Moral Reasoning and Homosexuality: The acceptability of arguments about lesbian and gay issues

In the political arena, lesbian and gay issues have been contested typically on grounds of human rights, but with variable success. Using a moral developmental framework, the purpose of this study was to explore preferences for different types of moral arguments when thinking about moral dilemmas around lesbian and gay issues. The analysis presented here comprised data collected from 545 students at UK universities who completed a questionnaire, part of which comprised a moral dilemma task. Findings of the study showed that respondents do not apply moral reasoning consistently, and do not (clearly) favour human rights reasoning when thinking about lesbian and gay issues. Respondents tended to favour reasoning supporting existing social structures and frameworks, therefore this study highlights the importance of structural change in effecting widespread attitude change in relation to lesbian and gay rights issues. The implications of the findings for moral education are also discussed.     

Reasoning about family honour among two generations of Hindu Indian-Americans

To investigate reasoning about family honour, 128 first generation (mean age = 27.2 years) and second generation Hindu Indian-American adults (mean age = 24.7 years) were presented hypothetical scenarios in which male or female protagonists defied common Hindu customs (e.g., arranged marriage, intra-religion marriage and premarital sexual abstinence). Questions assessed beliefs about customs, connections to family honour and socio-moral orientations towards honour violations. Both generations perceived intra-religion marriage and premarital sexual abstinence to function for group identity-related reasons, such as preserving Hindu culture and maintaining Hindu identity. First generation participants judged defiance of marital and abstinence traditions in moral terms more often than second generation participants (mainly for female protagonists). Justifications for moral judgements referenced damage to group identity, including family image, Hindu identity and cultural preservation. Implications for theories of moral psychology are discussed.     

The change in epistemological beliefs and beliefs about teaching and learning: a study among pre-service teachers

This study investigated the change in Singaporean pre-service teachers' epistemological beliefs and beliefs about learning and teaching over the course of a teacher preparation program. An online survey was administered during the first week of a nine-month program and the same survey was administered after the 413 participants had completed all their course work and teaching practice. Participants exhibited significant changes in epistemological beliefs and beliefs about learning and teaching – participants indicated more relativistic epistemological outlooks and less constructivism in beliefs about teaching. At the end of the teacher preparation program, they seemed to less value effort in learning and believed more in innate ability.     

Children's Reasoning about Interpersonal and Moral Conflicts

2 studies were conducted to determine if children make judgments about both justice and interpersonal relations in conflictful situations. In Study 1, 48 subjects (24 males and 24 females) in the third, sixth, and ninth grades (mean ages = 8.40, 11.38, 14.38 years) were administered 2 stories entailing conflicts between justice and interpersonal concerns. Children judged and justified acts in 4 conditions systematically varying interpersonal and justice concerns. Children generally gave priority to justice and rights over friendship, based primarily on considerations of welfare or rights. In Study 2, 76 subjects (39 males and 37 females) in the third, sixth, and ninth grades (mean ages = 9.08, 12.10, 14.92 years) were presented with 3 stories entailing conflicts between justice and interpersonal relations. Subjects gave greater priority to interpersonal considerations in Study 2 than in Study 1, and their evaluations varied according to the salience of the different concerns. In both studies, few gender differences were obtained. The results demonstrate that across development, concerns with justice and interpersonal relationships coexist in judgments of male and female children, and that the ways they are applied depend on the situation.     

Comparing the epistemological underpinnings of students' and scientists' reasoning about conclusions

This study examined the criteria that middle school students, nonscientist adults, technicians, and scientists used to rate the validity of conclusions drawn by hypothetical students from a set of evidence. The groups' criteria for evaluating conclusions were considered to be dimensions of their epistemological frameworks regarding how knowledge claims are justified, and as such are integral to their scientific reasoning. Quantitative and qualitative analyses revealed that the responses of students and nonscientists differed from the responses of technicians and scientists, with the major difference being the groups' relative emphasis on criteria of empirical consistency or plausibility of the conclusions. We argue that the sources of the groups' differing epistemic criteria rest in their different spheres of cultural practice, and explore implications of this perspective for science teaching and learning. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 38: 663–687, 2001     

明故知类有所止而正－中国古代逻辑中关于“说”的谬误

西方传统逻辑讲谬误，主要指形式谬误；中国古代逻辑讲谬误，主要指实质谬误。中国古代逻辑中关于“说”的谬误，主要指非必然性推理的错误。由于在推理的过程中不知类，不明故或不知止，就会产生各种实质性谬误。古代逻辑学不仅分析了产生谬误的原因，而且分析了不同的谬误形式，这些探索和分析有助于我们进一步提高思辩能力，防止逻辑错误。     

Reasoning about logical propositions and success in science

Students display a number of misconceptions when asked to reason about logical propositions. Rather than being random, these misconceptions are stereotypic, and relate to age, ability, and success in science. The grades in science achieved by tenth-grade general science students from two parochial single-sex schools in Australia correlated with their scores on the Propositional Logic Test. The students' ability level was consistently related to the pattern of errors they committed on that measure. Mean scores were lowest on a subtest of ability to use the biconditional and implication, higher on the disjunction, and highest on the conjunction. Success in science was predicted most strongly by the disjunction and biconditional subtests. Knowledge of the way in which a person reasons about logical propositions provides additional insights into the transformations information is subjected to as it is integrated into mental schemata.     

