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Sample records for concept reasoning test

  1. A Chemistry Concept Reasoning Test

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cloonan, Carrie A.; Hutchinson, John S.

    2011-01-01

    A Chemistry Concept Reasoning Test was created and validated providing an easy-to-use tool for measuring conceptual understanding and critical scientific thinking of general chemistry models and theories. The test is designed to measure concept understanding comparable to that found in free-response questions requiring explanations over…

  2. Clinical reasoning: concept analysis.

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    Simmons, Barbara

    2010-05-01

    This paper is a report of a concept analysis of clinical reasoning in nursing. Clinical reasoning is an ambiguous term that is often used synonymously with decision-making and clinical judgment. Clinical reasoning has not been clearly defined in the literature. Healthcare settings are increasingly filled with uncertainty, risk and complexity due to increased patient acuity, multiple comorbidities, and enhanced use of technology, all of which require clinical reasoning. Data sources. Literature for this concept analysis was retrieved from several databases, including CINAHL, PubMed, PsycINFO, ERIC and OvidMEDLINE, for the years 1980 to 2008. Rodgers's evolutionary method of concept analysis was used because of its applicability to concepts that are still evolving. Multiple terms have been used synonymously to describe the thinking skills that nurses use. Research in the past 20 years has elucidated differences among these terms and identified the cognitive processes that precede judgment and decision-making. Our concept analysis defines one of these terms, 'clinical reasoning,' as a complex process that uses cognition, metacognition, and discipline-specific knowledge to gather and analyse patient information, evaluate its significance, and weigh alternative actions. This concept analysis provides a middle-range descriptive theory of clinical reasoning in nursing that helps clarify meaning and gives direction for future research. Appropriate instruments to operationalize the concept need to be developed. Research is needed to identify additional variables that have an impact on clinical reasoning and what are the consequences of clinical reasoning in specific situations.

  3. How to Reason with Economic Concepts: Cognitive Process of Japanese Undergraduate Students Solving Test Items

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    Asano, Tadayoshi; Yamaoka, Michio

    2015-01-01

    The authors administered a Japanese version of the Test of Understanding in College Economics, the fourth edition (TUCE-4) to assess the economic literacy of Japanese undergraduate students in 2006 and 2009. These two test results were combined to investigate students' cognitive process or reasoning with specific economic concepts and principles…

  4. [Clinical reasoning in nursing, concept analysis].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Côté, Sarah; St-Cyr Tribble, Denise

    2012-12-01

    Nurses work in situations of complex care requiring great clinical reasoning abilities. In literature, clinical reasoning is often confused with other concepts and it has no consensual definition. To conduct a concept analysis of a nurse's clinical reasoning in order to clarify, define and distinguish it from the other concepts as well as to better understand clinical reasoning. Rodgers's method of concept analysis was used, after literature was retrieved with the use of clinical reasoning, concept analysis, nurse, intensive care and decision making as key-words. The use of cognition, cognitive strategies, a systematic approach of analysis and data interpretation, generating hypothesis and alternatives are attributes of clinical reasoning. The antecedents are experience, knowledge, memory, cues, intuition and data collection. The consequences are decision making, action, clues and problem resolution. This concept analysis helped to define clinical reasoning, to distinguish it from other concepts used synonymously and to guide future research.

  5. Clinical Reasoning in Medicine: A Concept Analysis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shahram Yazdani

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Background: Clinical reasoning plays an important role in the ability of physicians to make diagnoses and decisions. It is considered the physician’s most critical competence, but it is an ambiguous conceptin medicine that needs a clear analysis and definition. Our aim was to clarify the concept of clinical reasoning in medicine by identifying its components and to differentiate it from other similar concepts.It is necessary to have an operational definition of clinical reasoning, and its components must be precisely defined in order to design successful interventions and use it easily in future research.Methods: McKenna’s nine-step model was applied to facilitate the clarification of the concept of clinical reasoning. The literature for this concept analysis was retrieved from several databases, including Scopus, Elsevier, PubMed, ISI, ISC, Medline, and Google Scholar, for the years 1995– 2016 (until September 2016. An extensive search of the literature was conducted using the electronic database. Accordingly, 17 articles and one book were selected for the review. We applied McKenna’s method of concept analysis in studying clinical reasoning, so that definitional attributes, antecedents, and consequences of this concept were extracted.Results: Clinical reasoning has nine major attributes in medicine. These attributes include: (1 clinical reasoning as a cognitive process; (2 knowledge acquisition and application of different types of knowledge; (3 thinking as a part of the clinical reasoning process; (4 patient inputs; (5 contextdependent and domain-specific processes; (6 iterative and complex processes; (7 multi-modal cognitive processes; (8 professional principles; and (9 health system mandates. These attributes are influenced by the antecedents of workplace context, practice frames of reference, practice models of the practitioner, and clinical skills. The consequences of clinical reasoning are the metacognitive improvement of

  6. A concept analysis of abductive reasoning.

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    Mirza, Noeman A; Akhtar-Danesh, Noori; Noesgaard, Charlotte; Martin, Lynn; Staples, Eric

    2014-09-01

    To describe an analysis of the concept of abductive reasoning. In the discipline of nursing, abductive reasoning has received only philosophical attention and remains a vague concept. In addition to deductive and inductive reasoning, abductive reasoning is not recognized even in prominent nursing knowledge development literature. Therefore, what abductive reasoning is and how it can inform nursing practice and education was explored. Concept analysis. Combinations of specific keywords were searched in Web of Science, CINAHL, PsychINFO, PubMed, Medline and EMBASE. The analysis was conducted in June 2012 and only literature before this period was included. No time limits were set. Rodger's evolutionary method for conducting concept analysis was used. Twelve records were included in the analysis. The most common surrogate term was retroduction, whereas related terms included intuition and pattern and similarity recognition. Antecedents consisted of a complex, puzzling situation and a clinician with creativity, experience and knowledge. Consequences included the formation of broad hypotheses that enhance understanding of care situations. Overall, abductive reasoning was described as the process of hypothesis or theory generation and evaluation. It was also viewed as inference to the best explanation. As a new approach, abductive reasoning could enhance reasoning abilities of novice clinicians. It can not only incorporate various ways of knowing but also its holistic approach to learning appears to be promising in problem-based learning. As nursing literature on abductive reasoning is predominantly philosophical, practical consequences of abductive reasoning warrant further research. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  7. The enhancement of mathematical analogical reasoning ability of university students through concept attainment model

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    Angraini, L. M.; Kusumah, Y. S.; Dahlan, J. A.

    2018-05-01

    This study aims to see the enhancement of mathematical analogical reasoning ability of the university students through concept attainment model learning based on overall and Prior Mathematical Knowledge (PMK) and interaction of both. Quasi experiments with the design of this experimental-controlled equivalent group involved 54 of second semester students at the one of State Islamic University. The instrument used is pretest-postest. Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, Levene test, t test, two-way ANOVA test were used to analyse the data. The result of this study includes: (1) The enhancement of the mathematical analogical reasoning ability of the students who gets the learning of concept attainment model is better than the enhancement of the mathematical analogical reasoning ability of the students who gets the conventional learning as a whole and based on PMK; (2) There is no interaction between the learning that is used and PMK on enhancing mathematical analogical reasoning ability.

  8. Relations between representational consistency, conceptual understanding of the force concept, and scientific reasoning

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    Pasi Nieminen

    2012-05-01

    Full Text Available Previous physics education research has raised the question of “hidden variables” behind students’ success in learning certain concepts. In the context of the force concept, it has been suggested that students’ reasoning ability is one such variable. Strong positive correlations between students’ preinstruction scores for reasoning ability (measured by Lawson’s Classroom Test of Scientific Reasoning and their learning of forces [measured by the Force Concept Inventory (FCI] have been reported in high school and university introductory courses. However, there is no published research concerning the relation between students’ ability to interpret multiple representations consistently (i.e., representational consistency and their learning of forces. To investigate this, we collected 131 high school students’ pre- and post-test data of the Representational Variant of the Force Concept Inventory (for representational consistency and the FCI. The students’ Lawson pretest data were also collected. We found that the preinstruction level of students’ representational consistency correlated strongly with student learning gain of forces. The correlation (0.51 was almost equal to the correlation between Lawson prescore and learning gain of forces (0.52. Our results support earlier findings which suggest that scientific reasoning ability is a hidden variable behind the learning of forces. In addition, we suggest that students’ representational consistency may also be such a factor, and that this should be recognized in physics teaching.

  9. Development of the Statistical Reasoning in Biology Concept Inventory (SRBCI)

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    Deane, Thomas; Nomme, Kathy; Jeffery, Erica; Pollock, Carol; Birol, Gülnur

    2016-01-01

    We followed established best practices in concept inventory design and developed a 12-item inventory to assess student ability in statistical reasoning in biology (Statistical Reasoning in Biology Concept Inventory [SRBCI]). It is important to assess student thinking in this conceptual area, because it is a fundamental requirement of being statistically literate and associated skills are needed in almost all walks of life. Despite this, previous work shows that non–expert-like thinking in statistical reasoning is common, even after instruction. As science educators, our goal should be to move students along a novice-to-expert spectrum, which could be achieved with growing experience in statistical reasoning. We used item response theory analyses (the one-parameter Rasch model and associated analyses) to assess responses gathered from biology students in two populations at a large research university in Canada in order to test SRBCI’s robustness and sensitivity in capturing useful data relating to the students’ conceptual ability in statistical reasoning. Our analyses indicated that SRBCI is a unidimensional construct, with items that vary widely in difficulty and provide useful information about such student ability. SRBCI should be useful as a diagnostic tool in a variety of biology settings and as a means of measuring the success of teaching interventions designed to improve statistical reasoning skills. PMID:26903497

  10. The Effectiveness of MURDER Cooperative Model towards Students' Mathematics Reasoning Ability and Self Concept of Ten Grade

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    Sofan Tri Prasetiyo

    2017-08-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of this research was to know the effectiveness of MURDER cooperative model towards students’ mathematics reasoning ability and self concept of ten grade. Population of this research were students of MIA ten grade Senior High School 1 Kebumen in the academic year 2016/1017. Sampling technique using simple random sampling technique. The data collected by the method of documentation, test methods, observation methods, and questionnaire methods. The analyzed of data are used completeness test and average different test. The results showed that: (1 mathematics reasoning ability of students that following MURDER cooperative model have completed individual and classical study completeness; (2 mathematics reasoning ability of students that following MURDER cooperative model better than mathematics reasoning ability of students that following ekspository learning; (3 self concept of students that following MURDER cooperative model better than self concept of students that following ekspository learning.

  11. Difficulties of learning probability concepts, the reasons why these concepts cannot be learned and suggestions for solution

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    Dilek Sezgin MEMNUN

    2008-06-01

    Full Text Available Probability holds the first place among the subjects that both teachers and students have difficulty in handling. Although probability has an important role in many professions and a great many decisions we make for our daily lives, the understanding of the probability concepts is not an easy ability to gain for many students. Most of the students develop perception about lots of probability concepts and they have difficulty finding a reason for probability events. Thus, in the present study, the difficulties faced while learning probability concepts and the reasons why these concepts cannot be learned well are investigated, these reasons are tried to be put forward, and some suggestions for solutions regarding these concepts are presented. In this study, cross-hatching model was used. National and international studies on the subject of probability are investigated, the reasons why these concepts cannot be learned were categorized in the light of findings obtained, and the reasons why these concepts cannot be learned and taught are tried to be discovered. The categorization was displayed with Ishikawa diagram. In the diagram, the reasons why these concepts cannot be learned were noted as six categories. These categories were age, the insufficiency of advanced information, the deficiency of argumentation ability, teacher, error in concept, and students’ negative attitudes.

  12. Student Analogy Reasons When Solving Area Concepts in Pyramids and Prisms

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    Mashuri, A.; Sudjadi, I.; Pramudya, I.; Gembong, S.

    2017-09-01

    The purpose of this study is to describe the reasoning of students’ analogies in solving the broad concept problem in pyramids and prisms. This research method using descriptive qualitative. Data collection uses analogous reasoning tests and interviews. After that tested to 32 students of Junior High School. Based on the results of the analysis can be concluded that (1) 16% of students solve the problem of source and target problem correctly. (2) 29% of students correctly solve source problems and target problems incorrectly. (3) 55% solve source problems and target problems wrong. This is because students tend to memorize formulas not using analogy reasoning to solve new problems. Finally, the students have difficulties in solving new problems, because students are not accustomed to using the experience they have gained to solve new problems.

  13. Development of Reasoning Test Instruments Based on TIMSS Framework for Measuring Reasoning Ability of Senior High School Student on the Physics Concept

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    Muslim; Suhandi, A.; Nugraha, M. G.

    2017-02-01

    The purposes of this study are to determine the quality of reasoning test instruments that follow the framework of Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) as a development results and to analyse the profile of reasoning skill of senior high school students on physics materials. This research used research and development method (R&D), furthermore the subject were 104 students at three senior high schools in Bandung selected by random sampling technique. Reasoning test instruments are constructed following the TIMSS framework in multiple choice forms in 30 questions that cover five subject matters i.e. parabolic motion and circular motion, Newton’s law of gravity, work and energy, harmonic oscillation, as well as the momentum and impulse. The quality of reasoning tests were analysed using the Content Validity Ratio (CVR) and classic test analysis include the validity of item, level of difficulty, discriminating power, reliability and Ferguson’s delta. As for the students’ reasoning skills profiles were analysed by the average score of achievements on eight aspects of the reasoning TIMSS framework. The results showed that reasoning test have a good quality as instruments to measure reasoning skills of senior high school students on five matters physics which developed and able to explore the reasoning of students on all aspects of reasoning based on TIMSS framework.

  14. [Exploratory study of clinical reasoning in nursing students with concept mapping].

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    Paucard-Dupont, Sylvie; Marchand, Claire

    2014-06-01

    The training reference leading to the state nursing diploma places the learning of clinical reasoning at the center of the training. We have been wondering about the possibilities of making visible the student nurse's mental processes when they provide nursing care in order to identify their strategies and reasoning difficulties. It turns out that concept mapping is a research tool capable of showing these two aspects. The aim of this study is to verify a concept mapping made during an interview and built from the speech of a nursing student when analyzing a simulated clinical situation, is able to make visible its strategies clinical reasoning and reasoning difficulties. In a second phase of it, is to explore how the concept map once elaborated allows students to identify their own intellectual reasoning. 12 nursing second year students have participated in the study. Concept maps were constructed by the trainer/researcher as the students analyzed aloud a simulated clinical situation written. Concept maps were analyzed from a reference grid. Interviews were conducted following the elaboration of concept maps and student's comments were analyzed. Students reasoning strategies were either mixed inductive dominant (5/12) or hypothetical-deductive dominant (5/12). Reasoning difficulties identified are related to the lack of identification of important information, the lack of analysis of data, lack of connection or the existence of faulty links. Analysis of the comments highlights that concept mapping contributed to the development of metacognitive skills. The concept mapping has shown benefits in contributing to a diagnostic assessment of clinical reasoning learning. It is an additional resource tool to facilitate the development of metacognitive skills for students. This tool can be useful to implement support learning strategies in clinical reasoning.

