Decision-making by students in lab courses: stimulating students’ reasoning when choosing apparatus in experiments

Abstract Making substantiated decisions is an important critical thinking skill. In this exploratory longitudinal study with limited means we look at students substantiating their choice of apparatus for experiments. In our undergraduate lab we gave students the opportunity to choose from two different sets of equipment in experiments on oscillations and waves. Students’ choices were registered and they were asked about the reasoning behind their choice. Their reasonings were compared to Svenson’s 4 levels of decision making. The results show that when given the chance just under 20% of the students take decisions on the lowest level 1. More than half of the students take decisions on level 2 and about 20% of the students take a decision on level 3: valid (technical) reasons for their preference. This number appears to increase when students are asked not to perform two experiments with their chosen set of equipment but only one. Giving students the opportunity to make their own decisions is therefore recommended for other lab courses.