Intuitive or rational? Students and experts need to be both
Research into dual-process theories of reasoning from cognitive psychology suggests ways to improve classroom instruction in physics. Prof. Andrew Heckler, Mila Kryjevskaia, Assoc. Prof. at North Dakota State University and Prof. Paula Heron of the University of Washington in Seattle are co-authors of an article which is featured in the August issue of Physics Today.
The authors speculate that a style of physics instruction that makes the dual nature of thinking explicit and visible to students may affect teaching in ways that extend beyond improvements in student performance. It may help establish an instructional environment that emphasizes that careful examination and possible rejection of an intuitive response is a natural part of reasoning and not an indication of a lack of knowledge or any other deficiency on the part of the student.
Rather than learn to reflexively discount their intuitions, students should be taught that intuition and formal knowledge are both important and can—and often do—interact fruitfully. Such a reframing may also help address a common concern that incorrect intuitive responses may lead to feelings of inadequacy, such as a student saying, “I am always wrong when it comes to physics, so I am not good enough to stay in the major.” Classroom discussions emphasizing that initial incorrect responses often stem from the dual nature of human thinking may help alleviate such concerns and help bolster students’ sense of self-worth and belonging in physics.