  15. Public reason as a political ideal: John Rawls’s conception

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    Pavićević Đorđe

    2007-01-01

    Full Text Available The article dealt with Rawlsian idea of public reason as a convergence point of his conception of political liberalism. The idea of public reason is taken as a norm of political justification a as well as a political ideal. Major lines of criticism of the Rawls' conception are also discussed in the article. The conclusion is that is possible to defend major elements of Rawls' conception against criticism along Rawlsian lines of argumentation. The thesis advocated through the text is that it is significant legacy of Rawls' conception of public reason that it discloses limitations of political ideal of liberal democracy. It is argued that one important consequence is that liberalism has to disclaim its own moral superiority in order to make political ideal viable. The other is that any particular society has to find its moral bases in public reason of particular society, that is burdened with peculiar culture and history. .

  16. Development of the Statistical Reasoning in Biology Concept Inventory (SRBCI)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Deane, Thomas; Nomme, Kathy; Jeffery, Erica; Pollock, Carol; Birol, Gülnur

    2016-01-01

    We followed established best practices in concept inventory design and developed a 12-item inventory to assess student ability in statistical reasoning in biology (Statistical Reasoning in Biology Concept Inventory [SRBCI]). It is important to assess student thinking in this conceptual area, because it is a fundamental requirement of being…

  17. Development of the Statistical Reasoning in Biology Concept Inventory (SRBCI).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Deane, Thomas; Nomme, Kathy; Jeffery, Erica; Pollock, Carol; Birol, Gülnur

    2016-01-01

    We followed established best practices in concept inventory design and developed a 12-item inventory to assess student ability in statistical reasoning in biology (Statistical Reasoning in Biology Concept Inventory [SRBCI]). It is important to assess student thinking in this conceptual area, because it is a fundamental requirement of being statistically literate and associated skills are needed in almost all walks of life. Despite this, previous work shows that non-expert-like thinking in statistical reasoning is common, even after instruction. As science educators, our goal should be to move students along a novice-to-expert spectrum, which could be achieved with growing experience in statistical reasoning. We used item response theory analyses (the one-parameter Rasch model and associated analyses) to assess responses gathered from biology students in two populations at a large research university in Canada in order to test SRBCI's robustness and sensitivity in capturing useful data relating to the students' conceptual ability in statistical reasoning. Our analyses indicated that SRBCI is a unidimensional construct, with items that vary widely in difficulty and provide useful information about such student ability. SRBCI should be useful as a diagnostic tool in a variety of biology settings and as a means of measuring the success of teaching interventions designed to improve statistical reasoning skills. © 2016 T. Deane et al. CBE—Life Sciences Education © 2016 The American Society for Cell Biology. This article is distributed by The American Society for Cell Biology under license from the author(s). It is available to the public under an Attribution–Noncommercial–Share Alike 3.0 Unported Creative Commons License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0).

  18. Scientific reasoning profile of junior secondary school students on the concept of static fluid

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    Mariana, N.; Siahaan, P.; Utari, S.

    2018-05-01

    Scientific reasoning is one of the most important ability. This study aims to determine the profile of scientific reasoning of junior high school students about the concept of static fluid. This research uses a descriptive method with a quantitative approach to get an idea about the scientific reasoning of One Roof Junior Secondary School Student Kotabaru Reteh in Riau. The technique of collecting data is done by test of scientific reasoning. Scientific reasoning capability refers to Furtak’s EBR (Evidence Based Reasoning) scientific reasoning indicator that contains the components of claims, data, evidence, and rules. The result obtained on each element of scientific reasoning is 35% claim, 23% data, 21% evidence and 17% rule. The conclusions of this research that scientific reasoning of Satu Atap Junior Secondary School student Kotabaru Reteh, Riau Province still in the low category.

  19. Fostering clinical reasoning in physiotherapy: comparing the effects of concept map study and concept map completion after example study in novice and advanced learners.

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    Montpetit-Tourangeau, Katherine; Dyer, Joseph-Omer; Hudon, Anne; Windsor, Monica; Charlin, Bernard; Mamede, Sílvia; van Gog, Tamara

    2017-12-01

    Health profession learners can foster clinical reasoning by studying worked examples presenting fully worked out solutions to a clinical problem. It is possible to improve the learning effect of these worked examples by combining them with other learning activities based on concept maps. This study investigated which combinaison of activities, worked examples study with concept map completion or worked examples study with concept map study, fosters more meaningful learning of intervention knowledge in physiotherapy students. Moreover, this study compared the learning effects of these learning activity combinations between novice and advanced learners. Sixty-one second-year physiotherapy students participated in the study which included a pre-test phase, a 130-min guided-learning phase and a four-week self-study phase. During the guided and self-study learning sessions, participants had to study three written worked examples presenting the clinical reasoning for selecting electrotherapeutic currents to treat patients with motor deficits. After each example, participants engaged in either concept map completion or concept map study depending on which learning condition they were randomly allocated to. Students participated in an immediate post-test at the end of the guided-learning phase and a delayed post-test at the end of the self-study phase. Post-tests assessed the understanding of principles governing the domain of knowledge to be learned (conceptual knowledge) and the ability to solve new problems that have similar (i.e., near transfer) or different (i.e., far transfer) solution rationales as problems previously studied in the examples. Learners engaged in concept map completion outperformed those engaged in concept map study on near transfer (p = .010) and far transfer (p concept map completion led to greater transfer performance than worked examples study combined with concept map study for both novice and advanced learners. Concept map completion

  20. A comprehensive test of clinical reasoning for medical students: An olympiad experience in Iran.

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    Monajemi, Alireza; Arabshahi, Kamran Soltani; Soltani, Akbar; Arbabi, Farshid; Akbari, Roghieh; Custers, Eugene; Hadadgar, Arash; Hadizadeh, Fatemeh; Changiz, Tahereh; Adibi, Peyman

    2012-01-01

    Although some tests for clinical reasoning assessment are now available, the theories of medical expertise have not played a major role in this filed. In this paper, illness script theory was chose as a theoretical framework and contemporary clinical reasoning tests were put together based on this theoretical model. This paper is a qualitative study performed with an action research approach. This style of research is performed in a context where authorities focus on promoting their organizations' performance and is carried out in the form of teamwork called participatory research. Results are presented in four parts as basic concepts, clinical reasoning assessment, test framework, and scoring. we concluded that no single test could thoroughly assess clinical reasoning competency, and therefore a battery of clinical reasoning tests is needed. This battery should cover all three parts of clinical reasoning process: script activation, selection and verification. In addition, not only both analytical and non-analytical reasoning, but also both diagnostic and management reasoning should evenly take into consideration in this battery. This paper explains the process of designing and implementing the battery of clinical reasoning in the Olympiad for medical sciences students through an action research.

  1. Investigating Upper Secondary School Teachers' Conceptions: Is Mathematical Reasoning Considered Gendered?

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    Sumpter, Lovisa

    2016-01-01

    This study examines Swedish upper secondary school teachers' gendered conceptions about students' mathematical reasoning: whether reasoning was considered gendered and, if so, which type of reasoning was attributed to girls and boys. The sample consisted of 62 teachers from six different schools from four different locations in Sweden. The results…

  2. Ontology-based concept map learning path reasoning system using SWRL rules

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    Chu, K.-K.; Lee, C.-I. [National Univ. of Tainan, Taiwan (China). Dept. of Computer Science and Information Learning Technology

    2010-08-13

    Concept maps are graphical representations of knowledge. Concept mapping may reduce students' cognitive load and extend simple memory function. The purpose of this study was on the diagnosis of students' concept map learning abilities and the provision of personally constructive advice dependant on their learning path and progress. Ontology is a useful method with which to represent and store concept map information. Semantic web rule language (SWRL) rules are easy to understand and to use as specific reasoning services. This paper discussed the selection of grade 7 lakes and rivers curriculum for which to devise a concept map learning path reasoning service. The paper defined a concept map e-learning ontology and two SWRL semantic rules, and collected users' concept map learning path data to infer implicit knowledge and to recommend the next learning path for users. It was concluded that the designs devised in this study were feasible and advanced and the ontology kept the domain knowledge preserved. SWRL rules identified an abstraction model for inferred properties. Since they were separate systems, they did not interfere with each other, while ontology or SWRL rules were maintained, ensuring persistent system extensibility and robustness. 15 refs., 1 tab., 8 figs.

  3. Evaluation for reasonableness of power conversion system concepts in the gas turbine high temperature reactor (GTHTR300)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Minatsuki, I.; Mizokami, Y.

    2007-01-01

    The conceptual design study for the Gas Turbine High Temperature Reactor (GTHTR300) was completed in 2004. In GTHTR300, SECO (Simple, Economical Competitiveness and Originality) is advocated as design philosophy in order to minimize technical and economical requirement. Furthermore the design of the GTHTR300 was developed with reflecting various view points from utilities, manufacturers and research organizations. In GTHTR300, the horizontal turbo machine rotor, the turbo machine in a separated vessel, the turbo machine with single rotor, the generator inside the power conversion vessel, and the power conversion system without inter-coolers were selected as major power conversion system concepts. This paper describes the investigation and analysis about the major concepts of GTHTR300 power conversion system in order to evaluate reasonableness of GTHTR300 design approach and acceptability with using experience and engineering knowledge of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd., which were accumulated through the activities of HTGR-GT and HTTR (High Temperature Engineering Test Reactor) designing, manufacturing, fabricating and testing. From the result of the evaluation, it was concluded that the selection of each concept in GTHTR300 was reasonable as based on the original design philosophy SECO. As a conclusion, we expect the GTHTR300 to become one of the most promising concepts for commercialization in near future. (authors)

  4. Clinical reasoning and its application to nursing: concepts and research studies.

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    Banning, Maggi

    2008-05-01

    Clinical reasoning may be defined as "the process of applying knowledge and expertise to a clinical situation to develop a solution" [Carr, S., 2004. A framework for understanding clinical reasoning in community nursing. J. Clin. Nursing 13 (7), 850-857]. Several forms of reasoning exist each has its own merits and uses. Reasoning involves the processes of cognition or thinking and metacognition. In nursing, clinical reasoning skills are an expected component of expert and competent practise. Nurse research studies have identified concepts, processes and thinking strategies that might underpin the clinical reasoning used by pre-registration nurses and experienced nurses. Much of the available research on reasoning is based on the use of the think aloud approach. Although this is a useful method, it is dependent on ability to describe and verbalise the reasoning process. More nursing research is needed to explore the clinical reasoning process. Investment in teaching and learning methods is needed to enhance clinical reasoning skills in nurses.

  5. Concept Maps for Improved Science Reasoning and Writing: Complexity Isn’t Everything

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    Dowd, Jason E.; Duncan, Tanya; Reynolds, Julie A.

    2015-01-01

    A pervasive notion in the literature is that complex concept maps reflect greater knowledge and/or more expert-like thinking than less complex concept maps. We show that concept maps used to structure scientific writing and clarify scientific reasoning do not adhere to this notion. In an undergraduate course for thesis writers, students use concept maps instead of traditional outlines to define the boundaries and scope of their research and to construct an argument for the significance of their research. Students generate maps at the beginning of the semester, revise after peer review, and revise once more at the end of the semester. Although some students revised their maps to make them more complex, a significant proportion of students simplified their maps. We found no correlation between increased complexity and improved scientific reasoning and writing skills, suggesting that sometimes students simplify their understanding as they develop more expert-like thinking. These results suggest that concept maps, when used as an intervention, can meet the varying needs of a diverse population of student writers. PMID:26538388

  6. Students' Understanding of Genetics Concepts: The Effect of Reasoning Ability and Learning Approaches

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    Kiliç, Didem; Saglam, Necdet

    2014-01-01

    Students tend to learn genetics by rote and may not realise the interrelationships in daily life. Because reasoning abilities are necessary to construct relationships between concepts and rote learning impedes the students' sound understanding, it was predicted that having high level of formal reasoning and adopting meaningful learning orientation…

  7. Relations between Representational Consistency, Conceptual Understanding of the Force Concept, and Scientific Reasoning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nieminen, Pasi; Savinainen, Antti; Viiri, Jouni

    2012-01-01

    Previous physics education research has raised the question of "hidden variables" behind students' success in learning certain concepts. In the context of the force concept, it has been suggested that students' reasoning ability is one such variable. Strong positive correlations between students' preinstruction scores for reasoning…

  8. Border or Horizon? Comparing the concept of "reason" in the liberal and republican traditions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rafael Mesquita

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available The current article analyzes the expectations of modernity's political philosophy, in its liberal and republican traditions, towards reason: its conceptualization, prerogatives and normative implications. In order to do so, we highlight the role of this human faculty in the theses of seminal authors of modernity and its conjugation the concepts of liberty and equality. Taking social contract theory for a starting point, we contrast the concept of reason in liberalism and republicanism, and after we analyze the implications of the social features of modern democracy (massive and egalitarian for the concept of the rational individual. In conclusion, it is argued that though reason is presented as the cornerstone of the political individual in modernity, locus of human autonomy and justification for its isonomy, its conceptualization varies according to the political tradition, with consequences for the legitimate limits of State action upon the citizen and for the expectations of moral progress of the population.

  9. Children's patterns of reasoning about reading and addition concepts.

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    Farrington-Flint, Lee; Canobi, Katherine H; Wood, Clare; Faulkner, Dorothy

    2010-06-01

    Children's reasoning was examined within two educational contexts (word reading and addition) so as to understand the factors that contribute to relational reasoning in the two domains. Sixty-seven 5- to 7-year-olds were given a series of related words to read or single-digit addition items to solve (interspersed with unrelated items). The frequency, accuracy, and response times of children's self-reports on the conceptually related items provided a measure of relational reasoning, while performance on the unrelated addition and reading items provided a measure of procedural skill. The results indicated that the children's ability to use conceptual relations to solve both reading and addition problems enhanced speed and accuracy levels, increased with age, and was related to procedural skill. However, regression analyses revealed that domain-specific competencies can best explain the use of conceptual relations in both reading and addition. Moreover, a cluster analysis revealed that children differ according to the academic domain in which they first apply conceptual relations and these differences are related to individual variation in their procedural skills within these particular domains. These results highlight the developmental significance of relational reasoning in the context of reading and addition and underscore the importance of concept-procedure links in explaining children's literacy and arithmetical development.

  10. Supersonic Retropropulsion Flight Test Concepts

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    Post, Ethan A.; Dupzyk, Ian C.; Korzun, Ashley M.; Dyakonov, Artem A.; Tanimoto, Rebekah L.; Edquist, Karl T.

    2011-01-01

    NASA's Exploration Technology Development and Demonstration Program has proposed plans for a series of three sub-scale flight tests at Earth for supersonic retropropulsion, a candidate decelerator technology for future, high-mass Mars missions. The first flight test in this series is intended to be a proof-of-concept test, demonstrating successful initiation and operation of supersonic retropropulsion at conditions that replicate the relevant physics of the aerodynamic-propulsive interactions expected in flight. Five sub-scale flight test article concepts, each designed for launch on sounding rockets, have been developed in consideration of this proof-of-concept flight test. Commercial, off-the-shelf components are utilized as much as possible in each concept. The design merits of the concepts are compared along with their predicted performance for a baseline trajectory. The results of a packaging study and performance-based trade studies indicate that a sounding rocket is a viable launch platform for this proof-of-concept test of supersonic retropropulsion.

