Commentary on Uses of arguments from definition in children’s argumentation

This paper presents an analysis of the reasoning of two 5-year old children’s use of argument from definition. The author uses the Argumentum Model of Topics (AMT; Rigotti & Greco-Morasso, 2009) to accomplish this task. A brief history of the “locus of definition” is presented, as well as a description of how and where the data were collected. More specifically, the data come from a study of students conducted for over 30 years in Switzerland. Two examples are discussed where an adult experimenter examined these children’s responses to conservation of liquid and number tasks. The two examples of children’s responses were analyzed using the locus from definition. Results show that children are capable of providing responses indicating their beliefs and support for them that are beyond Piaget’s description of a preoperational child’s reasoning abilities

Belief bias and representation in assessing the Bayesian rationality of others

People often assess the reasonableness of another person’s judgments. When doing so, the evaluator should set aside knowledge that would not have been available to the evaluatee to assess whether the evaluatee made a reasonable decision, given the available information. But under what circumstances does the evaluator set aside information? On the one hand, if the evaluator fails to set aside prior information, not available to the evaluatee, they exhibit belief bias. But on the other hand, when Bayesian inference is called for, the evaluator should generally incorporate prior knowledge about relevant probabilities in decision making. The present research integrated these two perspectives in two experiments. Participants were asked to take the perspective of a fictitious evaluatee and to evaluate the reasonableness of the evaluatee’s decision. The participant was privy to information that the fictitious evaluatee did not have. Specifically, the participant knew whether the evaluatee’s decision judgment was factually correct. Participants’ judgments were biased (Experiments 1 and 2) by the factuality of the conclusion as they assessed the evaluatee’s reasonableness. We also found that the format of information presentation (Experiment 2) influenced the degree to which participants’ reasonableness ratings were responsive to the evaluatee’s Bayesian rationality. Specifically, responsivity was greater when the information was presented in an icon-based, graphical, natural-frequency format than when presented in either a numerical natural-frequency format or a probability format. We interpreted the effects of format to suggest that graphical presentation can help organize information into nested sets, which in turn enhances Bayesian rationality

An Analysis of Disciplinary Suspensions.

Student punishment has received increased scrutiny; one of the concerns is that not all students are punished equally. This paper presents findings of a study that investigated whether race, gender, or existence of student disability affected punishment practices in an eastern Kentucky school district. Since corporal punishment had been banned in the district, there was interest in the incidence and resolution of behavioral problems. Analysis of the records of 465 students who were suspended during the 1994-95 school year indicated that no suspensions were tabulated for minority students (one percent of student population) . Male adolescents developed more conduct problems than did females and younger students. Almost 20 percent of the suspensions were given to students categorized as disabled; disabled students composed 14 percent of the student body. Although the overall number of male suspensions increased by school level, the proportion of suspended males with disabilities tended to decrease as students moved from elementary school to the secondary level. It is recommended that the district explore conflict-resolution strategies that teach appropriate behavior

Type of Questions and Anxiety, Attention, Question Confidence, and Metacognition

The role of questions of different cognitive levels was investigated in four undergraduate classes with a total of 80 students. Previous research suggested that questions may distract students from a lecture, and that students felt more confident about responding accurately to low-order questions. It was speculated that anxiety interfered with one\u27s confidence in responding to higher-order questions and metacognitive and attending behaviors. However, results do not support this supposition. There were no differences among higher-order, lower-order, and no-question groups in confidence. Results are discussed in relation to previous research and implications for future research and practice

Individual Differences and Multiple Intelligences

Recent educational research indicates that learners differ in their preferences for learning mode and strategies. Implications for instruction and assessment are discussed as they relate to the Theory of Multiple Intelligences of H. Gardner (1983). One of the principles of the Learner Centered Psychological Principles of the American Psychological Association (Principle 11) stipulates that learners have unique abilities and talents and have acquired different preferences for how they learn, as well as different preferences for how they respond to learning situations. Gardner\u27s Theory of Multiple Intelligences exemplifies Principle 11 and is implicated in Principle 12, which states that the development of a child and the way the child interprets life experiences is influenced by his or her education. The Theory of Multiple Intelligences describes seven forms of human competence that are relatively independent: linguistic; logical-mathematical; spatial; bodily-kinesthetic; musical; interpersonal; and intrapersonal intelligences. Some programs in use in schools today apply Gardner\u27s theory. The Key School in Indianapolis (Indiana), the Arts PROPEL program in Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania) , and Project Spectrum are three examples. Preliminary results from teachers in these programs suggest that students are more motivated and that at-risk students can excel. Implications for educational practice are discussed. Three tables summarize some important points from the discussion

Critical Thinking and Moral Reasoning: Can You Have One Without the Other?

