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<p>Mechanistic explanations require learners to coordinate entities, activities, and interactions to account for how a scientific process unfolds over time. Student-generated sequential particle diagrams and written explanations may support this coordination by externalising otherwise invisible motion and interaction patterns. This study investigates how Year 7 students used sequential diagrams and written explanations to account for sugar dissolving across contrasting conditions (cold versus hot water, and with stirring). Using qualitative analysis of 19 student worksheets, we identified recurring conceptual elements and patterns in causal organisation. Students’ explanations clustered into three accounts of dissolution: sugar disappearing, sugar filling space among water particles, and sugar becoming attached to water particles. Two illustrative cases show how students used temporal sequencing to build mechanistic account to represent changing particle motion and interactions, alongside mixed inferences that shaped their explanations. We argue that sequential diagrams with written explanations function as a window into developing mechanistic reasoning by revealing transitional forms of causal organisation that may remain hidden in written text alone.</p>

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Investigating Mechanistic Reasoning Through Student-Generated Sequential Diagrams and Written Explanations: How Lower Secondary Students Explain Sugar Dissolving

  • 期刊论文

  • 出版模式：

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  • 发表日期：

    2026年6月15日

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  • Young-Eun Jeon,
  • Mihye Won

摘要

Mechanistic explanations require learners to coordinate entities, activities, and interactions to account for how a scientific process unfolds over time. Student-generated sequential particle diagrams and written explanations may support this coordination by externalising otherwise invisible motion and interaction patterns. This study investigates how Year 7 students used sequential diagrams and written explanations to account for sugar dissolving across contrasting conditions (cold versus hot water, and with stirring). Using qualitative analysis of 19 student worksheets, we identified recurring conceptual elements and patterns in causal organisation. Students’ explanations clustered into three accounts of dissolution: sugar disappearing, sugar filling space among water particles, and sugar becoming attached to water particles. Two illustrative cases show how students used temporal sequencing to build mechanistic account to represent changing particle motion and interactions, alongside mixed inferences that shaped their explanations. We argue that sequential diagrams with written explanations function as a window into developing mechanistic reasoning by revealing transitional forms of causal organisation that may remain hidden in written text alone.