  11. Requirements, needs, and concepts for a new broad-application test reactor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ryskamp, J.M.; Fletcher, C.D.; Denison, A.B.; Liebenthal, J.L.

    1992-01-01

    For a variety of reasons, including (a) the increasing demands of the 1990s regulatory environment, (b) limited existing test capactiy and capability to satisfy projected future testing missions, and (c) an expected increasing need for nuclear information to support development of advanced reactors, there is a need for requirements and preliminary concepts for a new broad-application test reactor (BATR). These requirements must include consideration not only for a broad range of projected testing missions but also for current and projected regulatory compliance and safety requirements. The requirements will form the basis for development and assessment of preconceptual reactor designs and lead to the identification of key technologies to support the government's long-term strategic and programmatic planning. This paper outlines the need for a new BATR and suggests a few preliminary reactor concepts that can meet that need

  12. Software testing concepts and operations

    CERN Document Server

    Mili, Ali

    2015-01-01

    Explores and identifies the main issues, concepts, principles and evolution of software testing, including software quality engineering and testing concepts, test data generation, test deployment analysis, and software test managementThis book examines the principles, concepts, and processes that are fundamental to the software testing function. This book is divided into five broad parts. Part I introduces software testing in the broader context of software engineering and explores the qualities that testing aims to achieve or ascertain, as well as the lifecycle of software testing. Part II c

  13. THE EFFECT OF INQUIRY BASED LEARNING ON THE REASONING ABILITY OF GRADE VII STUDENTS ABOUT HEAT CONCEPT

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    N. A. C. Damawati

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available This study aimed to analyze the effect of Inquiry Based Learningon the reasoning ability of grade 7 students about heat concept. This study is a quasi-experimental research design with non-equivalent post-test only controls group design. Two groups of seventh grade students were included as samples, which receive the experimental class of Inquiry Based Learning treatment while the other group acted as a control group who received the learning process in accordance with the applicable provisions of the curriculum. The data collected in this study is the students reasoning ability which obtained from the test of reasoning ability. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and statistical parametric t-test. Results of independet research shows that there are significant differences in reasoning abilities between the experimental class and control class. In this research, the experiment class perform more better reasoning skills than the control class.Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menganalisis pengaruh Inquiry Based Learning terhadap kemampuan penalaran siswa kelas VII pada materi Kalor. Penelitian ini merupakan penelitian eksperimen semu dengan rancangan non-equivalent post-test only control group design.  Dua kelompok siswa kelas VII  dilibatkan sebagai sampel penelitian, dimana kelas eksperimen menerima perlakuan Inquiry Based Learning sementara kelompok lainnya bertindak sebagai kelas kontrol yang menerima proses pembelajaran sesuai dengan ketentuan kurikulum yang berlaku di sekolah tempat penelitian dilaksanakan. Data yang dikumpulkan dalam penelitian ini adalah kemampuan penalaran siswa yang diperoleh dari hasil tes kemampuan penalaran. Data dianalisis dengan menggunakan statistik deskriptif dan statistik parametrik Independent t-test. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa terdapat perbedaan kemampuan penalaran yang signifikan antara kelas eksperimen dan kelas kontrol Kelas eksperimen menunjukkan kemampuan penalaran yang lebih baik

  14. Reasonable assurance and in-situ testing

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rhoderick, J.E.; Nelson, J.W.

    1986-01-01

    The Department of Energy is currently preparing site characterization plans for sites being considered for the first geologic repository. The site investigations described in these plans will be aimed at providing ''reasonable assurance'' to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission that the performance objectives and criteria specified in 10 CFR Part 60 will be met. The in-situ testing being planned by the DOE for site characterization, and the subsequent testing conducted as part of performance confirmation, reflects how the basis for ''reasonable assurance'' will change through the licensing process

  15. Puzzle test: A tool for non-analytical clinical reasoning assessment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Monajemi, Alireza; Yaghmaei, Minoo

    2016-01-01

    Most contemporary clinical reasoning tests typically assess non-automatic thinking. Therefore, a test is needed to measure automatic reasoning or pattern recognition, which has been largely neglected in clinical reasoning tests. The Puzzle Test (PT) is dedicated to assess automatic clinical reasoning in routine situations. This test has been introduced first in 2009 by Monajemi et al in the Olympiad for Medical Sciences Students.PT is an item format that has gained acceptance in medical education, but no detailed guidelines exist for this test's format, construction and scoring. In this article, a format is described and the steps to prepare and administer valid and reliable PTs are presented. PT examines a specific clinical reasoning task: Pattern recognition. PT does not replace other clinical reasoning assessment tools. However, it complements them in strategies for assessing comprehensive clinical reasoning.

  16. Mathematical Reasoning Requirements in Swedish National Physics Tests

    Science.gov (United States)

    Johansson, Helena

    2016-01-01

    This paper focuses on one aspect of mathematical competence, namely mathematical reasoning, and how this competency influences students' knowing of physics. This influence was studied by analysing the mathematical reasoning requirements upper secondary students meet when solving tasks in national physics tests. National tests are constructed to…

  17. Common Variance Among Three Measures of Nonverbal Cognitive Ability: WISC-R Performance Scale, WJPB-TCA Reasoning Cluster, and Halstead Category Test.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Telzrow, Cathy F.; Harr, Gale A.

    1987-01-01

    Examined the relationships among two psychometric measures of nonverbal cognitive ability - The Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children-Revised (WISC-R) and the Woodcock-Johnson Psychoeducational Battery-Tests of Cognitive Ability (WJPB-TCA) and a neuropsychological test of abstract reasoning and concept formation (Halstead Category Test) in 25…

  18. The correlation between concept mastery and stage of moral reasoning student using socio-scientific issues on reproductive system material

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lestari, T. A.; Saefudin; Priyandoko, D.

    2018-05-01

    This research aims to analyze the correlation between concept mastery and moral stages of students. The research method using a correlational study with stratified random sampling technique. The population in this research is all of eleventh grade students in Senior High School Bandung. Data were collected from 297 eleventh grade students of three Senior High School in Bandung with use the instrument in the form of examination and stage of moral reasoning questionnaire. The stage of moral reasoning in this research consists of two student’s moral reasoning categories based on 16 questionnaire as the indicators from Jones et al. (2007). The results of this research shows that the average of eleventh grade student’s moral reasoning stage is the advanced stage. The results of this research shows that the concept mastery and the stage of moral reasoning indicates that there are 0.370 0f a positive correlation. This research provides an overview of eleventh grade student about concept mastery and stage of moral reasoning using socio-scientific issues.

  19. Development and Testing of the Solar System Concept Inventory

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hornstein, Seth D.; Prather, E. E.; English, T. R.; Desch, S. M.; Keller, J. M.; Collaboration of Astronomy Teaching Scholars CATS

    2011-01-01

    Trying to assess if our students really understand the ideas we present in class can be difficult. Concept inventories are research-validated assessment tools that can provide us with data to better understand whether we are successful in the classroom. The idea for the Solar System Concept Inventory (SSCI) was born after realizing that no concept inventory currently available covered details regarding the formation and evolution of our solar system. Topics were selected by having faculty identify the key concepts they address when teaching about the solar system and interviewing students in order to identify common naive ideas and reasoning difficulties relating to these key topics. Beginning in fall of 2008, a national multi-institutional field test began which would eventually involve nearly 2500 students and 17 instructors from 10 different institutions. After each round of testing, a group of instructors from multiple institutions around the country worked together to analyze the data and revise or eliminate underperforming questions. Each question was examined using a combination of point biserial, percent correct on the pre-test, and item difficulty to determine if the question was properly differentiating student understanding while also ensuring the question was not too easy or too hard. In this talk, I will present an overall outline of the development of the SSCI as well as the final testing results. The final version of the SSCI can be found at http://casa.colorado.edu/ hornstei/ssci/. This material is based upon work supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant No. 0715517, a CCLI Phase III Grant for the Collaboration of Astronomy Teaching Scholars (CATS). Any findings expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the NSF.

  20. Learning sequential control in a Neural Blackboard Architecture for in situ concept reasoning

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van der Velde, Frank; van der Velde, Frank; Besold, Tarek R.; Lamb, Luis; Serafini, Luciano; Tabor, Whitney

    2016-01-01

    Simulations are presented and discussed of learning sequential control in a Neural Blackboard Architecture (NBA) for in situ concept-based reasoning. Sequential control is learned in a reservoir network, consisting of columns with neural circuits. This allows the reservoir to control the dynamics of

  1. A Proposed Model of Self-Generated Analogical Reasoning for the Concept of Translation in Protein Synthesis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Salih, Maria

    2008-01-01

    This paper explored and described the analogical reasoning occurring in the minds of different science achievement groups for the concept of translation in protein synthesis. "What is the process of self-generated analogical reasoning?", "What types of matching was involved?" and "What are the consequences of the matching…

  2. Diagnostic grand rounds: A new teaching concept to train diagnostic reasoning

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Stieger, Stefan; Praschinger, Andrea; Kletter, Kurt; Kainberger, Franz

    2011-01-01

    Introduction: Diagnostic reasoning is a core skill in teaching and learning in undergraduate curricula. Diagnostic grand rounds (DGRs) as a subform of grand rounds are intended to train the students' skills in the selection of appropriate tests and in the interpretation of test results. The aim of this study was to test DGRs for their ability to improve diagnostic reasoning by using a pre-post-test design. Methods: During one winter term, all 398 fifth-year students (36.1% male, 63.9% female) solved 23 clinical cases presented in 8 DGRs. In an online questionnaire, a Diagnostic Thinking Inventory (DTI) with 41 items was evaluated for flexibility in thinking and structure of knowledge in memory. Results were correlated with those from a summative multiple-choice knowledge test and of the learning objectives in a logbook. Results: The students' DTI scores in the post-test were significantly higher than those reported in the pre-test. DTI scores at either testing time did not correlate with medical knowledge as assessed by a multiple-choice knowledge test. Abilities acquired during clinical clerkships as documented in a logbook could only account for a small proportion of the increase in the flexibility subscale score. This effect still remained significant after accounting for potential confounders. Conclusion: Establishing DGRs proofed to be an effective way of successfully improving both students' diagnostic reasoning and the ability to select the appropriate test method in routine clinical practice.

  3. Diagnostic grand rounds: A new teaching concept to train diagnostic reasoning

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Stieger, Stefan, E-mail: stefan.stieger@univie.ac.at [Department of Basic Psychological Research, School of Psychology, University of Vienna, Liebiggasse 5, A-1010 Vienna (Austria); Praschinger, Andrea, E-mail: andrea.praschinger@meduniwien.ac.at [Core Unit for Medical Education (BEMAW), Medical University of Vienna, Spitalgasse 23, BT87, P.O. 10, A-1097 Vienna (Austria); Kletter, Kurt, E-mail: kurt.kletter@meduniwien.ac.at [Department of Nuclear Medicine, General Hospital of Vienna, Waehringer Guertel 18-20, A-1090 Vienna (Austria); Kainberger, Franz, E-mail: franz.kainberger@meduniwien.ac.at [Department of Radiology, General Hospital of Vienna, Waehringer Guertel 18-20, A-1090 Vienna (Austria)

    2011-06-15

    Introduction: Diagnostic reasoning is a core skill in teaching and learning in undergraduate curricula. Diagnostic grand rounds (DGRs) as a subform of grand rounds are intended to train the students' skills in the selection of appropriate tests and in the interpretation of test results. The aim of this study was to test DGRs for their ability to improve diagnostic reasoning by using a pre-post-test design. Methods: During one winter term, all 398 fifth-year students (36.1% male, 63.9% female) solved 23 clinical cases presented in 8 DGRs. In an online questionnaire, a Diagnostic Thinking Inventory (DTI) with 41 items was evaluated for flexibility in thinking and structure of knowledge in memory. Results were correlated with those from a summative multiple-choice knowledge test and of the learning objectives in a logbook. Results: The students' DTI scores in the post-test were significantly higher than those reported in the pre-test. DTI scores at either testing time did not correlate with medical knowledge as assessed by a multiple-choice knowledge test. Abilities acquired during clinical clerkships as documented in a logbook could only account for a small proportion of the increase in the flexibility subscale score. This effect still remained significant after accounting for potential confounders. Conclusion: Establishing DGRs proofed to be an effective way of successfully improving both students' diagnostic reasoning and the ability to select the appropriate test method in routine clinical practice.

  4. The Precalculus Concept Assessment: A Tool for Assessing Students' Reasoning Abilities and Understandings

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carlson, Marilyn; Oehrtman, Michael; Engelke, Nicole

    2010-01-01

    This article describes the development of the Precalculus Concept Assessment (PCA) instrument, a 25-item multiple-choice exam. The reasoning abilities and understandings central to precalculus and foundational for beginning calculus were identified and characterized in a series of research studies and are articulated in the PCA Taxonomy. These…

  5. Supporting Students' Learning and Socioscientific Reasoning About Climate Change—the Effect of Computer-Based Concept Mapping Scaffolds

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eggert, Sabina; Nitsch, Anne; Boone, William J.; Nückles, Matthias; Bögeholz, Susanne

    2017-02-01

    -generated concept maps, as well as on students' test performance with respect to conceptual knowledge as well as socioscientific reasoning and socioscientific decision making.

  6. Teaching clinical reasoning: case-based and coached.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kassirer, Jerome P

    2010-07-01

    Optimal medical care is critically dependent on clinicians' skills to make the right diagnosis and to recommend the most appropriate therapy, and acquiring such reasoning skills is a key requirement at every level of medical education. Teaching clinical reasoning is grounded in several fundamental principles of educational theory. Adult learning theory posits that learning is best accomplished by repeated, deliberate exposure to real cases, that case examples should be selected for their reflection of multiple aspects of clinical reasoning, and that the participation of a coach augments the value of an educational experience. The theory proposes that memory of clinical medicine and clinical reasoning strategies is enhanced when errors in information, judgment, and reasoning are immediately pointed out and discussed. Rather than using cases artificially constructed from memory, real cases are greatly preferred because they often reflect the false leads, the polymorphisms of actual clinical material, and the misleading test results encountered in everyday practice. These concepts foster the teaching and learning of the diagnostic process, the complex trade-offs between the benefits and risks of diagnostic tests and treatments, and cognitive errors in clinical reasoning. The teaching of clinical reasoning need not and should not be delayed until students gain a full understanding of anatomy and pathophysiology. Concepts such as hypothesis generation, pattern recognition, context formulation, diagnostic test interpretation, differential diagnosis, and diagnostic verification provide both the language and the methods of clinical problem solving. Expertise is attainable even though the precise mechanisms of achieving it are not known.

  7. Relations between Inductive Reasoning and Deductive Reasoning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heit, Evan; Rotello, Caren M.

