Preguntas de los estudiantes sobre dispositivos experimentales en distintas situaciones didácticas: génesis y tipología

Any new knowledge begins with "a good question". Asking questions is a scientific skill that should be developed during instruction, though it is not properly done in science classes. The main objective of this thesis was to stimulate questions generation to get information in science students at different educational levels. Experimental devices not only help science understanding but also stimulate learning some scientific skills. Therefore, we focused on questions generation designed to obtain information when students try to understand science experimental devices. We used Otero’s Obstacle-Goal model to explain questions generation, which predicts that a question arises in attempt to overcome comprehension obstacles when students are determined to build a mental representation. These obstacles are associated to failed inferences students pose to build mental representations of higher order as Kintsch and Greeno stated in their Situation Model or Scientific Model. If this is true, the kind of comprehension questions asked by students should be easily associated with a sort of inferences. We characterized questions in relation with inferences following Trabasso and Magliano: Q1, descriptive (better understanding the entities -objects and events); Q2, causal (justifying why things are as they are), and Q3, predictive, (what would happen in an event if conditions were different from those shown). This doctoral dissertation tried to contrast these Obstacle-Goal model predictions and some predictions from the Barsalou’s Embodiment theory and the Mayer’s Multimedia theory. According to these teories, handling the devices in the laboratory should produce different cognitive processes that reading about the same devices or watching their operation. Therefore, these different learning conditions could generate different question distribution. Several experimental designs were performed to try to achieve the next goals: – To stimulate questions, using a specific protocol, and characterize them with taxonomy based on cognitive models of information processing. – To asses empirically the Obstacle-Goal model. - To study the influence of different formats for presenting scientific information on the questions. – To study how it affects specific knowledge science questions. – To analyze the scientific content of questions asked by students in situations involving experimental devices. A protocol was designed to encourage student questions based on: a) perplexity of unexpected events, b) privacy to avoid psychosocial obstacles, c) reward. Students attended secondary school and university science and technology degrees. We used two experimental physical devices with unexpected operation (perplexing) and texts that states how they work in three kinds of formats: reading a text with static images, observing dynamic images on DVD and observing and manipulating physical devices. Written questions were collected from students in each case, and in-depth interviews were conducted. Results showed that the protocol used encouraged students’ questions. A significant relationship between the kind of goal attempted (mental representation) and the kind of obstacle encountered (question type) was empirically found supporting the main prediction of Obstacle-Goal model. We also found a direct relationship between the kind of questions asked and the kind of inferences in all experiments. There were significant effects of the format information were presented: manipulating physical devices was the most appropriate tool related with seeking information and thereby improving understanding of science. We also found a significant effect of prior knowledge on questions scientific content. However, important scientific principles and laws were not mentioned. This alerts on difficulties for using science to build models of reality.