Methods of Cultivating Scientific Thinking in Middle School Physics Experiment Teaching

Abstract

Scientific thinking serves as a core component of the core literacy in physics. Currently, experimental instruction in physics in the middle - school is faced with challenges such as excessive attention to operational procedures as such at the expense of thinking progression and more attention to result verification instead of inquiry. This scenario leaves the development of the scientific thought of students as no more than a doctrinaire. Based on constructivist theory, cognitive load theory, and scientific inquiry theory, and with the combination of the actual situation of physics experimental teaching in the middle schools, this paper analytically discusses the cultivation value of scientific thinking of the experimental teaching. It proposes a three - stage development of a path of cognitive activation - inquiry progression - reflective transfer and fabricates specific cultivation techniques based on three dimensions namely; experimental design, teaching implementation, and evaluation feedback. It provides useful guidance to the middle - school physics teachers so that they can maximize the teaching in experimental ways with an ultimate objective of achieving the aim of developing core literacy.