Scientific Reasoning Among Senior Secondary School Students in Relation to their Academic Achievement in Physics

69 | EXCELLENCIA: INTERNATIONAL MULTI-DISCIPLINARY JOURNAL OF EDUCATION https://multijournals.org/index.php/excellencia-imje Scientific Reasoning Among Senior Secondary School Students in Relation to their Academic Achievement in Physics Sunita Guleria Research Scholar, Department of Education, Tezpur University, Tezpur, Assam, India Dr. Hitesh Sharma Assistant Professor, Department of Education, Tezpur University, Tezpur, Assam, India Abstract: This study aims at the examination of scientific reasoning among senior secondary school students in relation to their academic achievement in physics. To address these objectives, a descriptive survey employing a correlational design was conducted in Kangra district, Himachal Pradesh. A total of 120 Class 12 physics students were selected through multistage sampling. The study utilized instruments: The Lawson Classroom Test of Scientific Reasoning adapted from Lawson, A.E. (2000) and a self-developed Achievement Test in Physics. The data were analyzed using relevant statistical techniques and the results were interpreted to draw conclusions. The findings showed that there is significant difference between boys and girls, private and government senior secondary school students’ scientific reasoning. The findings showed that there no is significant difference between rural and urban, nuclear and joint family wise senior secondary school students’ scientific reasoning. Results also shows that there is no significant difference between boys and girls, rural and urban, nuclear and joint family wise senior secondary school students' academic achievement in physics. But study also revealed that there is significant difference between private and government senior secondary school students' academic achievement in physics. Additionally, the study concludes that scientific reasoning and academic achievement are positively correlated. Keywords: Scientific reasoning, Academic achievement in Physics, Senior secondary school students, gender, locality, type of institution, type of family. Volume 3, Issue 12, 2025 ISSN (E): 2994-9521 70 | EXCELLENCIA: INTERNATIONAL MULTI-DISCIPLINARY JOURNAL OF EDUCATION https://multijournals.org/index.php/excellencia-imje 1. INTRODUCTION Developing scientific reasoning for Problem Solving is one of the basic skill that we are trained on; and the results emerge from how we analyze, how we find patterns in what we see and derive finding on it (Zimmerman, 2000) This skill becomes very important at the senior secondary school level because students are introduced to more complex concepts in physics and require a sensible and structured approach to inquiry and problem-solving. Students' ability to think scientifically affects their academic achievement therefore in physics (Lawson, 2004) which in turn promotes effective comprehension, analysis, and synthesis of information. Because it is a fundamental discipline of science with both theoretical and experimental components, physics is well-placed to develop and assess students’ scientific reasoning abilities. Reasoning skills can better help students connect physics concepts to real-life situations, solving more intricate problems, which could impact their learning results (Tippett, 2009). Additionally, in some contexts, the impact of scientific reasoning on academic performance in physics aligns with the larger objectives of education where education is depicted as developing higher-order thinking abilities as defined in National Education Policy 2020 (Ministry of Education, 2020). The link between scientific reasoning and academic performance in physics among senior secondary school students is investigated in this study. It seeks to identify patterns, assess their implications for teaching and learning, and propose strategies for enhancing these skills to improve academic outcomes. Theoretical Perspective: Scientific Reasoning and Academic Achievement in Physics Scientific reasoning is one of the most important cognitive skills that are used in learning and scientific interacting concepts with and it is very important in the performance in physics. This reasoning includes the formulation of hypotheses, analysis of evidence and reasoning, which are critical to the problem solving and conceptual understanding in physics. Piaget’s theory of cognitive development can be used as a basis since it states that the child progresses to the formal operational stage during adolescence, which allows him/her to reason logically, including proportionally and control of variables, which are important in physics (Inhelder & Piaget, 1958). Also, Kuhn (2010) underlined that scientific reasoning is not only a developmental level, but also a skill that can be taught and has a great effect on students’ understanding of science, thus improving their academic performance. The association between scientific reasoning and physics academic achievement is supported by empirical research. Lawson et al. (2000), for example, showed that students who possessed superior scientific reasoning skills outperformed their peers in physics exams because they were able to successfully use theoretical knowledge and evaluate experimental data. In addition, Vygotsky's sociocultural theory emphasizes the need of social interaction and scaffolding