中小学教师科研活动与教师专业性的提升——基于工具性、认识论和批判性的视角

中小学教师的专业性及其专业身份一直以来受到来自政府、专家或研究者、市场等的诸多质疑。教师科研的实践与理念,让我们重新思考教师作为专业人员的可能性。本文从工具性、认识论、批判性三个层面,论述了教师科研如何保障和提升教师的专业性。工具性层面:教师科研有助于提升教师的研究意识、技能和信心,并促进教师知识的增长;认识论层面:教师科研重新发现教师个人知识的价值,扩展"作为专业的教学"的知识基础;批判性层面:教师科研重构知识生产中的权力关系,并有助于推动教育公平与正义。     

Children's Reasoning about Video and Real Balance-Scale Problems

Research findings: 3- and 5-year-old children's television-viewing was recorded for 2 years, then their rules for solving videotaped and real balance-scale problems were assessed. Older children used more advanced rules than younger children. Those who saw the videotaped version first used less advanced rules on it than on the real version. Those who saw the real problems first did not differ between versions. Neither verbal IQ, nor family demographics, nor television-viewing predicted 5- or 7-year-olds' rules on real problems. However, 7-year-olds' rules for solving video problems were positively related to parents' ratings of how often their child engaged in TV-focused social interactions. TV focus accounted for the effects of order of administration on the video problems. Cartoon-viewing at age 7 was negatively correlated with using rules on the video. Once cartoon-viewing at 7 was accounted for, cartoon-viewing at age 5 emerged as a positive predictor of rule use on the video. The results are more consistent with mental effort than media literacy. Implications for practice: Parents should encourage TV-focused social interactions and educators should begin with real demonstrations, then proceed to video-mediated instruction.     

Eliciting pupil perspectives in primary mathematics: possibilities and issues

This article considers various approaches to consulting primary pupils about mathematics. This is done first through a literature review and second by drawing on our experience of designing and piloting pupil consultation in collaboration with staff in one primary school. Our concern is with the utility and drawbacks of the methods used rather than with substantive issues. We conclude that useful information can be gained from both the planning process and outcomes, but caution must be exercised in interpreting pupil responses. Social processes are involved and the possibility of social desirability effects must be acknowledged. Finally, we indicate the usefulness of using different approaches together.     

关于PDAF与不确定性推理的分析与讨论

随着电子信息技术的迅猛发展和它在军事领域中的广泛应用,数据融合技术已经越来越得到人们的重视.作为目标跟踪与目标识别领域中的基本方法,PDAF与不确定性推理有着重要的意义.文章着重介绍了PDAF方法以及主观贝叶斯方法、证据理论的基本思想方法并对其各自的优缺点和相互关系予以分析.     

Scientific reasoning and epistemological commitments: Coordination of theory and evidence among college science students

Reasoning skills are major contributors to academic and everyday life success. Epistemological commitments (ECs) are believed to underlie reasoning processes and, when considered, could do much in delineating the complex nature of scientific reasoning. This study examined the relationship between ECs and scientific reasoning among college science students. Prior knowledge (PK) was factored in as an intervening variable. Participants were 139 college students enrolled in two physics courses in a large Midwestern university. They completed an online questionnaire, which assessed their PK regarding buoyancy in liquids and EC to the consistency of theory with evidence. Responses to the online questionnaire were used to select 40 participants with varying levels of PK and EC. These participants were divided into four groups, each with 10 students, representing four conditions: High PK–High EC, High PK–Low EC, Low PK–High EC, and Low PK–Low EC. These groups allowed using a 2 × 2 factorial quasi‐experimental design to examine the relationship between participants' reasoning and ECs, accounting for their PK. The quality of participants' reasoning was assessed during individual interviews, which presented them with four problem‐solving tasks involving objects immersed in water. Two‐way analysis of variance (ANOVA) indicated the absence of interaction between PK and EC. The results showed that the higher the ECs were, the higher the quality of reasoning was for comparable levels of PK. Additionally, it was found that PK impacted reasoning more strongly when ECs were weaker. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 47: 1064–1093, 2010     

儿童归纳推理的多样性效应及其争论

儿童在归纳推理中是否遵循多样性原则,表现出多样性效应,这个问题一直存在争论。在Lopez等、Gutheil等和李富洪等的研究中,小于9岁儿童的归纳推理不遵循多样性原则。Heit等的研究中,5岁儿童却表现出了一定的多样性效应。而Lo等更是基于贝叶斯模型,提出了用前提概率与论断力度的关系(即ppp)来衡量儿童运用多样性信息的能力。事实上,儿童归纳推理多样性效应的争论是由推理范畴的不同所引起,一种是涉及生物概念范畴,另一种是涉及人格特质概念范畴。在人格特质概念范畴中,可以运用心理理论、人格特质与行为之间稳定的关系,以及共变原则的归因促进儿童对前提多样性信息的运用。     

Reasoning about structure and function: Children's conceptions of gears

Twenty-three second graders and 20 fifth graders were interviewed about how gears move on a gearboard and work in commonplace machines. Questions focused on transmission of motion; direction, plane, and speed of turning; and mechanical advantage. Several children believed that meshed gears turn in the same direction and at the same speed. Many second graders provided very incomplete explanations of transmission of motion. Most children confused mechanical advantage with speed. Yet as the interview proceeded, several fifth graders generalized conceptions about transmission of motion into a rule about turning direction. They increasingly justified their ideas about gear speed by referring to ratio. Children's reasoning became more general, formal, and mathematical as problem complexity increased, suggesting that mathematical forms of reasoning may develop when they provide a clear advantage over simple causal generalizations. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 35: 3-25, 1998.