Exploring students’ scientific reasoning in STEM through conceptual blending theory

Date

2025-08-28

Author

Öztürk, Gökhan
Yigit Donmezogullari, Umran

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

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STEM education enhances students' capacity for innovation by fostering critical thinking, analytical reasoning, and problem-solving skills. While numerous studies have explored the implementation, integration, and attitudes toward STEM in formal education, limited research has examined how students cognitively integrate concepts from science, technology, engineering, and mathematics when reasoning through complex problems. Traditionally, educational research has been grounded in cognitive and psychological sciences, yet STEM education lacks a robust understanding of the cognitive mechanisms underlying interdisciplinary integration. This study aims to fill that gap by investigating how students conceptually integrate different STEM disciplines in their reasoning processes. To explore this, we conducted a qualitative case study with ten students, who were presented with real-life STEM scenarios and asked to propose written solutions. Their responses were analyzed using content analysis and categorized according to the conceptual blending theory proposed by Fauconnier and Turner (2002). Findings revealed that students employed a range of conceptual integration strategies, varying from simple two-sided connections to advanced multi-faceted approaches in problem-solving. The results suggest that students’ ability to blend knowledge across disciplines varies and is not uniform. This study provides valuable insights into the cognitive foundations of interdisciplinary reasoning in STEM education. Understanding how students integrate concepts across disciplines is essential for designing more effective STEM curricula that support deeper learning and innovation. These findings highlight the need for future research to explore cognitive processes in STEM education and their implications for instructional design.

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11511/118105

Collections

Department of Mathematics and Science Education, Conference / Seminar