Learning Chemistry Through Controversy? Reading Discrepant Perspectives to Promote Comprehension, Multiple Text Integration, and Epistemic Emotions in Freshmen Engineering Students

Cano M.F.C.; Delfino G.; Saux G. · Proceedings - 10th International Symposium on Accreditation of Engineering and Computing Education, ICACIT 2024 (2024) · DOI: 10.1109/icacit62963.2024.10788647

Resumen

Reading comprehension plays a key role in STEM education, since its association with developing communication skills, critical thinking, and integrating multiple perspectives, among other scientific skills. This work presents an intervention embedded within a college course in General Chemistry, to examine performance in a multiple text reading task associated with a curricular topic (influence of diet on body pH). One-hundred and eighteen students participated voluntarily (M=19 years, 47% female, 53% male). The sample was split into two groups, one read about the topic from discrepant texts and the other from concordant texts. The intervention included reading the texts (discrepant or not), writing an essay, self-reporting the emotions experienced during the activity (epistemic emotions), and answering comprehension questions. The results showed significant differences in the three outcomes, p <. 05. The group that read the discrepant texts showed better performance in literal comprehension, a greater likelihood of producing intertextual integration in the essays, and higher levels of surprise and curiosity, compared to the group that read the texts in the concordant condition.

Instituciones: Universidad de Piura