In China,the latest core literacy of physics discipline points out the unique role of explanation from two aspects: application of theory and purpose of inquiry.Therefore,this research mainly concentrates on the current circumstances of senior high school students’ scientific explanation capability in physics,seeking the methods of constructing scientific explanation and the primary factors affecting scientific explanation capability.From Learning Psychology’s point of view,this thesis analyzes the approach of forming a scientific explanation through specific examples,and thus clarifies the essence of scientific explanation and scientific explanation ability.Dependent on the theory of problem solving and the theory of Bloom’s taxonomy of educational objectives,two chief factors affecting scientific explanation capability are analyzed: the understanding degree of the connotation of physical concepts and laws,and the application level of general weak methods.Then,the measuring tools of scientific explanation ability,comprehending degree and application level of weak methods are compiled respectively.The above measuring tools were used to measure students in two classes of "pure science" and "non-pure science" in DT Middle School of Fujian Province,and the four conclusions were obtained:First,the overall scientific explanation capability of senior high school students in physics discipline is below the moderate level,which indicates that their scientific explanation ability is a little weak.In the sample,the girls’ scientific explanation capability is slightly higher than that of the boys,and the students’ scientific explanation capability of the "non-pure science" class is slightly lower than that of the "pure science" class,but there is no significant difference.Second,senior high school students’ comprehending of the implication of physical concepts and laws is at the medium level,and their application of general weak methods is above the medium level,with large differences among individuals.Third,understanding the physical denotation and the physical properties of concepts and laws is the basis for students to construct scientific explanation.The deeper students appreciate the connotation of concepts and laws,the stronger their scientific interpretation ability will be.Fourth,the application of general weak methods is beneficial for students to construct scientific explanation,but the premise is that students have part of the foundation to understand the connotation of concepts and laws.Otherwise,although the ability of students to use weak methods is strong,the ability of scientific explanation is not necessarily strong.According to the above conclusions,this thesis comes up with two teaching prescriptions in order to meliorate students’ scientific explanation capability: attach importance to students’ comprehending of the signification of physical concepts and laws and make students’ thinking process of constructing scientific explanation obvious.