Epistemic Models of Sensemaking and Reasoning

Abstract

The terms sensemaking and reasoning have often been used interchangeably in the literature to describe processes of building and revising explanations to resolve gaps in understanding and as a central driving force in the construction of authentic scientific knowledge. We review the literature on this process and examine it from an epistemological perspective. The review is organized according to the following epistemological typology: (1) Epistemic artifacts that scientists and students use and create as they engage in sensemaking of and with science, with a focus on explanations, arguments, and models. (2) Epistemic forms of sensemaking—the sensemaking processes through which the artifacts are created and used, with a focus on mathematical sensemaking, analogical reasoning, and mechanistic reasoning of simple and complex phenomena. (3) Epistemic participation—how students' participation in sensemaking and reasoning can be fostered (or inhibited) by instructional design and discourse, with a focus on framing and sensemaking as an epistemological frame. This epistemological typology affords an articulation of how the notions of sensemaking and reasoning have been conceptualized in the literature, and how these conceptualizations influenced, and were influenced by, physics education research.