High School Students’ Construction of Scientific Explanations on the Circulatory System

Abstract

This study aims to 1) examine students’ scientific explanation ability on the topic of the circulatory system and 2) compare the writing patterns of students with different levels of scientific explanation abilities. A survey research method was employed. The samples were 67 female high school students in a science-mathematics program at an all-girls school in Bangkok in which they had already studied the circulatory system, selected by purposive sampling. The research instrument was a scientific explanation test, with a reliability coefficient of 0.82. Data was analyzed using basic statistics. Students’ abilities were categorized into three levels. The explanation patterns were analyzed using inductive analysis. 1) The findings revealed that most students demonstrated a fair level of ability in constructing scientific explanations.2)Three writing patterns were found at the "needs improvement" level, characterized by a lack of crucial components, including evidence and reasoning. At the "fair" level, eight patterns were identified, where students attempted to make claims by applying scientific concepts but struggled to provide accurate and sufficient evidence and to fully connect their reasoning to those scientific concepts. At the "good" level, four patterns were found. Although students were able to make a claim and select some evidence, they still lacked sufficient evidence and a complete connection to scientific concepts. Therefore, teachers should consider the specific limitations of each group, both in terms of understanding scientific explanation practice and scientific content knowledge, to promote the construction of scientific explanations accurately and effectively.