Looking into the Scientist’s Mind: The Effects of Disclosing Scientists’ Rationale on Students’ Scientific Reasoning and Epistemic Beliefs

Abstract This study investigated the effects of systematically developed video variations on students’ scientific reasoning (SR) and epistemic beliefs (EBs). Drawing on a novel video development framework, we evaluated four video variations that differed in (i.) how scientific practices were presented—either in a cookbook style (focusing on declarative “what” information) or in a scientific reasoning style (integrating declarative, procedural, and epistemic knowledge) and (ii.) how scientists’ thought processes were presented—either as science-in-the-making (concurrent think-aloud insights) or as ready-made science (post hoc reconstruction of thought processes). In a pre–post design, 512 secondary students each engaged with a digital learning environment in which one of the video variations was embedded. Multivariate analyses of covariance (MANCOVAs) that were conducted to control for pretest performance revealed significant main effects of the presentation formats. The scientific reasoning style fostered more elaborated EBs regarding the source of scientific knowledge compared to the cookbook style. Presenting scientists’ thought processes as science-in-the-making improved EBs (again, regarding the source), whereas ready-made science led to higher SR performance in planning and conducting investigations. These findings demonstrate that fine-grained design choices in video representations of scientific practices support SR and EBs to different degrees. We discuss the implications for future research and for education.