Development of Relational Reasoning in Primary and Secondary School Students

• In Event: 73.062 - Poster Session 17
  In Poster Session: 73.062-2 - Motivational and Cognitive Processes: Language, Literacy, Communication, and Reasoning

Abstract

A nationally representative cross-sectional sample of New Zealand students from kindergarten through 12th grade, reasoning about technological objects, was utilized to examine the development of relational reasoning. Relational reasoning, a fundamental cognitive ability associated with learning and academic success, entails the discernment of patterns within information and can be described as taking four forms: analogy, anomaly, antinomy, and antithesis. Through a non-parametric analysis, a curvilinear developmental trajectory of relational reasoning was uncovered. In addition, the proportionate use of analogy and anomaly decreased over the grade levels, while the proportionate use of antinomy and antithesis increased. The Model of Domain Learning (MDL) is offered as an explanatory lens for these findings and implications for educational research and practice are discussed.

Authors

• Sophie Jablansky, University of Maryland - College Park

• Denis Dumas, University of Maryland - College Park

• Patricia A. Alexander, University of Maryland - College Park

• Vicki Compton