    2010-01-01

    One of the most important open questions in reasoning research is how inductive reasoning and deductive reasoning are related. In an effort to address this question, we applied methods and concepts from memory research. We used 2 experiments to examine the effects of logical validity and premise-conclusion similarity on evaluation of arguments.…

  8. Proportional Reasoning and Related Concepts: Analysis of Gaps and Understandings of Middle Grade Students

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ojose, Bobby

    2015-01-01

    This study investigated proportional reasoning and the related concepts of decimal, percent, and ratio. In particular, the research focused on analyzing the gaps and understandings that grades 6, 7, and 8 students have and advanced factors for such gaps and understandings. The study employed a mixed method approach in which quantitative data was…

  9. Using Two-Tier Test to Identify Primary Students' Conceptual Understanding and Alternative Conceptions in Acid Base

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bayrak, Beyza Karadeniz

    2013-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to identify primary students' conceptual understanding and alternative conceptions in acid-base. For this reason, a 15 items two-tier multiple choice test administered 56 eighth grade students in spring semester 2009-2010. Data for this study were collected using a conceptual understanding scale prepared to include…

  10. Avoiding stimulus confounds in Implicit Association Tests by using the concepts as stimuli.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Steffens, Melanie C; Kirschbaum, Michael; Glados, Petra

    2008-06-01

    Implicit Association Tests (IATs) are supposed to measure associations between concepts. In order to achieve that aim, participants are required to assign individual stimuli to those concepts under time pressure in two different tasks. Previous research has shown that not only the associations of the concepts with each other, but also the stimuli's cross-category associations influence the observed reaction time difference between these tasks (i.e. the IAT effect). Little is known about adequate stimulus selection. In this article, we introduce a variant of the IAT, the Concept Association Task (CAT) in which the concepts themselves or synonyms of them are used as stimuli. Three experiments on Germans' attitudes towards foreigners yielded evidence for the convergent validity of the CAT: (1) it correlated well with other IAT versions; (2) it correlated higher with spontaneous attitude-related judgements than other IAT versions; and (3) it correlated with response-window priming, another implicit measure based on reaction times. Furthermore, we showed that the CAT yielded reasonable findings when other IAT versions appear to yield distorted ones.

  11. Reasons for using flavored liquids among electronic cigarette users: A concept mapping study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Soule, Eric K; Lopez, Alexa A; Guy, Mignonne C; Cobb, Caroline O

    2016-09-01

    Electronic cigarettes (ECIGs) aerosolize liquids often containing flavorants for inhalation. Few studies have examined the role of flavors in ECIG use. This study's purpose was to examine reasons for flavored ECIG use using a mixed-method approach, concept mapping (CM). Forty-six past 30-day adult ECIG users recruited from vape forums/conferences completed three online CM tasks. Participants brainstormed responses to a prompt: "A specific reason I use flavored e-liquid in my electronic cigarette product is…". The final 107 brainstormed statements were sorted by participants into groups of similar content. Participants rated each statement on a 7-point scale (1-Definitely NOT a reason to 7-Definitely a reason) based on a prompt: "This is a specific reason why I used flavored e-liquid in my electronic cigarette product in the past month." A cluster map was generated from participants' sorting and ratings using CM statistical software. Cluster mean ratings were compared. Analysis revealed five clusters of reasons for flavored ECIG use including Increased Satisfaction/Enjoyment, Better Feel/Taste than Cigarettes, Variety/Customization, Food Craving Suppression, and Social Impacts. Statements in the Increased Satisfaction/Enjoyment and Better Feel/Taste than Cigarettes clusters were rated significantly higher than statements from other clusters (psincrease the rewarding and possible addictive effects of ECIGs. These results support continued examination of the role of flavors and ECIG use behaviors. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  12. Construction and Evaluation of Reliability and Validity of Reasoning Ability Test

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bhat, Mehraj A.

    2014-01-01

    This paper is based on the construction and evaluation of reliability and validity of reasoning ability test at secondary school students. In this paper an attempt was made to evaluate validity, reliability and to determine the appropriate standards to interpret the results of reasoning ability test. The test includes 45 items to measure six types…

  13. Reasoning with Inductive Argument Test: A Study of Validity and Reliability

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mehmet Emrah Karadere

    2013-11-01

    Full Text Available Reasoning with Inductive Argument Test:A Study of Validity and Reliability Objective: The aim of our study is to research reliability and validity and to evaluate the usability of Turkish version of Reasoning with Inductive Argument Test (RIAT in Turkish healty population. Method: 51 healty volunteers who work in Ankara Dıskapi Yildirim Beyazit Research and Training Hospital participated in this study. Reasoning with Inductive Argument Test (RIAT was translated into Turkish by three clinical good knowledge of English. Participants were given a sociodemographic data form, and RIAT were performed by clinicians. To test the reliability of the Turkish version of RIAT, Cronbach’s alpha coefficient was calculated and the halving method was used for the test. Results: The internal consistency of the Reasoning with Inductive Argument Test (RIAT items, Cronbach’s alpha internal consistency coefficient measurements of 0.73 was found to be statistically significant. Spearman-Brown coefficient that determines the reliability of the whole test r=0.74 was found. Kurtosis values of all the items was below 1.5 and the percentages in the second evaluation were mainly lower. At the same time, both change in belief between self produced RIAT options and given RIAT options (p=0.02, z=-2296 as well as changes in beliefs between related and unrelated items for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD difference (p=0.03, z=-2.199 were significant. Conclusion: The preliminary data obtained from the study of reliability and validity of the scale shows that ‘Reasoning with Inductive Argument Test’ supports reliability and validity in Turkish population.

  14. Concepts of formal concept analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Žáček, Martin; Homola, Dan; Miarka, Rostislav

    2017-07-01

    The aim of this article is apply of Formal Concept Analysis on concept of world. Formal concept analysis (FCA) as a methodology of data analysis, information management and knowledge representation has potential to be applied to a verity of linguistic problems. FCA is mathematical theory for concepts and concept hierarchies that reflects an understanding of concept. Formal concept analysis explicitly formalizes extension and intension of a concept, their mutual relationships. A distinguishing feature of FCA is an inherent integration of three components of conceptual processing of data and knowledge, namely, the discovery and reasoning with concepts in data, discovery and reasoning with dependencies in data, and visualization of data, concepts, and dependencies with folding/unfolding capabilities.

  15. Fostering clinical reasoning in physiotherapy : Comparing the effects of concept map study and concept map completion after example study in novice and advanced learners

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Montpetit-tourangeau, Katherine; Dyer, Joseph-omer; Hudon, Anne; Windsor, Monica; Charlin, Bernard; Mamede, Sílvia; Van Gog, Tamara

    2017-01-01

    Background: Health profession learners can foster clinical reasoning by studying worked examples presenting fully worked out solutions to a clinical problem. It is possible to improve the learning effect of these worked examples by combining them with other learning activities based on concept maps.

  16. The Analysis of Students Scientific Reasoning Ability in Solving the Modified Lawson Classroom Test of Scientific Reasoning (MLCTSR Problems by Applying the Levels of Inquiry

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    N. Novia

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available This study aims to determine the students’ achievement in answering modified lawson classroom test of scientific reasoning (MLCTSR questions in overall science teaching and by every aspect of scientific reasoning abilities. There are six aspects related to the scientific reasoning abilities that were measured; they are conservatorial reasoning, proportional reasoning, controlling variables, combinatorial reasoning, probabilistic reasoning, correlational reasoning. The research is also conducted to see the development of scientific reasoning by using levels of inquiry models. The students reasoning ability was measured using the Modified Lawson Classroom Test of Scientific Reasoning (MLCTSR. MLCTSR is a test developed based on the test of scientific reasoning of Lawson’s Classroom Test of Scientific Reasoning (LCTSR in 2000 which amounted to 12 multiple-choice questions. The research method chosen in this study is descriptive quantitative research methods. The research design used is One Group Pretest-Posttest Design. The population of this study is the entire junior high students class VII the academic year 2014/2015 in one junior high school in Bandung. The samples in this study are one of class VII, which is class VII C. The sampling method used in this research is purposive sampling. The results showed that there is an increase in quantitative scientific reasoning although its value is not big.

  17. A concept of software testing for SMART MMIS software

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Seo, Yong Seok; Seong, Seung Hwan; Park, Keun Ok; Hur, Sub; Kim, Dong Hoon

    2001-01-01

    In order to achieve high quality of SMART MMIS software, the well-constructed software testing concept shall be required. This paper established software testing concept which is to be applied to SMART MMIS software, in terms of software testing organization, documentation. procedure, and methods. The software testing methods are classified into source code static analysis and dynamic testing. The software dynamic testing methods are discussed with two aspects: white-box and black-box testing. As software testing concept introduced in this paper is applied to the SMART MMIS software. the high quality of the software will be produced. In the future, software failure data will be collected through the construction of SMART MMIS prototyping facility which the software testing concept of this paper is applied to

  18. Public Reason Renaturalized

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Tønder, Lars

    2014-01-01

    . The article develops this argument via a sensorial orientation to politics that not only re-frames existing critiques of neo-Kantianism but also includes an alternative, renaturalized conception of public reason, one that allows us to overcome the disconnect between the account we give of reason and the way......This article takes up recent discussions of nature and the sensorium in order to rethink public reason in deeply divided societies. The aim is not to reject the role of reason-giving but rather to infuse it with new meaning, bringing the reasonable back to its sensorially inflected circumstances...... it is mobilized in a world of deep pluralism. The article concludes with a discussion of how a renaturalized conception of public reason might change the positioning of contemporary democratic theory vis-a-vis the struggle for empowerment and pluralization in an age of neo-liberalism and state-surveillance....

  19. Designs of Concept Maps and Their Impacts on Readers' Performance in Memory and Reasoning while Reading

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tzeng, Jeng-Yi

    2010-01-01

    From the perspective of the Fuzzy Trace Theory, this study investigated the impacts of concept maps with two strategic orientations (comprehensive and thematic representations) on readers' performance of cognitive operations (such as perception, verbatim memory, gist reasoning and syntheses) while the readers were reading two history articles that…

  20. Validation and structural analysis of the kinematics concept test

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A. Lichtenberger

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available The kinematics concept test (KCT is a multiple-choice test designed to evaluate students’ conceptual understanding of kinematics at the high school level. The test comprises 49 multiple-choice items about velocity and acceleration, which are based on seven kinematic concepts and which make use of three different representations. In the first part of this article we describe the development and the validation process of the KCT. We applied the KCT to 338 Swiss high school students who attended traditional teaching in kinematics. We analyzed the response data to provide the psychometric properties of the test. In the second part we present the results of a structural analysis of the test. An exploratory factor analysis of 664 student answers finally uncovered the seven kinematics concepts as factors. However, the analysis revealed a hierarchical structure of concepts. At the higher level, mathematical concepts group together, and then split up into physics concepts at the lower level. Furthermore, students who seem to understand a concept in one representation have difficulties transferring the concept to similar problems in another representation. Both results have implications for teaching kinematics. First, teaching mathematical concepts beforehand might be beneficial for learning kinematics. Second, instructions have to be designed to teach students the change between different representations.

  1. Validation and structural analysis of the kinematics concept test

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lichtenberger, A.; Wagner, C.; Hofer, S. I.; Stern, E.; Vaterlaus, A.

    2017-06-01

    The kinematics concept test (KCT) is a multiple-choice test designed to evaluate students' conceptual understanding of kinematics at the high school level. The test comprises 49 multiple-choice items about velocity and acceleration, which are based on seven kinematic concepts and which make use of three different representations. In the first part of this article we describe the development and the validation process of the KCT. We applied the KCT to 338 Swiss high school students who attended traditional teaching in kinematics. We analyzed the response data to provide the psychometric properties of the test. In the second part we present the results of a structural analysis of the test. An exploratory factor analysis of 664 student answers finally uncovered the seven kinematics concepts as factors. However, the analysis revealed a hierarchical structure of concepts. At the higher level, mathematical concepts group together, and then split up into physics concepts at the lower level. Furthermore, students who seem to understand a concept in one representation have difficulties transferring the concept to similar problems in another representation. Both results have implications for teaching kinematics. First, teaching mathematical concepts beforehand might be beneficial for learning kinematics. Second, instructions have to be designed to teach students the change between different representations.

  2. Reasons and circumstances of the Chernobyl-4 reactor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lomakin, V.V.; Krayushkin, A.V.

    1992-01-01

    Paper considers the present-day opinions concerning the reasons and circumstances of the CNPP fourth power unit accident. The chronology of test conductions at the fourth power unit is given. The sources of the initial information on the accident development are pointed out. Evolution of the concepts about the reasons of occurrence and development of the accident is shown. Calculation analysis of the accident development is presented. 5 figs

  3. Verification of causal influences of reasoning skills and epistemology on physics conceptual learning

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lin Ding

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available This study seeks to test the causal influences of reasoning skills and epistemologies on student conceptual learning in physics. A causal model, integrating multiple variables that were investigated separately in the prior literature, is proposed and tested through path analysis. These variables include student preinstructional reasoning skills measured by the Classroom Test of Scientific Reasoning, pre- and postepistemological views measured by the Colorado Learning Attitudes about Science Survey, and pre- and postperformance on Newtonian concepts measured by the Force Concept Inventory. Students from a traditionally taught calculus-based introductory mechanics course at a research university participated in the study. Results largely support the postulated causal model and reveal strong influences of reasoning skills and preinstructional epistemology on student conceptual learning gains. Interestingly enough, postinstructional epistemology does not appear to have a significant influence on student learning gains. Moreover, pre- and postinstructional epistemology, although barely different from each other on average, have little causal connection between them.

  4. Evaluation of scaling concepts for integral system test facilities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Condie, K.G.; Larson, T.K.; Davis, C.B.

    1987-01-01

    A study was conducted by EG and G Idaho, Inc., to identify and technically evaluate potential concepts which will allow the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to maintain the capability to conduct future integral, thermal-hydraulic facility experiments of interest to light water reactor safety. This paper summarizes the methodology used in the study and presents a rankings for each facility concept relative to its ability to simulate phenomena identified as important in selected reactor transients in Babcock and Wilcox and Westinghouse large pressurized water reactors. Established scaling methodologies are used to develop potential concepts for scaled integral thermal-hydraulic experiment facilities. Concepts selected included: full height, full pressure water; reduced height, reduced pressure water; reduced height, full pressure water; one-tenth linear, full pressure water; and reduced height, full scaled pressure Freon. Results from this study suggest that a facility capable of operating at typical reactor operating conditions will scale most phenomena reasonably well. Local heat transfer phenomena is best scaled by the full height facility, while the reduced height facilities provide better scaling where multi-dimensional phenomena are considered important. Although many phenomena in facilities using Freon or water at nontypical pressure will scale reasonably well, those phenomena which are heavily dependent on quality can be distorted. Furthermore, relation of data produced in facilities operating with nontypical fluids or at nontypical pressures to large plants will be a difficult and time-consuming process

  5. Development of Two-Tier Diagnostic Test Pictorial-Based for Identifying High School Students Misconceptions on the Mole Concept

    Science.gov (United States)

    Siswaningsih, W.; Firman, H.; Zackiyah; Khoirunnisa, A.