in the development of scientific thinking, emphasizing the necessity of a nurturing learning environment to close gaps between present and future capacities (Vygotsky, 1978). Together, these viewpoints imply that encouraging scientific reasoning can help students succeed academically in physics while also preparing them for challenges in science and technology fields in the future. Scientific reasoning: The cognitive process that allows people to apply logic, critical thinking, and evidence-based analysis when interpreting and resolving scientific challenges is known as scientific reasoning. It entails connecting ideas, assessing the evidence, formulating theories, and coming to conclusions based on factual information. In the natural and social sciences, scientific reasoning is essential for performing experiments and comprehending complicated phenomena (Kuhn, 2015). A crucial component of science education is the development of scientific reasoning skills, which have been connected to enhanced academic performance and problem-solving capabilities (Zimmerman, 2018). Additionally, it entails using metacognitive techniques, such self-regulation, to assess one's own thought process (Kuhn & Pease, 2006). Scientific reasoning, therefore, not only supports the 71 | EXCELLENCIA: INTERNATIONAL MULTI-DISCIPLINARY JOURNAL OF EDUCATION https://multijournals.org/index.php/excellencia-imje acquisition of scientific knowledge but also enhances critical thinking and analytical skills, which are essential for informed decision-making (Chinn & Malhotra, 2002). Academic Achievement in Physics: The performance and success of a student in grasping the ideas, abilities, and problem-solving strategies of physics is referred to as academic achievement. Standardized examinations, grades, and assessments that gauge both theoretical understanding and real-world applications of physical concepts are frequently used to quantify it (Pintrich, 2003). Academic accomplishment in physics is influenced by a number of aspects, such as motivation, cognitive ability, learning strategies, and the caliber of teaching methods (Miller & Best, 2019). Students' performance in this subject can also be improved by a supportive family participation program and a pleasant school climate (Ames, 1992). Research has indicated a considerable correlation between students' success in Physics and their level of self-efficacy and intrinsic drive (Zimmerman, 2000). Additionally, studies show that inquiry-based teaching methods and active learning are crucial for enhancing students' conceptual knowledge and problem-solving abilities in physics (Hake, 1998). 2. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM The problem of the present study was stated as under: “Scientific reasoning among senior secondary school students in relation to their academic achievement in physics”. 3. OBJECTIVES i. To investigate and compare senior secondary school students' scientific reasoning and academic achievement in physics by gender. ii. To investigate and compare senior secondary school students' scientific reasoning and academic achievement in physics by locality. iii. To investigate and compare senior secondary school students' scientific reasoning and academic achievement in physics by type of institution. iv. To investigate and compare senior secondary school students' scientific reasoning and academic achievement in physics by type of family. v. To investigate the relationship between scientific reasoning and academic achievement in physics. 4. HYPOTHESES H01: Among senior secondary school students, scientific reasoning and academic achievement in physics do not significantly differ based on gender. H02: Among senior secondary school students, scientific reasoning and academic achievement in physics do not significantly differ by location. H03: Among senior secondary school students, scientific reasoning and academic achievement in physics do not significantly differ by type of institution. H04: Among senior secondary school students, scientific reasoning and academic achievement in physics do not significantly differ by type of family. H05: Among seniors in secondary school, scientific reasoning and academic achievement in physics do not significantly correlate. 72 | EXCELLENCIA: INTERNATIONAL MULTI-DISCIPLINARY JOURNAL OF EDUCATION https://multijournals.org/index.php/excellencia-imje 5. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE Christzon, Pagdawan, and Pasigon (2024) investigated how students' academic success in Physics was influenced by their mathematical ability, scientific reasoning, and metacognitive abilities. They discovered that academic accomplishment was greatly impacted by scientific reasoning abilities, such as formal operational reasoning, particularly when paired with mathematical competence and metacognitive awareness. According to the study, courses should be designed to promote these critical abilities in order to improve physics students' academic performance. Khan, Rauf, Masud, and Akbar (2024) examined conceptual knowledge and problem-solving techniques and discovered a high link between these capabilities and physics academic success. The study also found that women performed better than men on a number of metrics, supporting the idea that problem-based learning might improve conceptual understanding. The influence of scientific attitudes on