Rethinking the "gap": Self-directed learning in cognitive development and scientific reasoning.

Area of Science:

• Cognitive Development
• Scientific Reasoning
• Learning Psychology

Background:

• Disagreement exists on self-directed learners' ability to generate and evaluate evidence.
• Cognitive development suggests learners are 'intuitive scientists'.
• Scientific reasoning research indicates learners struggle with experimentation and evidence evaluation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To reconcile conflicting findings on learner competence in data generation and evaluation.
• To propose an alternative framework for understanding self-directed learning.
• To re-evaluate the evidence for learner failures in scientific reasoning.

Main Methods:

• Review of existing research in scientific reasoning.
• Analysis of behaviors in self-directed learning contexts.
• Development of a novel interpretation of learner competence.

Main Results:

• Less evidence for learner failures in scientific reasoning than commonly assumed.
• Seemingly uninformative behaviors are consistent with causal learning goals.
• Learners are better understood as competent causal reasoners.

Conclusions:

• Self-directed learners' behaviors are best explained by causal reasoning competence.
• This causal reasoning framework resolves apparent contradictions in existing literature.
• An integrated understanding of self-directed learning is achieved through the lens of causal reasoning.