    2017-02-01

    The aim of this study was to develop the two-tier pictorial-based diagnostic test for identifying student misconceptions on mole concept. The method of this study is used development and validation. The development of the test Obtained through four phases, development of any items, validation, determination key, and application test. Test was developed in the form of pictorial consisting of two tier, the first tier Consist of four possible answers and the second tier Consist of four possible reasons. Based on the results of content validity of 20 items using the CVR (Content Validity Ratio), a number of 18 items declared valid. Based on the results of the reliability test using SPSS, Obtained 17 items with Cronbach’s Alpha value of 0703, the which means that items have accepted. A total of 10 items was conducted to 35 students of senior high school students who have studied the mole concept on one of the high schools in Cimahi. Based on the results of the application test, student misconceptions were identified in each label concept in mole concept with the percentage of misconceptions on the label concept of mole (60.15%), Avogadro’s number (34.28%), relative atomic mass (62, 84%), relative molecule mass (77.08%), molar mass (68.53%), molar volume of gas (57.11%), molarity (71.32%), chemical equation (82.77%), limiting reactants (91.40%), and molecular formula (77.13%).

  6. Conflicting modes of reasoning in the Assisted Migration debate: a concept mapping analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Klenk, N. L.; Larson, B.

    2011-12-01

    A growing body of literature in biodiversity conservation and forestry has developed around the risks and benefits of the Assisted Migration (AM) of species, including recommendations for planning and management. However, despite years of academic debate, general consensus has yet to be reached between the proponents and the opponents of AM as a policy option. We hypothesize that the continued impasse arises out of fundamentally conflicting value judgments. Using a concept mapping technique, we analyzed reasons for and against AM, including the use of scientific evidence and the nature of the values and ethical norms that shape the modes of reasoning in the debate. Our results indicate the presence of a diversity of ethical arguments in addition to the standard precautionary argument and pragmatic reasoning. We further discovered that different kinds of scientific arguments are used by proponents versus opponents of AM: the former rely mostly on detailed biological and ecological facts about species most-at-risk under climate change, while the latter focus on broader ecological theories. Our analysis suggests little dispute over the scientific foundations of the debate. Instead, we suggest that the main barrier to consensus is the advocacy of fundamental values, which are a matter of personal choice, and thus not likely to be changed. One way out of this impasse is a pragmatic mode of reasoning, which eschews the debate on fundamental values and evaluates the means and ends of AM in a case-by-case approach.

  7. The effects of students' reasoning abilities on conceptual understandings and problem-solving skills in introductory mechanics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ates, S; Cataloglu, E

    2007-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to determine if there are relationships among freshmen/first year students' reasoning abilities, conceptual understandings and problem-solving skills in introductory mechanics. The sample consisted of 165 freshmen science education prospective teachers (female = 86, male = 79; age range 17-21) who were enrolled in an introductory physics course. Data collection was done during the fall semesters in two successive years. At the beginning of each semester, the force concept inventory (FCI) and the classroom test of scientific reasoning (CTSR) were administered to assess students' initial understanding of basic concepts in mechanics and reasoning levels. After completing the course, the FCI and the mechanics baseline test (MBT) were administered. The results indicated that there was a significant difference in problem-solving skill test mean scores, as measured by the MBT, among concrete, formal and postformal reasoners. There were no significant differences in conceptual understanding levels of pre- and post-test mean scores, as measured by FCI, among the groups. The Benferroni post hoc comparison test revealed which set of reasoning levels showed significant difference for the MBT scores. No statistical difference between formal and postformal reasoners' mean scores was observed, while the mean scores between concrete and formal reasoners and concrete and postformal reasoners were statistically significantly different

  8. Ethics Education Seen through the Lens of Habermas's Conception of Practical Reason: The Quebec Education Program

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bouchard, Nancy; Morris, Ronald W.

    2012-01-01

    This paper examines the Quebec Education Program (QEP), particularly the new course in ethics and religious culture (ERC), in the light of Habermas's conception of the moral and ethical uses of practical reason. Habermas's discursive theory of morality is used to assess the program's understanding of what it means to be competent in moral matters.…

  9. The use of the bi-factor model to test the uni-dimensionality of a battery of reasoning tests.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Primi, Ricardo; Rocha da Silva, Marjorie Cristina; Rodrigues, Priscila; Muniz, Monalisa; Almeida, Leandro S

    2013-02-01

    The Battery of Reasoning Tests 5 (BPR-5) aims to assess the reasoning ability of individuals, using sub-tests with different formats and contents that require basic processes of inductive and deductive reasoning for their resolution. The BPR has three sequential forms: BPR-5i (for children from first to fifth grade), BPR-5 - Form A (for children from sixth to eighth grade) and BPR-5 - form B (for high school and undergraduate students). The present study analysed 412 questionnaires concerning BPR-5i, 603 questionnaires concerning BPR-5 - Form A and 1748 questionnaires concerning BPR-5 - Form B. The main goal was to test the uni-dimensionality of the battery and its tests in relation to items using the bi-factor model. Results suggest that the g factor loadings (extracted by the uni-dimensional model) do not change when the data is adjusted for a more flexible multi-factor model (bi-factor model). A general reasoning factor underlying different contents items is supported.

  10. Crashworthy airframe design concepts: Fabrication and testing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cronkhite, J. D.; Berry, V. L.

    1982-01-01

    Crashworthy floor concepts applicable to general aviation aircraft metal airframe structures were investigated. Initially several energy absorbing lower fuselage structure concepts were evaluated. Full scale floor sections representative of a twin engine, general aviation airplane lower fuselage structure were designed and fabricated. The floors featured an upper high strength platform with an energy absorbing, crushable structure underneath. Eighteen floors were fabricated that incorporated five different crushable subfloor concepts. The floors were then evaluated through static and dynamic testing. Computer programs NASTRAN and KRASH were used for the static and dynamic analysis of the floor section designs. Two twin engine airplane fuselages were modified to incorporate the most promising crashworthy floor sections for test evaluation.

  11. A case-based reasoning tool for breast cancer knowledge management with data mining concepts and techniques

    Science.gov (United States)

    Demigha, Souâd.

    2016-03-01

    The paper presents a Case-Based Reasoning Tool for Breast Cancer Knowledge Management to improve breast cancer screening. To develop this tool, we combine both concepts and techniques of Case-Based Reasoning (CBR) and Data Mining (DM). Physicians and radiologists ground their diagnosis on their expertise (past experience) based on clinical cases. Case-Based Reasoning is the process of solving new problems based on the solutions of similar past problems and structured as cases. CBR is suitable for medical use. On the other hand, existing traditional hospital information systems (HIS), Radiological Information Systems (RIS) and Picture Archiving Information Systems (PACS) don't allow managing efficiently medical information because of its complexity and heterogeneity. Data Mining is the process of mining information from a data set and transform it into an understandable structure for further use. Combining CBR to Data Mining techniques will facilitate diagnosis and decision-making of medical experts.

  12. Liquid oxygen (LO2) propellant conditioning concept testing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Perry, Gretchen L. E.; Orth, Michael S.; Mehta, Gopal K.

    1993-01-01

    Testing of a simplified LO2 propellant conditioning concept for future expendable launch vehicles is discussed. Four different concepts are being investigated: no-bleed, low-bleed, use of a recirculation line, and He bubbling. A full-scale test article, which is a facsimile of a propellant feed duct with an attached section to simulate heat input from an LO2 turbopump, is to be tested at the Cold Flow Facility of the Marshall Space Flight Center West Test Area. Work to date includes: design and fabrication of the test article, design of the test facility and initial fabrication, development of a test matrix and test procedures, initial predictions of test output, and heat leak calibration and heat exchanger tests on the test articles.

  13. Validation and Structural Analysis of the Kinematics Concept Test

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lichtenberger, A.; Wagner, C.; Hofer, S. I.; Stem, E.; Vaterlaus, A.

    2017-01-01

    The kinematics concept test (KCT) is a multiple-choice test designed to evaluate students' conceptual understanding of kinematics at the high school level. The test comprises 49 multiple-choice items about velocity and acceleration, which are based on seven kinematic concepts and which make use of three different representations. In the first part…

  14. Exploring High School Students Beginning Reasoning about Significance Tests with Technology

    Science.gov (United States)

    García, Víctor N.; Sánchez, Ernesto

    2017-01-01

    In the present study we analyze how students reason about or make inferences given a particular hypothesis testing problem (without having studied formal methods of statistical inference) when using Fathom. They use Fathom to create an empirical sampling distribution through computer simulation. It is found that most student´s reasoning rely on…

  15. A Clinical Reasoning Tool for Virtual Patients: Design-Based Research Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hege, Inga; Kononowicz, Andrzej A; Adler, Martin

    2017-11-02

    Clinical reasoning is a fundamental process medical students have to learn during and after medical school. Virtual patients (VP) are a technology-enhanced learning method to teach clinical reasoning. However, VP systems do not exploit their full potential concerning the clinical reasoning process; for example, most systems focus on the outcome and less on the process of clinical reasoning. Keeping our concept grounded in a former qualitative study, we aimed to design and implement a tool to enhance VPs with activities and feedback, which specifically foster the acquisition of clinical reasoning skills. We designed the tool by translating elements of a conceptual clinical reasoning learning framework into software requirements. The resulting clinical reasoning tool enables learners to build their patient's illness script as a concept map when they are working on a VP scenario. The student's map is compared with the experts' reasoning at each stage of the VP, which is technically enabled by using Medical Subject Headings, which is a comprehensive controlled vocabulary published by the US National Library of Medicine. The tool is implemented using Web technologies, has an open architecture that enables its integration into various systems through an open application program interface, and is available under a Massachusetts Institute of Technology license. We conducted usability tests following a think-aloud protocol and a pilot field study with maps created by 64 medical students. The results show that learners interact with the tool but create less nodes and connections in the concept map than an expert. Further research and usability tests are required to analyze the reasons. The presented tool is a versatile, systematically developed software component that specifically supports the clinical reasoning skills acquisition. It can be plugged into VP systems or used as stand-alone software in other teaching scenarios. The modular design allows an extension with new

  16. Test of understanding of vectors: A reliable multiple-choice vector concept test

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barniol, Pablo; Zavala, Genaro

    2014-06-01

    In this article we discuss the findings of our research on students' understanding of vector concepts in problems without physical context. First, we develop a complete taxonomy of the most frequent errors made by university students when learning vector concepts. This study is based on the results of several test administrations of open-ended problems in which a total of 2067 students participated. Using this taxonomy, we then designed a 20-item multiple-choice test [Test of understanding of vectors (TUV)] and administered it in English to 423 students who were completing the required sequence of introductory physics courses at a large private Mexican university. We evaluated the test's content validity, reliability, and discriminatory power. The results indicate that the TUV is a reliable assessment tool. We also conducted a detailed analysis of the students' understanding of the vector concepts evaluated in the test. The TUV is included in the Supplemental Material as a resource for other researchers studying vector learning, as well as instructors teaching the material.

  17. Evolutions in clinical reasoning assessment: The Evolving Script Concordance Test.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cooke, Suzette; Lemay, Jean-François; Beran, Tanya

    2017-08-01

    Script concordance testing (SCT) is a method of assessment of clinical reasoning. We developed a new type of SCT case design, the evolving SCT (E-SCT), whereby the patient's clinical story is "evolving" and with thoughtful integration of new information at each stage, decisions related to clinical decision-making become increasingly clear. We aimed to: (1) determine whether an E-SCT could differentiate clinical reasoning ability among junior residents (JR), senior residents (SR), and pediatricians, (2) evaluate the reliability of an E-SCT, and (3) obtain qualitative feedback from participants to help inform the potential acceptability of the E-SCT. A 12-case E-SCT, embedded within a 24-case pediatric SCT (PaedSCT), was administered to 91 pediatric residents (JR: n = 50; SR: n = 41). A total of 21 pediatricians served on the panel of experts (POE). A one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducted across the levels of experience. Participants' feedback on the E-SCT was obtained with a post-test survey and analyzed using two methods: percentage preference and thematic analysis. Statistical differences existed across levels of training: F = 19.31 (df = 2); p decision-making process. The E-SCT demonstrated very good reliability and was effective in distinguishing clinical reasoning ability across three levels of experience. Participants found the E-SCT engaging and representative of real-life clinical reasoning and decision-making processes. We suggest that further refinement and utilization of the evolving style case will enhance SCT as a robust, engaging, and relevant method for the assessment of clinical reasoning.

  18. Dual-Process Theories of Reasoning: The Test of Development

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barrouillet, Pierre

    2011-01-01

    Dual-process theories have become increasingly influential in the psychology of reasoning. Though the distinction they introduced between intuitive and reflective thinking should have strong developmental implications, the developmental approach has rarely been used to refine or test these theories. In this article, I review several contemporary…

  19. Relations between inductive reasoning and deductive reasoning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heit, Evan; Rotello, Caren M

    2010-05-01

    One of the most important open questions in reasoning research is how inductive reasoning and deductive reasoning are related. In an effort to address this question, we applied methods and concepts from memory research. We used 2 experiments to examine the effects of logical validity and premise-conclusion similarity on evaluation of arguments. Experiment 1 showed 2 dissociations: For a common set of arguments, deduction judgments were more affected by validity, and induction judgments were more affected by similarity. Moreover, Experiment 2 showed that fast deduction judgments were like induction judgments-in terms of being more influenced by similarity and less influenced by validity, compared with slow deduction judgments. These novel results pose challenges for a 1-process account of reasoning and are interpreted in terms of a 2-process account of reasoning, which was implemented as a multidimensional signal detection model and applied to receiver operating characteristic data. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved.

  20. Puzzling with potential: dynamic testing of analogical reasoning in children

    OpenAIRE

    Stevenson, Claire Elisabeth

    2012-01-01

    Assessment procedures are frequent in children's school careers; however, measuring potential for learning has remained a puzzle. Dynamic testing is a method to assess cognitive potential that includes training in the assessment process. The goal of this thesis project was to develop a new dynamic test of analogical reasoning for school children. The main aims were to (1) investigate factors that influence children’s differences in performance and change during dynamic testing and (2) examine...

  1. Evidence that logical reasoning depends on conscious processing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    DeWall, C Nathan; Baumeister, Roy F; Masicampo, E J

    2008-09-01

    Humans, unlike other animals, are equipped with a powerful brain that permits conscious awareness and reflection. A growing trend in psychological science has questioned the benefits of consciousness, however. Testing a hypothesis advanced by [Lieberman, M. D., Gaunt, R., Gilbert, D. T., & Trope, Y. (2002). Reflection and reflexion: A social cognitive neuroscience approach to attributional inference. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 34, 199-249], four studies suggested that the conscious, reflective processing system is vital for logical reasoning. Substantial decrements in logical reasoning were found when a cognitive load manipulation preoccupied conscious processing, while hampering the nonconscious system with consciously suppressed thoughts failed to impair reasoning (Experiment 1). Nonconscious activation (priming) of the idea of logical reasoning increased the activation of logic-relevant concepts, but failed to improve logical reasoning performance (Experiments 2a-2c) unless the logical conclusions were largely intuitive and thus not reliant on logical reasoning (Experiment 3). Meanwhile, stimulating the conscious goal of reasoning well led to improvements in reasoning performance (Experiment 4). These findings offer evidence that logical reasoning is aided by the conscious, reflective processing system.

