The acquisition of basic quantitative reasoning skills during adolescence: Learning or development?

Five items requiring use of proportional, probabilistic, and correlational reasoning were administered to students in grades 6, 8, 10, and 12. Proportions are taught in the school district in grades 7 and 8, probability in grade 10, and correlations are not taught. Based on the hypothesis that successful performance is due to classroom instruction, improvements on the proportions item were predicted between grades 6 and 10 and improvements on the probability items were predicted between grades 10 and 12. Actual gradewise improvements did not correspond well with predictions. Yet performance did correlate significantly with enrollment in classes such as chemistry, physics, and trigonometry. It is argued that successful qualitative reasoning arises as a consequence of the process of equilibration, and influences one's selection of course work. Specific instruction may initiate the equilibration process.     

Formal reasoning ability and misconceptions concerning genetics and natural selection

Students often hold misconceptions about natural phenomena. To overcome misconceptions students must become aware of the scientific conceptions, the evidence that bears on the validity of their misconceptions and the scientific conceptions, and they must be able to generate the logical relationships among the evidence and alternative conceptions. Because formal operational reasoning patterns are necessary to generate these logical relationships, it was predicted that, following instruction, formal operational students would hold significantly fewer misconceptions than their concrete operational classmates. To test this hypothesis 131 seventh-grade students were administered an essay test on principles of genetics and natural selection following instruction. Responses were categorized in terms of the number of misconceptions present. The number of misconceptions was compared to reasoning ability (concrete, transitional, formal), mental capacity (<6, 6, 7), verbal intelligence (low, medium, high), and cognitive style (field dependent, intermediate, field independent). The only student variable consistently and significantly related to the number of misconceptions was reasoning ability; thus, support for the major hypothesis of the study was obtained.     

What is the role of induction and deduction in reasoning and scientific inquiry?

A long‐standing and continuing controversy exists regarding the role of induction and deduction in reasoning and in scientific inquiry. Given the inherent difficulty in reconstructing reasoning patterns based on personal and historical accounts, evidence about the nature of human reasoning in scientific inquiry has been sought from a controlled experiment designed to identify the role played by enumerative induction and deduction in cognition as well as from the relatively new field of neural modeling. Both experimental results and the neurological models imply that induction across a limited set of observations plays no role in task performance and in reasoning. Therefore, support has been obtained for Popper's hypothesis that enumerative induction does not exist as a psychological process. Instead, people appear to process information in terms of increasingly abstract cycles of hypothetico‐deductive reasoning. Consequently, science instruction should provide students with opportunities to generate and test increasingly complex and abstract hypotheses and theories in a hypothetico‐deductive manner. In this way students can be expected to become increasingly conscious of their underlying hypothetico‐deductive thought processes, increasingly skilled in their application, and hence increasingly scientifically literate. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach     

KDD: The challenge to individualism

KDD (Knowledge Discovery in Databases) confronts us withphenomena that can intuitively be grasped as highly problematic, but arenevertheless difficult to understand and articulate. Many of theseproblems have to do with what I call the ``deindividualization of theperson': a tendency of judging and treating persons on the basis ofgroup characteristics instead of on their own individual characteristicsand merits. This tendency will be one of the consequences of theproduction and use of group profiles with the help of KDD. Currentprivacy law and regulations, as well as current ethical theoryconcerning privacy, start from too narrow a definition of ``personaldata' to capture these problems. In this paper, I introduce the notionof ``categorical privacy' as a starting point for a possible remedy forthe failures of the current conceptions of privacy. I discuss some waysin which the problems relating to group profiles definitely cannot besolved and I suggest a possible way out of these problems. Finally, Isuggest that it may take us a step forward if we would begin to questionthe predominance of privacy norms in the social debate on informationtechnologies and if we would be prepared to introduce normativeprinciples other than privacy rules for the assessment of newinformation technologies. If we do not succeed in articulating theproblems relating to KDD clearly, one day we may find ourselves in asituation where KDD appears to have undermined the methodic andnormative individualism which pervades the mainstream of morality andmoral theory.     

