Studies show students have difficulty transferring knowledge of mathematics and science to novel or more complex quantitative problems. Students who are able to draw on both their mathematical understanding of equations and scientific knowledge of the phenomenon (blended sensemaking) are more successful in problem solving. While some research has examined individual students’ blended sensemaking in interview settings, no research exists related to blended sensemaking during small groups in classroom settings. This case study provides an in-depth exploration of the ways students engage in different types of science and mathematics sensemaking as they develop mathematical equations to represent rates of chemical reactions. Audio recordings of group discussions were transcribed and coded using the Sci-Math Sensemaking Framework to identify the types of sensemaking students engaged in. The framework consists of four types of science sensemaking (Sci-Label, Sci-Description, Sci-Pattern, Sci-Mechanism) and five types of mathematics sensemaking (Math-Procedure, Math-Rule, Math-Structure, Math-Relation, Math-Concept). Examples of Sci-Mechanism included expressing the idea of properly oriented collisions of nitrogen dioxide molecules to form products. Examples of Math-Structure included discussing the structural aspects of the mathematical equation such as including a constant <i>k</i> in the equation. Each group engaged in both science and mathematics sensemaking. Examples of blended sensemaking included using understanding of the scientific mechanism for the decomposition of nitrogen dioxide (Sci-Mechanism) to understand the non-linear nature of the mathematical equation (Math-Relation). The complete results explore how students collaboratively used different types of sensemaking to develop mathematical equations related to rates of reactions. The results suggest that having students work in groups to develop mathematical equations in chemistry classes may facilitate conceptual understanding of chemical phenomena.

Students’ sensemaking related to mathematical equations in a chemistry classroom

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