Students’ scientific reasoning skills in a fluid and its correlation with project activity

Abstract

Abstract Scientific reasoning skills are necessary to be achieved high school students to encounter competition in the 21st century. This study aims to explore the students’ scientific reasoning skills in a fluid and its relation to project activities. This research is a qualitative study with a case study design that focuses on students’ scientific reasoning skills on fluid. The subjects in this study were high school class XI students who attended project activities. Data were collected by analyzing the results of students’ written tests, observations, and interviews. The results of the study show the relationship between students’ scientific reasoning skills and project activities in a fluid. These show common mistakes made by students in scientific reasoning, such as testing all variables (including variables that not related to the questions), testing incorrect variables, focusing on one variable, and depending on prior knowledge, could not determine the relationship between dependent and independent variable. Scientific reasoning skills are essential to be trained in learning through project activities. This study recommends teachers to apply project-based learning to explore students’ scientific reasoning skills in large and heterogeneous groups.