Promoting abstract thinking and scientific argumentation in the teaching of physics

Abstract thinking and scientific argumentation are two of the more important high-order cognitive skills that students at secondary level need to develop in the learning of physics. In this paper a new methodology based on constructivism’s view of education is presented by using counterintuitive experiments under a POE strategy (Predict, Explain, Observe). The experiments consist in a race of two soda can, one of them previously shaken, over an inclined plane; and the movement of a double cone object, built by two joined funnels, over two convergent inclined rails. The unexpected outcome of both experiments challenges the prior ideas of the students and provokes a higher engagement in their learning process. The results of a pilot experience applying this methodology suggest that using counterintuitive experiments under PEO strategy is an effective methodology to introduce the teaching of abstract concepts as moment of inertia and centre of mass. It also helps identifying students’ prior knowledge, promoting the use of scientific reasoning, and training students in the activation of their abstraction skills.