  2. Explanatory item response modelling of an abstract reasoning assessment: A case for modern test design

    OpenAIRE

    Helland, Fredrik

    2016-01-01

    Assessment is an integral part of society and education, and for this reason it is important to know what you measure. This thesis is about explanatory item response modelling of an abstract reasoning assessment, with the objective to create a modern test design framework for automatic generation of valid and precalibrated items of abstract reasoning. Modern test design aims to strengthen the connections between the different components of a test, with a stress on strong theory, systematic it...

  3. Structural concept of angle type of hot isolation valve and its test program at an out-of-pile test facility

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hada, Kazuhiko; Fujisaki, Katsuo; Shibata, Taijyu; Inagaki, Yoshiyuki; Hino, Ryutaro [Japan Atomic Energy Research Inst., Oarai, Ibaraki (Japan). Oarai Research Establishment; Koiso, Hiroshi

    1997-02-01

    The Japanese safety regulation generally requires to set an isolation valve at the penetration of the reactor containment vessel on the secondary helium piping system which connects a steam reforming hydrogen production system, located outside the reactor building, to an intermediate heat exchanger (IHX) in the HTTR reactor system. The hot secondary helium which is heated up to the high temperature of 905degC and at the high pressure of 4.1MPa is passing through the isolation valve. So far, such a hot isolation valve has not been industrialized. The present report presents a proposal of a structural design concept of an angle valve as a promising candidate of the hot isolation valve, and a proposal on a test program for demonstrating the technological feasibility of the concept at an out-of-pile test facility before installing at the HTTR. A closing time and a leak rate at a valve seat are the key design parameters for developing the design concept. To set a reasonable value to each parameter, safety requirements on the isolation valve were discussed at first. The target closing time and the acceptable design limit of leak rate at the valve seat for meeting the requirements were specified 30 seconds and 10 STP cm{sup 3}/s, respectively. A nickel-base superalloy Hastelloy XR is feasible as such a valve seat material as to withstand the internal/external pressure of 4.1MPa at the high temperature of 905degC, the severest loading conditions of the valve seat at the accident of secondary helium pipe rupture. Correlation of leak rate at the ambient temperature to that at an operating temperature (900degC) is one of key test subjects of test program at an out-of-pile test facility. Leak rate at the operating temperature is the real parameter to be checked but only the leak rate at the ambient temperature is measured at regulatory examination in service. A test method to develop such correlation was proposed. (author)

  4. Estimation of post-test probabilities by residents: Bayesian reasoning versus heuristics?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hall, Stacey; Phang, Sen Han; Schaefer, Jeffrey P; Ghali, William; Wright, Bruce; McLaughlin, Kevin

    2014-08-01

    Although the process of diagnosing invariably begins with a heuristic, we encourage our learners to support their diagnoses by analytical cognitive processes, such as Bayesian reasoning, in an attempt to mitigate the effects of heuristics on diagnosing. There are, however, limited data on the use ± impact of Bayesian reasoning on the accuracy of disease probability estimates. In this study our objective was to explore whether Internal Medicine residents use a Bayesian process to estimate disease probabilities by comparing their disease probability estimates to literature-derived Bayesian post-test probabilities. We gave 35 Internal Medicine residents four clinical vignettes in the form of a referral letter and asked them to estimate the post-test probability of the target condition in each case. We then compared these to literature-derived probabilities. For each vignette the estimated probability was significantly different from the literature-derived probability. For the two cases with low literature-derived probability our participants significantly overestimated the probability of these target conditions being the correct diagnosis, whereas for the two cases with high literature-derived probability the estimated probability was significantly lower than the calculated value. Our results suggest that residents generate inaccurate post-test probability estimates. Possible explanations for this include ineffective application of Bayesian reasoning, attribute substitution whereby a complex cognitive task is replaced by an easier one (e.g., a heuristic), or systematic rater bias, such as central tendency bias. Further studies are needed to identify the reasons for inaccuracy of disease probability estimates and to explore ways of improving accuracy.

  5. Test of Understanding of Vectors: A Reliable Multiple-Choice Vector Concept Test

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barniol, Pablo; Zavala, Genaro

    2014-01-01

    In this article we discuss the findings of our research on students' understanding of vector concepts in problems without physical context. First, we develop a complete taxonomy of the most frequent errors made by university students when learning vector concepts. This study is based on the results of several test administrations of open-ended…

  6. The concept verification testing of materials science payloads

    Science.gov (United States)

    Griner, C. S.; Johnston, M. H.; Whitaker, A.

    1976-01-01

    The concept Verification Testing (CVT) project at the Marshall Space Flight Center, Alabama, is a developmental activity that supports Shuttle Payload Projects such as Spacelab. It provides an operational 1-g environment for testing NASA and other agency experiment and support systems concepts that may be used in shuttle. A dedicated Materials Science Payload was tested in the General Purpose Laboratory to assess the requirements of a space processing payload on a Spacelab type facility. Physical and functional integration of the experiments into the facility was studied, and the impact of the experiments on the facility (and vice versa) was evaluated. A follow-up test designated CVT Test IVA was also held. The purpose of this test was to repeat Test IV experiments with a crew composed of selected and trained scientists. These personnel were not required to have prior knowledge of the materials science disciplines, but were required to have a basic knowledge of science and the scientific method.

  7. Developing the MAPLE materials test reactor concept

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lee, A.G.; Lidstone, R.F.; Donnelly, J.V.

    1992-05-01

    MAPLE-MTR is a new multipurpose research facility being planned by AECL Research as a possible replacement for the 35-year-old NRU reactor. In developing the MAPLE-MTR concept, AECL is starting from the recent design and licensing experience with the MAPLE-X10 reactor. By starting from technology developed to support the MAPLE-X10 design and adapting it to produce a concept that satisfies the requirements of fuel channel materials testing and fuel irradiation programs, AECL expects to minimize the need for major advances in nuclear technology (e.g., fuel, heat transfer). Formulation of the MAPLE-MTR concept is at an early stage. This report describes the irradiation requirements of the research areas, how these needs are translated into design criteria for the project and elements of the preliminary design concept

  8. Development of abbreviated eight-item form of the Penn Verbal Reasoning Test.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bilker, Warren B; Wierzbicki, Michael R; Brensinger, Colleen M; Gur, Raquel E; Gur, Ruben C

    2014-12-01

    The ability to reason with language is a highly valued cognitive capacity that correlates with IQ measures and is sensitive to damage in language areas. The Penn Verbal Reasoning Test (PVRT) is a 29-item computerized test for measuring abstract analogical reasoning abilities using language. The full test can take over half an hour to administer, which limits its applicability in large-scale studies. We previously described a procedure for abbreviating a clinical rating scale and a modified procedure for reducing tests with a large number of items. Here we describe the application of the modified method to reducing the number of items in the PVRT to a parsimonious subset of items that accurately predicts the total score. As in our previous reduction studies, a split sample is used for model fitting and validation, with cross-validation to verify results. We find that an 8-item scale predicts the total 29-item score well, achieving a correlation of .9145 for the reduced form for the model fitting sample and .8952 for the validation sample. The results indicate that a drastically abbreviated version, which cuts administration time by more than 70%, can be safely administered as a predictor of PVRT performance. © The Author(s) 2014.

  9. Development of Abbreviated Eight-Item Form of the Penn Verbal Reasoning Test

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bilker, Warren B.; Wierzbicki, Michael R.; Brensinger, Colleen M.; Gur, Raquel E.; Gur, Ruben C.

    2014-01-01

    The ability to reason with language is a highly valued cognitive capacity that correlates with IQ measures and is sensitive to damage in language areas. The Penn Verbal Reasoning Test (PVRT) is a 29-item computerized test for measuring abstract analogical reasoning abilities using language. The full test can take over half an hour to administer, which limits its applicability in large-scale studies. We previously described a procedure for abbreviating a clinical rating scale and a modified procedure for reducing tests with a large number of items. Here we describe the application of the modified method to reducing the number of items in the PVRT to a parsimonious subset of items that accurately predicts the total score. As in our previous reduction studies, a split sample is used for model fitting and validation, with cross-validation to verify results. We find that an 8-item scale predicts the total 29-item score well, achieving a correlation of .9145 for the reduced form for the model fitting sample and .8952 for the validation sample. The results indicate that a drastically abbreviated version, which cuts administration time by more than 70%, can be safely administered as a predictor of PVRT performance. PMID:24577310

  10. Concept model semantics for DL preferential reasoning

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Britz, K

    2011-07-01

    Full Text Available ., Olivetti, N., Gliozzi, V., Pozzato, G.: ALC +T : a preferential exten- sion of description logics. Fund. Informatica 96(3), 341{372 (2009) 7. Kraus, S., Lehmann, D., Magidor, M.: Nonmonotonic reasoning, preferential mod- els and cumulative logics. Arti...

  11. Microbiology of the phyllosphere: a playground for testing ecological concepts

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Meyer, K.M.; Leveau, J.H.J.

    2012-01-01

    Many concepts and theories in ecology are highly debated, because it is often difficult to design decisive tests with sufficient replicates. Examples include biodiversity theories, succession concepts, invasion theories, coexistence theories, and concepts of life history strategies. Microbiological

  12. Nurses' intention to leave: critically analyse the theory of reasoned action and organizational commitment model.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liou, Shwu-Ru

    2009-01-01

    To systematically analyse the Organizational Commitment model and Theory of Reasoned Action and determine concepts that can better explain nurses' intention to leave their job. The Organizational Commitment model and Theory of Reasoned Action have been proposed and applied to understand intention to leave and turnover behaviour, which are major contributors to nursing shortage. However, the appropriateness of applying these two models in nursing was not analysed. Three main criteria of a useful model were used for the analysis: consistency in the use of concepts, testability and predictability. Both theories use concepts consistently. Concepts in the Theory of Reasoned Action are defined broadly whereas they are operationally defined in the Organizational Commitment model. Predictability of the Theory of Reasoned Action is questionable whereas the Organizational Commitment model can be applied to predict intention to leave. A model was proposed based on this analysis. Organizational commitment, intention to leave, work experiences, job characteristics and personal characteristics can be concepts for predicting nurses' intention to leave. Nursing managers may consider nurses' personal characteristics and experiences to increase their organizational commitment and enhance their intention to stay. Empirical studies are needed to test and cross-validate the re-synthesized model for nurses' intention to leave their job.

  13. Testing Template and Testing Concept of Operations for Speaker Authentication Technology

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Sipko, Marek M

    2006-01-01

    This thesis documents the findings of developing a generic testing template and supporting concept of operations for speaker verification technology as part of the Iraqi Enrollment via Voice Authentication Project (IEVAP...

  14. Test bed control center design concept for Tank Waste Retrieval Manipulator Systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sundstrom, E.; Draper, J.V.; Fausz, A.

    1995-01-01

    This paper describes the design concept for the control center for the Single Shell Tank Waste Retrieval Manipulator System test bed and the design process behind the concept. The design concept supports all phases of the test bed mission, including technology demonstration, comprehensive system testing, and comparative evaluation for further development and refinement of the TWRMS for field operations

  15. Domain-specific reasoning: social contracts, cheating, and perspective change.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gigerenzer, G; Hug, K

    1992-05-01

    What counts as human rationality: reasoning processes that embody content-independent formal theories, such as propositional logic, or reasoning processes that are well designed for solving important adaptive problems? Most theories of human reasoning have been based on content-independent formal rationality, whereas adaptive reasoning, ecological or evolutionary, has been little explored. We elaborate and test an evolutionary approach. Cosmides' (1989) social contract theory, using the Wason selection task. In the first part, we disentangle the theoretical concept of a "social contract" from that of a "cheater-detection algorithm". We demonstrate that the fact that a rule is perceived as a social contract--or a conditional permission or obligation, as Cheng and Holyoak (1985) proposed--is not sufficient to elicit Cosmides' striking results, which we replicated. The crucial issue is not semantic (the meaning of the rule), but pragmatic: whether a person is cued into the perspective of a party who can be cheated. In the second part, we distinguish between social contracts with bilateral and unilateral cheating options. Perspective change in contracts with bilateral cheating options turns P & not-Q responses into not-P & Q responses. The results strongly support social contract theory, contradict availability theory, and cannot be accounted for by pragmatic reasoning schema theory, which lacks the pragmatic concepts of perspectives and cheating detection.

  16. Analysis of statistical misconception in terms of statistical reasoning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maryati, I.; Priatna, N.

    2018-05-01

    Reasoning skill is needed for everyone to face globalization era, because every person have to be able to manage and use information from all over the world which can be obtained easily. Statistical reasoning skill is the ability to collect, group, process, interpret, and draw conclusion of information. Developing this skill can be done through various levels of education. However, the skill is low because many people assume that statistics is just the ability to count and using formulas and so do students. Students still have negative attitude toward course which is related to research. The purpose of this research is analyzing students’ misconception in descriptive statistic course toward the statistical reasoning skill. The observation was done by analyzing the misconception test result and statistical reasoning skill test; observing the students’ misconception effect toward statistical reasoning skill. The sample of this research was 32 students of math education department who had taken descriptive statistic course. The mean value of misconception test was 49,7 and standard deviation was 10,6 whereas the mean value of statistical reasoning skill test was 51,8 and standard deviation was 8,5. If the minimal value is 65 to state the standard achievement of a course competence, students’ mean value is lower than the standard competence. The result of students’ misconception study emphasized on which sub discussion that should be considered. Based on the assessment result, it was found that students’ misconception happen on this: 1) writing mathematical sentence and symbol well, 2) understanding basic definitions, 3) determining concept that will be used in solving problem. In statistical reasoning skill, the assessment was done to measure reasoning from: 1) data, 2) representation, 3) statistic format, 4) probability, 5) sample, and 6) association.

  17. Diagnosing Students’ conception on atomic structure using open ended questions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fitriza, Z.; Gazali, F.

    2018-05-01

    This study aims to diagnose students’ conception on atomic structure concepts using open ended questions. For this reason, a 7 items of assay test was administered to 135 senior high school students from different schools in West Sumatera. The data were collected using a an open ended test which is covering the concept used in the topic Atomic Structure. The open ended test of students’ conceptual was developed to identify the alternative conceptions that student might have regarding the concepts in Atomic Structure, to measure the level of students’ conceptions, and the way of students’ thinking concerning the concepts. The results showed that students find difficulties about some concepts of Atomic structure such as atom, atomic model, electron configuration, period and group.The result of this study illuminated the concepts to be underlined in developing teaching and learning approach concerning the topic of Atomic Structure.