Much research has been done on critical thinking and on moral reasoning, but little has been conducted or reported on the relationship between the two. Since these two abilities are of current concern at all levels of education and since students are supposed to develop the ability to think analytically and behave ethically, it seems that some determination should be made as to if and/or how these two abilities are related. Some researchers have attempted to integrate creative thinking skills with moral reasoning skills and-\u27.ave found them generally to be related. In considering the importance of both critical thinking and moral reasoning, several researchers have recommended that children can learn that ethical acts must have reasons. They have suggested a method called Ethical Inquiry to facilitate this learning and relationship. In a sense, it has been pointed out, ethical reasoning is logically valid moral reasoning. If moral education is considered character education and reasoning or cognition an important aspect of this process, then issues of character may also be issues of cognition. Implications for curriculum design and research are noted, including several curriculum models reported in the literature

A Validity Study of Self-Concept and Adolescent Suicide Probability

Suicide is the third leading cause of death for individuals under the age of 25. Only accidents and homicides are responsible for more deaths in this age group. The suicide rate for adolescents has tripled since 1955 (U.S. Bureau of the Census, 1975-1984). During the past thirty years, the adolescent period has demonstrated the greatest suicide rate increase of any age group, although it is not the highest rate among all age groups, as DenHouter (1981) incorrectly reported. According to the U.S. Bureau of the Census (1975- 1984), the elderly continue to have the highest suicide rate.

Enhancing Self-esteem of At-risk High School Students

Dropping out of high school is a major concern for the nation. Dropping out of school, although it occurs at a specific moment, is the culmination of a number of factors, including problems from both home and school, and may begin before the at-risk student starts school. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of peer tutoring by university undergraduate students on at-risk 9th-grade students. Ninth graders (N=87) from four eastern Kentucky high schools were selected by their school counselors as being at risk of becoming dropouts. Undergraduate tutors received 10 hours of preservice training and thereafter attended weekly training sessions to maintain cohesiveness. Tutors had 5 weeks to develop case studies on each student before starting tutoring sessions. After the case studies were developed, 14 tutoring sessions were conducted in 7 weeks. Each tutor served four high school students. The results suggested that students\u27 self-perceptions regarding their interpersonal relationships with their peers increased significantly in the program, as compared to the control group. That is, students in the program rated their concept of their interpersonal relationships higher than those who were not in the program. Thus it appears that this program was successful in enhancing some of the social and emotional needs of the students, specifically self-concept

Perceptions of the Role of Middle School Counselors

While the appropriate duties of elementary and secondary school counselors have been well defined by various professional organizations, these duties remain unclear in the middle school level. This study was conducted to examine the perceptions of teachers, administrators, parents, and students in grades six through eight concerning the appropriate roles of the middle school counselor. The Role of Counselors Survey (ROCS) was completed by 263 students, 111 parents, 43 teachers, and 8 administrators (total N=425) from eight middle schools in rural Northeastern Kentucky (an eight county, rural area located in the Appalachian Mountain region). The findings revealed that teachers and administrators perceived the role of the middle school counselor more favorably than did the students and parents. In spite of their favorable perception of the counselor, teachers often saw counselors as an alternative to administrative personnel because of the administrative duties that are often thrust upon them. The less favorable perception of the counselor held by students and parents could be linked to the fact that counselors are very often seen performing administrative duties, causing conflict between the perceived role of the counselor and his/her true role. This supports the view that there is a need for role definition of counselors

Belief bias and representation in assessing the Bayesian rationality of others

People often assess the reasonableness of another person’s judgments. When doing so, the evaluator should set aside knowledge that would not have been available to the evaluatee to assess whether the evaluatee made a reasonable decision, given the available information. But under what circumstances does the evaluator set aside information? On the one hand, if the evaluator fails to set aside prior information, not available to the evaluatee, they exhibit belief bias. But on the other hand, when Bayesian inference is called for, the evaluator should generally incorporate prior knowledge about relevant probabilities in decision making. The present research integrated these two perspectives in two experiments. Participants were asked to take the perspective of a fictitious evaluatee and to evaluate the reasonableness of the evaluatee's decision. The participant was privy to information that the fictitious evaluatee did not have. Specifically, the participant knew whether the evaluatee's decision judgment was factually correct. Participants’ judgments were biased (Experiments 1 and 2) by the factuality of the conclusion as they assessed the evaluatee’s reasonableness. We also found that the format of information presentation (Experiment 2) influenced the degree to which participants’ reasonableness ratings were responsive to the evaluatee's Bayesian rationality. Specifically, responsivity was greater when the information was presented in an icon-based, graphical, natural-frequency format than when presented in either a numerical natural-frequency format or a probability format. We interpreted the effects of format to suggest that graphical presentation can help organize information into nested sets, which in turn enhances Bayesian rationality