CLASSROOM TEST OF SCIENTIFIC REASONING (CTSR) by Anton Lawson,
Emeritus Professor of Life Sciences at Arizona State University as of 2013.
You can download the multiple-choice CTSR (password-protected) at either of these locations:
http://modelinginstruction.org/researchers/evaluation-instruments/
http://modeling.asu.edu/modeling/weblinks.html in the section on assessments.
Ask jane.jackson@asu.edu for the password to open it.
Alternatively, you can request the multiple-choice CTSR at
https://sites.google.com/site/wsuinquiryinstruction/home/request-ctsr
Or http://goo.gl/xuWAk
You can record scores, analyze them, and correlate them with the FCI, by downloading a zipped
spreadsheet called assessssv5b.zip at http://modelinginstruction.org, under the ‘research’ tab.
Prof. James Vesenka developed it.
Graded out of 13, the CTSR maps to Piagetian categories: 0-4, concrete reasoners; 5-7 early
transitional; 8-10 late transitional; 11-13, formal.
You can see graphs of national norms at each grade (7 to 12) for the CTSR at
https://sites.google.com/site/wsuinquiryinstruction/home/thinking-skills-national-norms
or in Jacqueline O’Donnell’s Master’s degree thesis, which you can download at
http://modeling.asu.edu/modeling/weblinks.html in the section on assessments.
Jacqueline O’Donnell’s 33-page thesis, Creation of National Norms for Scientific Thinking Skills
…, is a study of CTSR data on ~5500 students. She found that more than 50% of students in
grades seven through nine are concrete thinkers and more than 85% of students graduating from
high school are not formal thinkers. You can use these data to track thinking skills development
of individual students, classes, and grade levels. The data can help you determine interventions
(e.g., CASE) to improve students’ abilities.
You can submit your students’ CTSR data at
https://sites.google.com/site/wsuinquiryinstruction/home/ctsr-data-entry-form
or at http://goo.gl/xzKBd
References on classroom use of the multiple-choice CTSR:
* Interpreting FCI scores: Normalized gain, pre-instruction scores, and scientific reasoning
ability, by Vincent P. Coletta and Jeffrey A. Phillips. Am. J. Phys. 73, 12, Dec. 2005.
http://myweb.lmu.edu/jphillips/per/ajp-12_05.pdf Others at http://myweb.lmu.edu/jphillips/per/
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* Using Cognitive Acceleration Materials to Develop Pre-service Teachers’ Reasoning and
Pedagogical Expertise, by Nathan Moore, Jacqueline O’Donnell, Dennis Poirier. 2012 ASQ
* Scientific Literacy: Resurrecting the Phoenix with Thinking Skills, by John C. Deming,
Jacqueline R. O’Donnell and Christopher J. Malone. Science Educator, Winter 2012 Vol. 21, no.
2.
For the above two articles and more resources, email Nathan Moore <nmoore@winona.edu>.
See also Dr. Moore’s article: http://course1.winona.edu/nmoore/reasoning_ability_CASE.pdf
* Lawson, A.E. (2001). Promoting Creative and Critical Thinking Skills in College Biology.
Bioscene 27(1) March. Pages 13-24. Figure 2 is a graph of pre-test & posttest Classroom Test of
Scientific Reasoning (CTSR) scores of 514 college students (non-science majors in Anton
Lawson’s course). The multiple-choice version was used, and the maximum score is 13. The
gains were HUGE, although no quantities are cited. From Figure 2, we calculated the pretest
mean to be ~6.8 and posttest to be ~9.7. The most frequent CTSR score improved from 7 to 11.
Table 2 is a list of theories (we would call most of them models) and central questions raised in
the course.
<http://www.public.asu.edu/~anton1/AssessArticles/Articles/Scientific Reasoning/Promoting
creative and critical thinking in college biology.pdf>
“Basic Theories for Introductory Biology” is a companion to “Promoting Creative and Critical
Thinking Skills in College Biology”, by Anton E. Lawson. This unpublished paper elaborates on
Table 2 in that 2001 publication. Dr. Lawson kindly contributed it in 2013. Download both
articles at http://modeling.asu.edu/modeling/weblinks.html in the section called "Research
Results for K-14 teachers".
Free-response versions of the CTSR:
A free-response version makes grading more cumbersome, but you might get deeper
insights into your students' thinking than if you use the multiple-choice version. Two FREERESPONSE versions of Anton (Tony) Lawson's Classroom Test of Scientific Reasoning
(CTSR) are on the ASU Modeling Instruction website, on the webpage called "Weblinks for
Modelers":
http://modeling.asu.edu/modeling/weblinks.html
They are in the section on Assessment.
The password to open them is the same as for the multiple-choice version.
The two versions are:
a) 12 items, includes combinatorial reasoning. This version is in Tony Lawson's 1995
textbook: SCIENCE TEACHING AND DEVELOPMENT OF THINKING (Appendix F).
b) 10 items, includes combinatorial reasoning. This version was used in Modeling Instruction
as early as 1993, and I think that Malcolm Wells used it in the 1980s, for he took Anton "Tony"
Lawson's "methods of science teaching" courses at ASU. (Tony Lawson's test has evolved since
he developed it in the 1970's.)
If you took a mechanics Modeling Workshop prior to 2010, it is in the back of your modeling
manual.
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How to interpret scores on the CTSR (any version):
a) Anton Lawson discusses scientific thinking skills in his 1995 textbook:
SCIENCE TEACHING AND DEVELOPMENT OF THINKING (also a 2002 edition).
See chapter 2: Patterns of Thinking by Scientists and by Adolescents.
See pages 444 & 445: scoring the CTSR (the 1995 free-response version).
b) Download Curriculum Analysis Taxonomies (CAT), by Shayer & Adey, at the ASU
Modeling Instruction website, on the "Weblinks for Modelers" webpage, in the section:
"Research Results for K-14 teachers" (7 pages, 15 thinking skills, Piagetian).
http://modeling.asu.edu/modeling/weblinks.html
(This webpage was updated in August 2014 by Jane Jackson.)
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