  18. Exploring students' patterns of reasoning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Matloob Haghanikar, Mojgan

    As part of a collaborative study of the science preparation of elementary school teachers, we investigated the quality of students' reasoning and explored the relationship between sophistication of reasoning and the degree to which the courses were considered inquiry oriented. To probe students' reasoning, we developed open-ended written content questions with the distinguishing feature of applying recently learned concepts in a new context. We devised a protocol for developing written content questions that provided a common structure for probing and classifying students' sophistication level of reasoning. In designing our protocol, we considered several distinct criteria, and classified students' responses based on their performance for each criterion. First, we classified concepts into three types: Descriptive, Hypothetical, and Theoretical and categorized the abstraction levels of the responses in terms of the types of concepts and the inter-relationship between the concepts. Second, we devised a rubric based on Bloom's revised taxonomy with seven traits (both knowledge types and cognitive processes) and a defined set of criteria to evaluate each trait. Along with analyzing students' reasoning, we visited universities and observed the courses in which the students were enrolled. We used the Reformed Teaching Observation Protocol (RTOP) to rank the courses with respect to characteristics that are valued for the inquiry courses. We conducted logistic regression for a sample of 18courses with about 900 students and reported the results for performing logistic regression to estimate the relationship between traits of reasoning and RTOP score. In addition, we analyzed conceptual structure of students' responses, based on conceptual classification schemes, and clustered students' responses into six categories. We derived regression model, to estimate the relationship between the sophistication of the categories of conceptual structure and RTOP scores. However, the

  19. Concepts and Relations in Neurally Inspired In Situ Concept-Based Computing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    van der Velde, Frank

    2016-01-01

    In situ concept-based computing is based on the notion that conceptual representations in the human brain are "in situ." In this way, they are grounded in perception and action. Examples are neuronal assemblies, whose connection structures develop over time and are distributed over different brain areas. In situ concepts representations cannot be copied or duplicated because that will disrupt their connection structure, and thus the meaning of these concepts. Higher-level cognitive processes, as found in language and reasoning, can be performed with in situ concepts by embedding them in specialized neurally inspired "blackboards." The interactions between the in situ concepts and the blackboards form the basis for in situ concept computing architectures. In these architectures, memory (concepts) and processing are interwoven, in contrast with the separation between memory and processing found in Von Neumann architectures. Because the further development of Von Neumann computing (more, faster, yet power limited) is questionable, in situ concept computing might be an alternative for concept-based computing. In situ concept computing will be illustrated with a recently developed BABI reasoning task. Neurorobotics can play an important role in the development of in situ concept computing because of the development of in situ concept representations derived in scenarios as needed for reasoning tasks. Neurorobotics would also benefit from power limited and in situ concept computing.

  20. Reasoning with Inductive Argument Test: A Study of Validity and Reliability

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mehmet Emrah Karadere

    2013-12-01

    Conclusion: The preliminary data obtained from the study of reliability and validity of the scale shows that ‘Reasoning with Inductive Argument Test’ supports reliability and validity in Turkish population. [JCBPR 2013; 2(3.000: 156-161

  1. Concept Confusion and Concept Discernment in Basic Magnetism Using Analogical Reasoning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lemmer, Miriam; Morabe, Olebogeng Nicodimus

    2017-01-01

    Analogical reasoning is central to all learning, whether in daily life situations, in the classroom or while doing research. Although analogies can aid the learning process of making sense of phenomena and understanding new ideas in terms of known ideas, these should be used with care. This article reports a study of the use of analogies and the…

  2. REASON for Europa

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moussessian, A.; Blankenship, D. D.; Plaut, J. J.; Patterson, G. W.; Gim, Y.; Schroeder, D. M.; Soderlund, K. M.; Grima, C.; Young, D. A.; Chapin, E.

    2015-12-01

    The science goal of the Europa multiple flyby mission is to "explore Europa to investigate its habitability". One of the primary instruments selected for the scientific payload is a multi-frequency, multi-channel ice penetrating radar system. This "Radar for Europa Assessment and Sounding: Ocean to Near-surface (REASON)" would revolutionize our understanding of Europa's ice shell by providing the first direct measurements of its surface character and subsurface structure. REASON addresses key questions regarding Europa's habitability, including the existence of any liquid water, through the innovative use of radar sounding, altimetry, reflectometry, and plasma/particles analyses. These investigations require a dual-frequency radar (HF and VHF frequencies) instrument with concurrent shallow and deep sounding that is designed for performance robustness in the challenging environment of Europa. The flyby-centric mission configuration is an opportunity to collect and transmit minimally processed data back to Earth and exploit advanced processing approaches developed for terrestrial airborne data sets. The observation and characterization of subsurface features beneath Europa's chaotic surface require discriminating abundant surface clutter from a relatively weak subsurface signal. Finally, the mission plan also includes using REASON as a nadir altimeter capable of measuring tides to test ice shell and ocean hypotheses as well as characterizing roughness across the surface statistically to identify potential follow-on landing sites. We will present a variety of measurement concepts for addressing these challenges.

  3. Logic, reasoning, and verbal behavior

    OpenAIRE

    Terrell, Dudley J.; Johnston, J. M.

    1989-01-01

    This paper analyzes the traditional concepts of logic and reasoning from the perspective of radical behaviorism and in the terms of Skinner's treatment of verbal behavior. The topics covered in this analysis include the proposition, premises and conclusions, logicality and rules, and deductive and inductive reasoning.

  4. First test of the Siberian Snake concept

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Krisch, A.D.

    1990-01-01

    Test results of the Siberian Snake concept at the Indiana University Cooler Ring are presented. The Siberian Snake is a clever and interesting concept for accelerating polarized protons to high energy. Thus it would be especially useful at TeV energies where there are thousands of depolarizing resonances. The Snake is the device which job is to rotate the proton's spin by 180 deg. every time the proton goes around the ring. The Snake's main element is the superconducting solenoid magnet. Examples of the Siberian Snake overcoming depolarizing resonances are presented. 6 refs.; 24 figs

  5. The Linear Logistic Test Model (LLTM as the methodological foundation of item generating rules for a new verbal reasoning test

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    HERBERT POINSTINGL

    2009-06-01

    Full Text Available Based on the demand for new verbal reasoning tests to enrich psychological test inventory, a pilot version of a new test was analysed: the 'Family Relation Reasoning Test' (FRRT; Poinstingl, Kubinger, Skoda & Schechtner, forthcoming, in which several basic cognitive operations (logical rules have been embedded/implemented. Given family relationships of varying complexity embedded in short stories, testees had to logically conclude the correct relationship between two individuals within a family. Using empirical data, the linear logistic test model (LLTM; Fischer, 1972, a special case of the Rasch model, was used to test the construct validity of the test: The hypothetically assumed basic cognitive operations had to explain the Rasch model's item difficulty parameters. After being shaped in LLTM's matrices of weights ((qij, none of these operations were corroborated by means of the Andersen's Likelihood Ratio Test.

  6. Concept Testing of a Simple Floating Offshore Vertical Axis Wind Turbine

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Friis Pedersen, Troels; Schmidt Paulsen, Uwe; Aagaard Madsen, Helge

    2013-01-01

    The wind energy community is researching new concepts for deeper sea offshore wind turbines. One such concept is the DeepWind concept. The concept is being assessed in a EU-FP7 project, called DeepWind. Objectives of this project are to assess large size wind turbines (5-20MW) based on the concept...... varying wind and wave conditions, and to compare such behaviour with computer code calculations. The concept turbine was designed and constructed by the project task partners, and all parts were assembled and installed at sea in the Roskilde fjord right next to DTU Risø campus. The turbine is under....... One task in the project is to test a 1kW concept rotor (not a scaled down MW size rotor) partly under field conditions in a fjord in Denmark, partly in a water tank under controlled conditions in Netherlands. The objective of testing the 1kW concept turbine is to verify the dynamical behaviour under...

  7. Concepts for Small-Scale Testing of Used Nuclear Fuel

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Marschman, Steven Craig [Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States); Winston, Philip Lon [Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)

    2015-09-01

    This report documents a concept for a small-scale test involving between one and three Boiling Water Rector (BWR) high burnup (HBU) fuel assemblies. This test would be similar to the DOE funded High Burn-Up (HBU) Confirmatory Data Project to confirm the behavior of used high burn-up fuel under prototypic conditions, only on a smaller scale. The test concept proposed would collect data from fuel stored under prototypic dry storage conditions to mimic, as closely as possible, the conditions HBU UNF experiences during all stages of dry storage: loading, cask drying, inert gas backfilling, and transfer to an Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation (ISFSI) for multi-year storage.

  8. Acceptance of HIV testing among women attending antenatal care in south-western Uganda: risk factors and reasons for test refusal.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dahl, V; Mellhammar, L; Bajunirwe, F; Björkman, P

    2008-07-01

    A problem commonly encountered in programs for prevention of mother-to-child-transmission (PMTCT) of HIV in sub-Saharan Africa is low rates of HIV test acceptance among pregnant women. In this study, we examined risk factors and reasons for HIV test refusal among 432 women attending three antenatal care clinics offering PMTCT in urban and semi-urban parts of the Mbarara district, Uganda. Structured interviews were performed following pre-test counselling. Three-hundred-eighty women were included in the study, 323 (85%) of whom accepted HIV testing. In multivariate analysis, testing site (Site A: OR = 1.0; Site B: OR = 3.08; 95%CI: 1.12-8.46; Site C: OR = 5.93; 95%CI: 2.94-11.98), age between 30 and 34 years (refusal. Testing sites operating for longer durations had higher rates of acceptance. The most common reasons claimed for test refusal were: lack of access to antiretroviral therapy (ART) for HIV-infected women (88%; n=57), a need to discuss with partner before decision (82%; n=57) and fear of partner's reaction (54%; n=57). Comparison with previous periods showed that the acceptance rate increased with the duration of the program. Our study identified risk factors for HIV test refusal among pregnant women in Uganda and common reasons for not accepting testing. These findings may suggest modifications and improvements in the performance of HIV testing in this and similar populations.

  9. Scientific reasoning abilities of nonscience majors in physics-based courses

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moore, J. Christopher; Rubbo, Louis J.

    2012-06-01

    We have found that non-STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) majors taking either a conceptual physics or astronomy course at two regional comprehensive institutions score significantly lower preinstruction on the Lawson’s Classroom Test of Scientific Reasoning (LCTSR) in comparison to national average STEM majors. Based on LCTSR score, the majority of non-STEM students can be classified as either concrete operational or transitional reasoners in Piaget’s theory of cognitive development, whereas in the STEM population formal operational reasoners are far more prevalent. In particular, non-STEM students demonstrate significant difficulty with proportional and hypothetico-deductive reasoning. Prescores on the LCTSR are correlated with normalized learning gains on various concept inventories. The correlation is strongest for content that can be categorized as mostly theoretical, meaning a lack of directly observable exemplars, and weakest for content categorized as mostly descriptive, where directly observable exemplars are abundant. Although the implementation of research-verified, interactive engagement pedagogy can lead to gains in content knowledge, significant gains in theoretical content (such as force and energy) are more difficult with non-STEM students. We also observe no significant gains on the LCTSR without explicit instruction in scientific reasoning patterns. These results further demonstrate that differences in student populations are important when comparing normalized gains on concept inventories, and the achievement of significant gains in scientific reasoning requires a reevaluation of the traditional approach to physics for non-STEM students.

  10. Scientific reasoning abilities of nonscience majors in physics-based courses

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    J. Christopher Moore

    2012-02-01

    Full Text Available We have found that non-STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics majors taking either a conceptual physics or astronomy course at two regional comprehensive institutions score significantly lower preinstruction on the Lawson’s Classroom Test of Scientific Reasoning (LCTSR in comparison to national average STEM majors. Based on LCTSR score, the majority of non-STEM students can be classified as either concrete operational or transitional reasoners in Piaget’s theory of cognitive development, whereas in the STEM population formal operational reasoners are far more prevalent. In particular, non-STEM students demonstrate significant difficulty with proportional and hypothetico-deductive reasoning. Prescores on the LCTSR are correlated with normalized learning gains on various concept inventories. The correlation is strongest for content that can be categorized as mostly theoretical, meaning a lack of directly observable exemplars, and weakest for content categorized as mostly descriptive, where directly observable exemplars are abundant. Although the implementation of research-verified, interactive engagement pedagogy can lead to gains in content knowledge, significant gains in theoretical content (such as force and energy are more difficult with non-STEM students. We also observe no significant gains on the LCTSR without explicit instruction in scientific reasoning patterns. These results further demonstrate that differences in student populations are important when comparing normalized gains on concept inventories, and the achievement of significant gains in scientific reasoning requires a reevaluation of the traditional approach to physics for non-STEM students.

  11. Motivating Students' Learning Using Word Association Test and Concept Maps

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Z. Kostova

    2010-06-01

    Full Text Available The paper presents the effect of a free word association test, content analysis and concept mapping on students’ achievements in human biology. The free word association test was used for revealing the scientific conceptual structures of 8th grade and 12th grade students, around a stimulus word – human being – and for motivating them to study human biology. The stimulus word retrieved a cluster of associations most of which were based on science education and experience. Associations with the stimulus word were analyzed and classified according to predetermined criteria and structured by means of a concept map. The stimulus word ‘human being’ was quantitatively assessed in order to find out the balance between the associations with its different aspects. On the basis of the results some connections between biology and other sciences studying the human being, were worked out. Each new topic in human biology was studied by using content analysis of the textbook and concept mapping as study tools and thus maintaining students’ motivation. Achievements of students were assessed by means of tests, observation and concept maps evaluation. The obtained data was also valuable in clarifying the complex nature of the human being, and confirming the statement that biology cannot answer all questions, concerning human nature. Inferences were made about the word association test combined with content analysis and concept map construction as an educational strategy.

  12. An effective self-assessment based on concept map extraction from test-sheet for personalized learning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liew, Keng-Hou; Lin, Yu-Shih; Chang, Yi-Chun; Chu, Chih-Ping

    2013-12-01

    Examination is a traditional way to assess learners' learning status, progress and performance after a learning activity. Except the test grade, a test sheet hides some implicit information such as test concepts, their relationships, importance, and prerequisite. The implicit information can be extracted and constructed a concept map for considering (1) the test concepts covered in the same question means these test concepts have strong relationships, and (2) questions in the same test sheet means the test concepts are relative. Concept map has been successfully employed in many researches to help instructors and learners organize relationships among concepts. However, concept map construction depends on experts who need to take effort and time for the organization of the domain knowledge. In addition, the previous researches regarding to automatic concept map construction are limited to consider all learners of a class, which have not considered personalized learning. To cope with this problem, this paper proposes a new approach to automatically extract and construct concept map based on implicit information in a test sheet. Furthermore, the proposed approach also can help learner for self-assessment and self-diagnosis. Finally, an example is given to depict the effectiveness of proposed approach.

