This study investigates the status of procedural knowledge of sophomore science and chemical engineering students in South Africa.
Procedural knowledge includes collection, manipulation, and interpretation of experimental data.
A piloted questionnaire was administered to these students before any instruction on data handling. Comparisons were made across the tasks, and clusters of responses were identified. Analysis of the responses to the questionnaire revealed that one in seven students replicate measurements to identify the recurring value. Almost a third of the students replicate measurements to perfect their measuring skills. About half of the students replicate measurements in order to take a mean, and a third of these show an awareness of the spread of measurements.