Finite element simulation of the ski–snow interaction of an alpine ski in a carved turn

Skiing manufacturers depend on the development of new skis on trial and error cycles and extensive product testing. Simulation tools, such as the finite element method, might be able to reduce the number of required testing cycles. However, computer programs simulating a ski in the situation of a turn so far lack realistic ski–snow interaction models. The aim of this study was to (a) implement a finite element simulation of a ski in a carved turn with an experimentally validated ski–snow interaction model, and (b) comparison of the simulation results with instantaneous turn radii determined for an actual carved turn. A quasi-static approach was chosen in which the ski–snow interaction was implemented as a boundary condition on the running surface of the ski. A stepwise linear function was used to characterise the snow pressure resisting the penetration of the ski. In a carved turn the rear section of the ski interacts with the groove that forms in the snow. Two effects were incorporated in the simulation to model this situation: (a) the plasticity of the snow deformation, (b) the influence of the ski’s side-cut on the formation and shape of this groove. The simulation results agreed well with experiments characterising snow penetration. Implementation of the groove in the ski–snow interaction model allowed calculation of the instantaneous turn radii measured in actual turns, but also caused significant numerical instability. The simulation contributes to the understanding of the mechanical aspects of the ski–snow interaction in carved turns and can be used to evaluate new ski designs.     

Effects of learning cycle and traditional text on comprehension of science concepts by students at differing reasoning levels

Research has found the learning cycle to be effective for science instruction in hands‐on laboratories and interactive discussions. Can the learning cycle, in which examples precede the introduction of new terms, also be applied effectively to science text? A total of 123 high school students from two suburban schools were tested for reasoning ability, then randomly assigned to read either a learning cycle or traditional text passage. Immediate and delayed posttests provided concept comprehension scores that were analyzed by type of text passage and by reasoning level. Students who read the learning cycle passage earned higher scores on concept comprehension questions than those who read the traditional passage, at all reasoning levels. This result supports the hypothesis that reading comprehension and scientific inquiry involve similar information‐processing strategies and confirms the prediction that science text presented in the learning cycle format is more comprehensible for readers at all reasoning levels. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 36: 23–37, 1999.     

Job involvement in a career transition from university to employment

Job involvement–alienation was studied over three time points with a sample of undergraduate engineers undergoing a career transition from university to paid employment. Data from Newton and Keenan (1991) were re-analyzed under a latent growth curve modelling (LGCM) perspective, in order to provide an alternative analysis of the development of job involvement across that situational change, and to test the hypothesis that job involvement actually changed over that time period. University course satisfaction and anxiety were included as time-invariant predictors of growth, and compared to ascertain whether there would be differential effects of both predictors. The results supported the hypothesized relationships, indicating a significant growth in job involvement–alienation over time, with course satisfaction and course anxiety showing an equivalent impact on its change trajectory.     

Responsiveness of the anterior cruciate ligament – Return to Sports after Injury (ACL-RSI) and Injury – Psychological Readiness to Return to Sport (I-PRRS) scales

ABSTRACT

The ACL-Return to Sport after Injury (ACL-RSI) and Injury-Psychological Readiness to Return to Sport (I-PRRS) scales were developed to assess psychological factors associated with return to sports. Validity and reliability have been determined. The aim of this study was to investigate the responsiveness of the Dutch ACL-RSI and I-PRRS. Seventy patients with ACL reconstruction completed both scales twice 2 months apart, plus a Global Rating of Change (GRC) questionnaire. Distribution and logistic regression-based methods were used to study responsiveness. The Standardized Response Mean (SRM) for the ACL-RSI was 0.3 and for the I-PRRS 0.1, indicating low responsiveness. The minimally important change (MIC) for ACL-RSI was 2.6 and for the I-PRRS 0.9. Since the standard error of measurement (SEM) and smallest detectable change (SDC) were larger than MIC in individual patients, it does not seem possible to distinguish minimally important changes from measurement error in individual patients with either scale. At the group level responsiveness seemed sufficient; hence, both scales can be used to investigate the effectiveness of an intervention at the group level. Both scales can also be used in cross-sectional research and in clinical practice as screening instruments to identify patients at risk of not returning to sports.