Razonamiento científico en estudiantes de primer ingreso: un estudio diagnóstico en la Universidad de Panamá

Adam’s Martínez Soto; Marciano Santamaría; Luis Emiliani; Alcides Muñóz; Guillermo Burke; Ramiro Villarreal; Víctor Concepción; Eduardo Chung

doi:10.48204/j.tecno.v8n2.a10904

Submitted July 24, 2026

Published 2026-07-30

Artículos

Vol. 8 No. 2 (2026): Tecnociencia

Scientific Reasoning in First-Year Students: A Diagnostic Study at the University of Panama

Adam’s Martínez Soto⁺⁻
Marciano Santamaría⁺⁻
Luis Emiliani⁺⁻
Alcides Muñóz⁺⁻
Guillermo Burke⁺⁻
Ramiro Villarreal ⁺⁻
Víctor Concepción ⁺⁻
Eduardo Chung⁺⁻

DOI https://doi.org/10.48204/j.tecno.v8n2.a10904

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References

DOI: 10.48204/j.tecno.v8n2.a10904

Published: 2026-07-30

How to Cite

Martínez Soto, A., Santamaría, M., Emiliani, L., Muñóz, A., Burke, G., Villarreal , R., Concepción , V. and Chung, E. (2026) “Scientific Reasoning in First-Year Students: A Diagnostic Study at the University of Panama”, Tecnociencia, 8(2), pp. 253–268. doi: 10.48204/j.tecno.v8n2.a10904.

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

Abstract

Scientific reasoning constitutes a central cognitive requirement in scientific and technological degree programs, yet it is rarely assessed systematically at university entry. The aim of this study was to characterize the levels of scientific reasoning among first-year students at the University of Panama and to analyze their relationship with relevant academic and educational variables. A quantitative descriptive design was employed, and the Lawson Classroom Test of Scientific Reasoning (LCTSR) was administered to a sample of 219 students. The results indicate that only 17.4% of participants reached the formal reasoning level, whereas 63.5% were classified at the transitional level and 19.2% at the concrete level. In addition, differentiated patterns were identified according to academic major, type of high school diploma, and selected sociodemographic variables. These findings reveal possible mismatches between students’ cognitive entry profiles and the reasoning demands implicit in STEM degree programs, underscoring the importance of incorporating early diagnostic assessments of scientific reasoning as a basis for designing instructional support and academic leveling strategies in higher education

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