academic achievement was emphasized by Rima and Jyoti Gangrade (2024), who pointed out that students' success depended heavily on their capacity for inquiry, critical thinking, and evidence-based reasoning. In his discussion of differences in scientific reasoning proficiency, Castrejon (2023) noted that early physics instruction frequently involved empirical-inductive reasoning from students, indicating the need for interventions that support the shift to hypothetical-deductive reasoning. Adis et al. (2022) looked at how gender affected scientific reasoning skills and found no discernible effect, indicating that physics students' scientific reasoning skills were unaffected by gender differences or academic success. In her investigation on the connection between scientific reasoning, critical thinking, and science student performance, Leah Mae Farillon (2022) discovered that using scientific argumentation was essential to enhancing reasoning and performance. After examining the connection between scientific reasoning and academic success, Mushtaq, Ahmad, Hasnain, and Raheem (2020) came to the conclusion that examinations should include higher-order thinking skills in order to more accurately represent students' reasoning capacities. By emphasizing the role of teacher-student interactions in fostering higher levels of reasoning through learnercentered dialogues and practical work, Mzenzi, Masuku, and Simelane (2019) highlighted the significance of informal formative assessments in promoting scientific reasoning in senior secondary school physics. 6. METHODOLOGY AND PROCEDURE Method used: The current study intends to investigate how senior secondary school students' scientific reasoning relates to their academic achievement in physics. In order to get accurate and relevant data regarding the current state of phenomena, the researcher used the descriptive survey method. Population: All senior secondary school students in the Kangra district enrolled in the 12th class at HPBSE, Dharamshala, are the study's target group. Sample: The study's sample consisted of 120 senior secondary school students enrolled in the 12th grade at HPBSE, Dharamshala during the 2023–2024 academic year. They were chosen from four rural and four urban schools in the Kangra district of Himachal Pradesh. Sampling technique: The researcher has used simple random sampling for selecting sample for the present study. Tools employed: The following research tools were selected and used for the data collection: ✓ Scientific reasoning: Procrastination Scale adapted from Lay (1986) 73 | EXCELLENCIA: INTERNATIONAL MULTI-DISCIPLINARY JOURNAL OF EDUCATION https://multijournals.org/index.php/excellencia-imje ✓ Academic Achievement in Physics: Achievement test in Physics (self-developed) was used. Data collection procedure: The data were collected by the personal visit to all the selected schools with the help of tools designed. 7. ANALYSIS AND INTERPRETATION OF DATA 7.1. Gender wise and locality wise comparison of scientific reasoning among senior secondary school students in relation to their academic achievement in physics: The following mean, standard deviations, and "t" value were computed in order to assess the significance of the comparison between the mean scores of scientific reasoning and academic accomplishment in physics among male and female senior secondary school students in rural and urban areas, private and government school, nuclear and joint family: Table 1 Variable Gender N Means S.D. SED df ‘t’ value Scientific reasoning Boys 71 6.61 1.91 0.30 118 3.82** Girls 49 8.08 2.29 Academic Achievement in Physics Boys 71 35.92 5.22 1.03 118 0.94 NS Girls 49 34.94 5.99 Scientific reasoning Rural 48 7.38 2.40 0.40 118 1.01 NS Urban 72 6.96 1.83 Academic Achievement in Physics Rural 48 35.07 5.83 1.03 118 1.08 NS Urban 72 36.19 5.05 Scientific reasoning Private 88 8.00 2.51 0.44 118 2.43** Government 32 6.92 2.00 Academic Achievement in Physics Private 88 37.31 5.98 1.12 118 2.17** Government 32 34.86 5.25 Scientific reasoning Nuclear 66 7.09 2.39 0.40 118 0.64 NS Joint 54 7.35 1.94 Academic Achievement in Physics Nuclear 66 35.05 5.48 1.017 118 1.03 NS Joint 54 36.09 5.61 ** Significant at 0.05 level, NS – Not significant at 0.05 level Given that the computed value of ‘t’ (3.82, 2.43) is greater than the table value (1.98) at the 0.05 level, it is evident that the calculated value of "t" for comparing scientific reasoning between boys and girls, as well as between private and government senior secondary school students, is significant at the 0.05 level for df=118. Therefore, the hypothesis that "scientific reasoning among senior secondary school students is significantly different gender-wise and type-of-institution-wise" was not accepted. On the other hand, the computed value of ‘t’ (1.01, 0.64) is less than the table value (1.98) at the 0.05 level. This indicates that the calculated value of "t" for comparing scientific reasoning between urban and rural students, as well as between nuclear and joint family students, is not significant at the 0.05 level for df=118. As a result, the hypothesis that "scientific reasoning among senior 74 | EXCELLENCIA: INTERNATIONAL MULTI-DISCIPLINARY JOURNAL OF EDUCATION https://multijournals.org/index.php/excellencia-imje secondary school students is significantly different locality-wise and type-of-family-wise" was accepted. For