Playful fostering of 6- to 8-year-old students’ inductive reasoning

This paper focuses on a training program in inductive reasoning for first-grade students and presents the direct results as well as the longitudinal effects of the evaluation study. The training is based on Klauer's theory of inductive reasoning and on his “Cognitive training for children” concept (Klauer, 1989a). The training program consists of 120 problems which can be solved through inductive reasoning. The tools for the training exercises were selected to correspond with the age of the targeted cohort. The experimental group in the study consisted of 90 students, whereas the control group was made up of 162. An inductive reasoning test was used in the pre- and posttest as well as in the follow-up study (one year later). The test comprised 33 figural, non-verbal items (Cronbach α = .86). On the posttest, the experimental group significantly outperformed the control group by more than one standard deviation. The experimental group scored significantly higher in each skill area targeted by the training. The most noticeable development was found in system formation. No gender differences were detected on the pre- or the posttest. The effect size of the training program was d = 1.12. In the follow-up study, the experimental group still significantly outperformed the control group; however, their respective levels of development had not changed in this one-year period. Thus, the training effect proved to be stable over time independent of individual students’ original level of inductive reasoning. This study provided evidence that inductive reasoning could be developed very effectively at this early age.     

类比推理在高中数学教学实践中的应用研究

类比推理是一种常用且科学的研究方法,长期以来在数学教学中得到普遍应用,他不仅是数学教学中的重要内容,更是高中数学考试中受到命题人热爱的一大考点。类比推理是一种以两个事物的某些相同属性作为判断前提,以试图找出更多其他属性方面的相同点的推理方式,同时也是一种从特殊推向特殊的推理方法。对学生的实际研究能力和判断推理能力以及相关的思维发散都能取得很好的培养作用,在高中数学教学实践中更是起着非常重要的作用,为教学注入新活力的同时又能为学生的解决问题提供新的思维模式。     

Effects of playing mathematics computer games on primary school students’ multiplicative reasoning ability

This study used a large-scale cluster randomized longitudinal experiment (N = 719; 35 schools) to investigate the effects of online mathematics mini-games on primary school students’ multiplicative reasoning ability. The experiment included four conditions: playing at school, integrated in a lesson (E_school), playing at home without attention at school (E_home), playing at home with debriefing at school (E_home-school) and, in the control group, playing at school mini-games on other mathematics topics (C). The mini-games were played in Grade 2 and Grade 3 (32 mini-games in total). Using tests at the end of each grade, effects on three aspects of multiplicative reasoning ability were measured: knowledge of multiplicative number facts, skills in multiplicative operations, and insight in multiplicative number relations and properties of multiplicative operations. Through path analyses it was found that the mini-games were most effective in the E_home-school condition, where both students’ skills and their insight were positively affected as compared to the control group (significant ds ranging from 0.22 to 0.29). In the E_school condition, an effect was only found for insight in Grade 2 (d = 0.35), while in the E_home condition no significant effects were found. Students’ gameplay behavior (time and effort put in the games) was in some cases, but not always, related to their learning outcomes.     

Longitudinal assessment of progress in reasoning capacity and relation with self-estimation of knowledge base

The aim of the study was to investigate progress in reasoning capacity and knowledge base appraisal in a longitudinal analysis of data from summative evaluation throughout a medical problem-based learning curriculum. The scores in multidisciplinary discussion of a clinical case and multiple choice questionnaires (MCQs) were studied longitudinally for 213 students from years 2 to 5. The capacity of core knowledge delimitation was calculated as the difference between the levels of average ascertainment degrees given for correct and incorrect answers at MCQ. For both multidisciplinary discussion of a clinical case evaluation and self-estimation of core knowledge, the capacity increases throughout the curriculum. The reasoning capacity assessed through multidisciplinary discussion of a clinical case is positively correlated with MCQ scores and the capacity to discriminate the mastered core knowledge. In conclusion, this study indicates that self-estimation of core knowledge is associated with an increase in reasoning performance through a well-organised knowledge base. Since that ability is related to success or failure, it is suggested that student awareness about delimitation of mastered core knowledge is considered as part of learning.     

Characterization of Holmes in The Adventure of Speckled Band

Sherlock Holmes is the fictional creation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. In The Adventure of the Speckled Band, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle has succeeded in creating the image of Sherlock Holmes. He is not only...     

How students reason about matter flows and accumulations in complex biological phenomena: An emerging learning progression for mass balance

In recent years, there has been a strong push to transform STEM education at K-12 and collegiate levels to help students learn to think like scientists. One aspect of this transformation involves redesigning instruction and curricula around fundamental scientific ideas that serve as conceptual scaffolds students can use to build cohesive knowledge structures. In this study, we investigated how students use mass balance reasoning as a conceptual scaffold to gain a deeper understanding of how matter moves through biological systems. Our aim was to lay the groundwork for a mass balance learning progression in physiology. We drew on a general models framework from biology and a covariational reasoning framework from math education to interpret students' mass balance ideas. We used a constant comparative method to identify students' reasoning patterns from 73 interviews conducted with undergraduate biology students. We helped validate the reasoning patterns identified with >8000 written responses collected from students at multiple institutions. From our analyses, we identified two related progress variables that describe key elements of students' performances: the first describes how students identify and use matter flows in biology phenomena; the second characterizes how students use net rate-of-change to predict how matter accumulates in, or disperses from, a compartment. We also present a case study of how we used our emerging mass balance learning progression to inform instructional practices to support students' mass balance reasoning. Our progress variables describe one way students engage in three dimensional learning by showing how student performances associated with the practice of mathematical thinking reveal their understanding of the core concept of matter flows as governed by the crosscutting concept of matter conservation. Though our work is situated in physiology, it extends previous work in climate change education and is applicable to other scientific fields, such as physics, engineering, and geochemistry.     

Understanding how student-constructed stop-motion animations promote mechanistic reasoning: A theoretical framework and empirical evidence

Previous studies have documented the promising results from student-constructed representations, including stop-motion animation (SMA), in supporting mechanistic reasoning (MR), which is considered an essential thinking skill in science education. Our current study presents theoretically and empirically how student-constructed SMA contributes to promoting MR. As a theoretical perspective, we propose a framework hypothesizing the link between elements of MR and the construction nature of SMA, that is, chunking and sequencing. We then examined the extent to which this framework was consistent with a multiple-case study in the domain of static electricity involving five secondary school students constructing and using their own SMA creation for reasoning. In addition, students' reasoning in pre- and postconstruction of an SMA was examined. Our empirical findings confirmed our framework by showing that all students identified the basic elements of MR, that is, entities and activities of entities, when engaging in chunking and sequencing. Chunking played a role in facilitating students to identify entities responsible for electrostatic phenomena, and sequencing seemed to elicit students to specify activities of these entities. The analysis of students' reasoning in pre- and postconstruction of SMA found that student-generated SMA has a potential effect on students' retention of the use of MR. Implications for instruction with SMA construction to support MR are discussed.     

基于证据推理的大型海事巡逻救助船船型选择

为科学选择大型海事巡逻救助船船型,从成本、技术、能耗、外观等4个方面构建船型选择评价指标体系,运用层次分析法(Analytical Hierarchy Process,AHP)确定各指标权重,并采用证据推理法,借助IDS软件,对各船型进行综合评价.以3 000吨级海事巡逻救助船船型选择为例,通过评价圆舭船型、穿浪双体船型和三体船型,验证该方法在大型海事巡逻救助船船型选择上的可行性.     

模糊系统理论在预测中的一个应用

按照模糊自适应系统的理论，探讨了一种预测方法。这个方法比神经网络预测方法更为简单且收敛更快。