Using Online Reasoning Chain Construction Assessments to Investigate Student Reasoning Pre- and Post- Instruction

Online reasoning chain construction assessments (ORCCAs), previously reported on in the literature, place emphasis on the process of linking concepts and observations together into a logical chain of reasoning. They provide an opportunity to study the structure of student reasoning and to observe changes in this structure over time. This study aims to investigate how reasoning chain construction tasks can help illuminate students' use of conceptual ideas before and after receiving instruction. As such, this research contributes to the broader field of physics education by offering additional insight into student reasoning patterns, providing educators and researchers with more tools to inform instructional strategies and curriculum design.