the next objective, the calculated values of "t" (0.94, 1.08, 1.03) are less than the table value (1.98) at the 0.05 level. This shows that the calculated values of "t" for comparing academic achievement in physics between boys and girls, rural and urban students, and nuclear and joint family students are not significant at the 0.05 level for df=118. Hence, it was decided to accept the premise that "there is no significant gender-wise difference in academic achievement in physics among senior secondary school students." Consequently, it can be concluded that there is no significant difference in academic achievement in physics between boys and girls, rural and urban students, or nuclear and joint family students. Any apparent discrepancy in the mean scores of these groups may be attributed to sample fluctuation or chance factors. The findings suggest that academic achievement in physics is essentially similar across these groups. The computed value of "t," comparing academic achievement in physics between senior secondary school students from private and government schools, was found to be 2.17. This value is significant at the 0.05 level (df=118) as it exceeds the table value of 1.98. Therefore, the hypothesis that "among senior secondary school students, there is no significant type-of-institution-wise difference in academic achievement in physics" was rejected. Thus, it can be concluded that there is a significant difference in the mean scores for academic achievement in physics between students from private and government schools. 7.2. Coefficient of correlation between scientific reasoning and academic achievement in physics among senior secondary school students: To test the significance of correlation between scientific reasoning and academic achievement in physics among senior secondary school students’ values are given belowTable 2 Variables Mean SD Coefficient of correlation df Level of significance Scientific reasoning 7.21 2.19 0.092 118 0.05 Academic Achievement in Physics 35.52 5.54 ** Significant at 0.05 level The table indicates a 0.092 coefficient of correlation between senior secondary school students' scientific reasoning and academic achievement in physics. This correlation is not statistically significant at the 0.05 level for degrees of freedom (df) = 118, as the calculated value of 0.092 is less than the critical value of 0.195 at this significance level. Consequently, the hypothesis stating that there is no significant relationship between students' academic achievement in physics and their scientific reasoning is accepted. While a correlation exists between academic achievement in physics and scientific reasoning, it does not reach statistical significance at the specified level. Therefore, it cannot be conclusively established that there is a significant positive association between these variables based on the data presented. 8. EDUCATIONAL IMPLICATIONS ➢ The results highlight how crucial it is to include scientific reasoning in the physics curriculum. Students' comprehension of difficult scientific concepts can be improved by teaching strategies that encourage critical thinking, problem-solving, and logical reasoning, which will boost their academic achievement. 75 | EXCELLENCIA: INTERNATIONAL MULTI-DISCIPLINARY JOURNAL OF EDUCATION https://multijournals.org/index.php/excellencia-imje ➢ Active teaching techniques that encourage investigation, inquiry, and conceptual comprehension should be used by educators. Students can effectively use scientific reasoning with the aid of practical experiments, real-world examples, and problem-based learning. In addition to raising their academic performance, this strategy will make learning more interesting and applicable. ➢ Training on how to successfully incorporate scientific reasoning into classroom education should be a part of professional development programs for educators. In order to help students perform better in courses like physics, teachers must be prepared with techniques that inspire them to think critically and analytically about scientific events. ➢ Students may find it difficult to succeed academically in physics if they exhibit poor scientific thinking abilities. Early detection of these kids and the provision of focused interventions, like remedial instruction, peer mentoring, and tutoring, can help close the knowledge gap and enhance academic performance. ➢ Encouraging their children to use scientific reasoning outside of the classroom is an important role that parents may play. Students' capacity for scientific reasoning can be improved by creating a nurturing home environment that encourages curiosity, critical thinking, and intellectual inquiry. This could have a favorable impact on their academic performance in physics. 9. RECOMMENDATIONS ➢ Motivate students to participate in experiments and problem-solving activities that call for them to test, analyze, question, and hypothesis. Students gain the critical thinking abilities required for scientific reasoning through this practical approach. ➢ Make the connection between physics theory and practical uses. This enhances students' capacity for scientific reasoning and helps them comprehend the real-world applications of physics. ➢ Students should be encouraged to arrange and connect different physics concepts using concept maps. 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