Student Development in Logical Reasoning: Results of an Intervention Guiding Students Through Different Modes of Visual and Formal Representation

Hugo Bronkhorst,Martin Goedhart,Gerrit Roorda,Cor Suhre

doi:10.1007/s42330-021-00148-4

Abstract

Due to growing interest in twenty-first-century skills, and critical thinking as a key element, logical reasoning is gaining increasing attention in mathematics curricula in secondary education. In this study, we report on an analysis of video recordings of student discussions in one class of seven students who were taught with a specially designed course in logical reasoning for non-science students (12th graders). During the course of 10 lessons, students worked on a diversity of logical reasoning tasks: both closed tasks where all premises were provided and everyday reasoning tasks with implicit premises. The structure of the course focused on linking different modes of representation (enactive, iconic, and symbolic), based on the model of concreteness fading (Fyfe et al., 2014). Results show that students easily link concrete situations to certain iconic referents, such as formal (letter) symbols, but need more practice for others, such as Venn and Euler diagrams. We also show that the link with the symbolic mode, i.e. an interpretation with more general and abstract models, is not that strong. This might be due to the limited time spent on further practice. However, in the transition from concrete to symbolic via the iconic mode, students may take a step back to a visual representation, which shows that working on such links is useful for all students. Overall, we conclude that the model of concreteness fading can support education in logical reasoning. One recommendation is to devote sufficient time to establishing links between different types of referents and representations.

Highlights

It is generally accepted that the development of twenty-first-century skills is essential for success in work and life, and this should be an important objective in all stages of education
Based on research about effective instruction in mathematics education, we developed an intervention for non-science students with specific emphasis on the use of visual and formal representations in logical reasoning tasks, such as syllogism tasks, tasks with if– statements, and argument analysis tasks
Summary: Towards Symbolic Modes of Representation. These transcripts show that the tasks stimulated the students to link referents from the iconic mode with abstract rules from the symbolic mode, but the link between if– statements and a correct iconic visualisation was not made automatically

Summary

Introduction

It is generally accepted that the development of twenty-first-century skills is essential for success in work and life, and this should be an important objective in all stages of education. We stressed the importance of logical reasoning for the development of critical thinking skills (Bronkhorst et al, 2020a). Based on research about effective instruction in mathematics education, we developed an intervention for non-science students with specific emphasis on the use of visual and formal representations in logical reasoning tasks, such as syllogism tasks, tasks with if– statements, and argument analysis tasks. We found that student development of logical reasoning was supported by the use of visual and formal representations. We explicitly focus on how students developed the ability to use these representations effectively over the course of the intervention

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion