Exploring the Use of Knowledge Representations for Reasoning About an Authentic Genetics Phenomenon

• In Event: Exploring Scientific Thinking

Abstract

We present our findings from a comparative study of undergraduate science majors, doctoral students in genetics, doctoral students in philosophy, and genetic counselors. We assessed content knowledge of genetics and conducted semi-structured interviews with participants. We found that participants drew on detailed models of reasoning to support their positions and applied knowledge representations to elaborate their responses. Those participants that drew on the most sophisticated models of reasoning also had robust domain-specific expertise. However, philosophy students with limited knowledge of genetics also drew on elaborate models of reasoning during the interview. We suggest that this ability demonstrates that science reasoning is both generalized and specific and that expertise in argumentation can lend to individuals' ability to reason in complex ways.

Authors

• Nicole A. Shea, University of Delaware

• Ravit Golan Duncan, Rutgers University