  13. Do Self Concept Tests Test Self Concept? An Evaluation of the Validity of Items on the Piers Harris and Coopersmith Measures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lynch, Mervin D.; Chaves, John

    Items from Peirs-Harris and Coopersmith self-concept tests were evaluated against independent measures on three self-constructs, idealized, empathic, and worth. Construct measurements were obtained with the semantic differential and D statistic. Ratings were obtained from 381 children, grades 4-6. For each test, item ratings and construct measures…

  14. Hurrah for the Reasonable Woman.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leland, Dorothy

    1994-01-01

    Recent court cases on sexual harassment, and the outcomes, were reviewed in terms of how the court viewed a "reasonable" woman. Rulings in such cases can vary because of different interpretations of the "reasonable" concept. Also discusses how recent rulings will affect sexual harassment policymakers in the workplace and educational institutions.…

  15. The development and psychometric testing of a theory-based instrument to evaluate nurses' perception of clinical reasoning competence.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liou, Shwu-Ru; Liu, Hsiu-Chen; Tsai, Hsiu-Min; Tsai, Ying-Huang; Lin, Yu-Ching; Chang, Chia-Hao; Cheng, Ching-Yu

    2016-03-01

    The purpose of the study was to develop and psychometrically test the Nurses Clinical Reasoning Scale. Clinical reasoning is an essential skill for providing safe and quality patient care. Identifying pre-graduates' and nurses' needs and designing training courses to improve their clinical reasoning competence becomes a critical task. However, there is no instrument focusing on clinical reasoning in the nursing profession. Cross-sectional design was used. This study included the development of the scale, a pilot study that preliminary tested the readability and reliability of the developed scale and a main study that implemented and tested the psychometric properties of the developed scale. The Nurses Clinical Reasoning Scale was developed based on the Clinical Reasoning Model. The scale includes 15 items using a Likert five-point scale. Data were collected from 2013-2014. Two hundred and fifty-one participants comprising clinical nurses and nursing pre-graduates completed and returned the questionnaires in the main study. The instrument was tested for internal consistency and test-retest reliability. Its validity was tested with content, construct and known-groups validity. One factor emerged from the factor analysis. The known-groups validity was confirmed. The Cronbach's alpha for the entire instrument was 0·9. The reliability and validity of the Nurses Clinical Reasoning Scale were supported. The scale is a useful tool and can be easily administered for the self-assessment of clinical reasoning competence of clinical nurses and future baccalaureate nursing graduates. Study limitations and further recommendations are discussed. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  16. The Effectiveness of Scientific Inquiry With/Without Integration of Scientific Reasoning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Chun-Ting; She, Hsiao-Ching

    2015-01-01

    This study examines the difference in effectiveness between two scientific inquiry programs-one with an emphasis on scientific reasoning and one without a scientific reasoning component-on students' scientific concepts, scientific concept-dependent reasoning, and scientific inquiry. A mixed-method approach was used in which 115 grade 5…

  17. Comparing Two Tests of Formal Reasoning in a College Chemistry Context

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jiang, Bo; Xu, Xiaoying; Garcia, Alicia; Lewis, Jennifer E.

    2010-01-01

    The Test of Logical Thinking (TOLT) and the Group Assessment of Logical Thinking (GALT) are two of the instruments most widely used by science educators and researchers to measure students' formal reasoning abilities. Based on Piaget's cognitive development theory, formal thinking ability has been shown to be essential for student achievement in…

  18. Reasons for Whistleblowing: A Qualitative Study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ali BALTACI

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available Whistleblowing has become a commonly encountered concept in recent times. Negative behaviors and actions can be experienced in any organization, and whistleblowing, as a communication process, is a kind of ethical behavior. Whistleblowing is the transmission of an unfavorable situation discovered in the organization to either internal or external authorities. An examination of the reasons for the employee’s whistleblowing is important for a better understanding of this concept; hence, this research focuses on the reasons for whistleblowing. In addition, the reasons for avoiding whistleblowing were also investigated. This research, which is designed as a qualitative study, is based on the phenomenological approach. Interviews were conducted with open-ended, semi-structured interview form in the study. The research was conducted on 20 teachers, 12 administrators, and 7 inspectors. The data were analyzed using the content analysis method. As a result of the research, the individual, organizational and social reasons for whistleblowing have been differentiated. Among the individual reasons for whistleblowing are the considerations of protecting and gaining interests. Organizational reasons include business ethics and the expectation of subsequent promotion. Social reasons encompass social benefits, social justice, and religious belief. Reasons for avoiding whistleblowing vary based on retaliation and worry. This research is considered important because as it is believed to be the first qualitative research to approach the reasons for whistleblowing. The results of this research have revealed gaps in the understanding of this area for future studies.

  19. MENUMBUHKAN DAYA NALAR ( POWER OF REASON SISWA MELALUI PEMBELAJARAN ANALOGI MATEMATIKA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rahayu Kariadinata

    2012-02-01

    Full Text Available Learning mathematical analogy is one alternative learning that can be applied in order to cultivate the power of reason (power of reason students. Through mathematical analogy students are required to be able to look for similarities or relationship nature of the two concepts are the same or different by comparison, then draw a conclusion from the similitude. Thus the analogy can be used as an explanation or as the basis of reasoning. Before starting the analogy of learning mathematics, teachers should examine the ability of understanding mathematical concepts of students, because of the level of understanding of students will affect the power of reason. Tasks (problems mathematical analogy included non-routine matter, therefore the required readiness of teachers to make it. In each question contained mathematical analogy same or different concepts, so it takes quite a lot of material. Steps to make about the mathematical analogy, are: a assemble all the concepts in mathematics student has learned; b Similarly stacking properties / relationships contained in any concept, and c select materials that have a nature / relationship analogous. In this paper is given two forms of matter of mathematical analogy is the analogy of mathematical models and mathematical analogy 1 models 2. Learning mathematical analogy should be carried out after a number of concepts learned. It is better to be given in classes end for many of the concepts that have been learned by the students. Reasoning power (power of reason the student becomes an important part in the process of learning to drive them toward their future as citizens are intelligent, which will be led by the power of reason (the brain and not by the strength (muscle only. As noted by former US President Thomas Jefferson (in Copi, 1978: vii, which states: "In a republican nation, Whose citizens are to be led by reason and persuasion and not by force, the art of reasoning Becomes of first importance"

  20. Perception of Risk and Terrorism-Related Behavior Change: Dual Influences of Probabilistic Reasoning and Reality Testing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Denovan, Andrew; Dagnall, Neil; Drinkwater, Kenneth; Parker, Andrew; Clough, Peter

    2017-01-01

    The present study assessed the degree to which probabilistic reasoning performance and thinking style influenced perception of risk and self-reported levels of terrorism-related behavior change. A sample of 263 respondents, recruited via convenience sampling, completed a series of measures comprising probabilistic reasoning tasks (perception of randomness, base rate, probability, and conjunction fallacy), the Reality Testing subscale of the Inventory of Personality Organization (IPO-RT), the Domain-Specific Risk-Taking Scale, and a terrorism-related behavior change scale. Structural equation modeling examined three progressive models. Firstly, the Independence Model assumed that probabilistic reasoning, perception of risk and reality testing independently predicted terrorism-related behavior change. Secondly, the Mediation Model supposed that probabilistic reasoning and reality testing correlated, and indirectly predicted terrorism-related behavior change through perception of risk. Lastly, the Dual-Influence Model proposed that probabilistic reasoning indirectly predicted terrorism-related behavior change via perception of risk, independent of reality testing. Results indicated that performance on probabilistic reasoning tasks most strongly predicted perception of risk, and preference for an intuitive thinking style (measured by the IPO-RT) best explained terrorism-related behavior change. The combination of perception of risk with probabilistic reasoning ability in the Dual-Influence Model enhanced the predictive power of the analytical-rational route, with conjunction fallacy having a significant indirect effect on terrorism-related behavior change via perception of risk. The Dual-Influence Model possessed superior fit and reported similar predictive relations between intuitive-experiential and analytical-rational routes and terrorism-related behavior change. The discussion critically examines these findings in relation to dual-processing frameworks. This

  1. Perception of Risk and Terrorism-Related Behavior Change: Dual Influences of Probabilistic Reasoning and Reality Testing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Denovan, Andrew; Dagnall, Neil; Drinkwater, Kenneth; Parker, Andrew; Clough, Peter

    2017-01-01

    The present study assessed the degree to which probabilistic reasoning performance and thinking style influenced perception of risk and self-reported levels of terrorism-related behavior change. A sample of 263 respondents, recruited via convenience sampling, completed a series of measures comprising probabilistic reasoning tasks (perception of randomness, base rate, probability, and conjunction fallacy), the Reality Testing subscale of the Inventory of Personality Organization (IPO-RT), the Domain-Specific Risk-Taking Scale, and a terrorism-related behavior change scale. Structural equation modeling examined three progressive models. Firstly, the Independence Model assumed that probabilistic reasoning, perception of risk and reality testing independently predicted terrorism-related behavior change. Secondly, the Mediation Model supposed that probabilistic reasoning and reality testing correlated, and indirectly predicted terrorism-related behavior change through perception of risk. Lastly, the Dual-Influence Model proposed that probabilistic reasoning indirectly predicted terrorism-related behavior change via perception of risk, independent of reality testing. Results indicated that performance on probabilistic reasoning tasks most strongly predicted perception of risk, and preference for an intuitive thinking style (measured by the IPO-RT) best explained terrorism-related behavior change. The combination of perception of risk with probabilistic reasoning ability in the Dual-Influence Model enhanced the predictive power of the analytical-rational route, with conjunction fallacy having a significant indirect effect on terrorism-related behavior change via perception of risk. The Dual-Influence Model possessed superior fit and reported similar predictive relations between intuitive-experiential and analytical-rational routes and terrorism-related behavior change. The discussion critically examines these findings in relation to dual-processing frameworks. This

  2. Perception of Risk and Terrorism-Related Behavior Change: Dual Influences of Probabilistic Reasoning and Reality Testing

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Andrew Denovan

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available The present study assessed the degree to which probabilistic reasoning performance and thinking style influenced perception of risk and self-reported levels of terrorism-related behavior change. A sample of 263 respondents, recruited via convenience sampling, completed a series of measures comprising probabilistic reasoning tasks (perception of randomness, base rate, probability, and conjunction fallacy, the Reality Testing subscale of the Inventory of Personality Organization (IPO-RT, the Domain-Specific Risk-Taking Scale, and a terrorism-related behavior change scale. Structural equation modeling examined three progressive models. Firstly, the Independence Model assumed that probabilistic reasoning, perception of risk and reality testing independently predicted terrorism-related behavior change. Secondly, the Mediation Model supposed that probabilistic reasoning and reality testing correlated, and indirectly predicted terrorism-related behavior change through perception of risk. Lastly, the Dual-Influence Model proposed that probabilistic reasoning indirectly predicted terrorism-related behavior change via perception of risk, independent of reality testing. Results indicated that performance on probabilistic reasoning tasks most strongly predicted perception of risk, and preference for an intuitive thinking style (measured by the IPO-RT best explained terrorism-related behavior change. The combination of perception of risk with probabilistic reasoning ability in the Dual-Influence Model enhanced the predictive power of the analytical-rational route, with conjunction fallacy having a significant indirect effect on terrorism-related behavior change via perception of risk. The Dual-Influence Model possessed superior fit and reported similar predictive relations between intuitive-experiential and analytical-rational routes and terrorism-related behavior change. The discussion critically examines these findings in relation to dual

  3. Project Physics Tests 1, Concepts of Motion.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harvard Univ., Cambridge, MA. Harvard Project Physics.

    Test items relating to Project Physics Unit 1 are presented in this booklet, consisting of 70 multiple-choice and 20 problem-and-essay questions. Concepts of motion are examined with respect to velocities, acceleration, forces, vectors, Newton's laws, and circular motion. Suggestions are made for time consumption in answering some items. Besides…

  4. Transforming Undergraduate Education Through the use of Analytical Reasoning (TUETAR)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bishop, M. P.; Houser, C.; Lemmons, K.

    2015-12-01

    Traditional learning limits the potential for self-discovery, and the use of data and knowledge to understand Earth system relationships, processes, feedback mechanisms and system coupling. It is extremely difficult for undergraduate students to analyze, synthesize, and integrate quantitative information related to complex systems, as many concepts may not be mathematically tractable or yet to be formalized. Conceptual models have long served as a means for Earth scientists to organize their understanding of Earth's dynamics, and have served as a basis for human analytical reasoning and landscape interpretation. Consequently, we evaluated the use of conceptual modeling, knowledge representation and analytical reasoning to provide undergraduate students with an opportunity to develop and test geocomputational conceptual models based upon their understanding of Earth science concepts. This study describes the use of geospatial technologies and fuzzy cognitive maps to predict desertification across the South-Texas Sandsheet in an upper-level geomorphology course. Students developed conceptual models based on their understanding of aeolian processes from lectures, and then compared and evaluated their modeling results against an expert conceptual model and spatial predictions, and the observed distribution of dune activity in 2010. Students perceived that the analytical reasoning approach was significantly better for understanding desertification compared to traditional lecture, and promoted reflective learning, working with data, teamwork, student interaction, innovation, and creative thinking. Student evaluations support the notion that the adoption of knowledge representation and analytical reasoning in the classroom has the potential to transform undergraduate education by enabling students to formalize and test their conceptual understanding of Earth science. A model for developing and utilizing this geospatial technology approach in Earth science is presented.

  5. An Integrated Model of Academic Self-Concept Development: Academic Self-Concept, Grades, Test Scores, and Tracking over 6 Years

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marsh, Herbert W.; Pekrun, Reinhard; Murayama, Kou; Arens, A. Katrin; Parker, Philip D.; Guo, Jiesi; Dicke, Theresa

    2018-01-01

    Our newly proposed integrated academic self-concept model integrates 3 major theories of academic self-concept formation and developmental perspectives into a unified conceptual and methodological framework. Relations among math self-concept (MSC), school grades, test scores, and school-level contextual effects over 6 years, from the end of…

  6. Insights From the Defining Issues Test on Moral Reasoning Competencies Development in Community Pharmacists.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Roche, Cicely; Thoma, Steve

    2017-10-01

    Objective. To investigate whether a profession-specific educational intervention affected the development of moral reasoning competencies in community pharmacists, as measured by the Defining Issues Test (DIT2). Methods. This research used a repeated measures pre-post educational intervention design as a quasi-randomized, controlled, crossover study to evaluate changes in the moral reasoning scores of 27 volunteer community pharmacists in Ireland. Results. Changes in pharmacists' moral reasoning competencies development, as reported by P-Scores and N2-Scores, were found to be significant. In addition, interaction effects were observed between developmental scores on the DIT2 and whether participants were determined to be consolidated in their reasoning pre- and post-engagement with the educational intervention. Conclusion. Short profession-specific educational interventions have the potential to positively affect the development of moral reasoning competencies of community pharmacists.

  7. Using a Two-Tier Test to Analyse Students' and Teachers' Alternative Concepts in Astronomy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kanli, U.

    2015-01-01

    This paper presents an analysis of physics teachers' as well as university and high school students' understanding of some astronomy concepts. In recent years, the significance of astronomy teaching in science education has gradually increased. Many research studies indicate that students have misconceptions about the reasons for seasons, the…

  8. Team Reasoning and Intentional Cooperation for Mutual Benefit

    OpenAIRE

    Sugden Robert

    2015-01-01

    This paper proposes a concept of intentional cooperation for mutual benefit. This concept uses a form of team reasoning in which team members aim to achieve common interests, rather than maximising a common utility function, and in which team reasoners can coordinate their behaviour by following pre-existing practices. I argue that a market transaction can express intentions for mutually beneficial cooperation even if, extensionally, participation in the transaction promotes each party’s self...

  9. Spatial Reasoning and Understanding the Particulate Nature of Matter: A Middle School Perspective

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cole, Merryn L.

    This dissertation employed a mixed-methods approach to examine the relationship between spatial reasoning ability and understanding of chemistry content for both middle school students and their science teachers. Spatial reasoning has been linked to success in learning STEM subjects (Wai, Lubinski, & Benbow, 2009). Previous studies have shown a correlation between understanding of chemistry content and spatial reasoning ability (e.g., Pribyl & Bodner, 1987; Wu & Shah, 2003: Stieff, 2013), raising the importance of developing the spatial reasoning ability of both teachers and students. Few studies examine middle school students' or in-service middle school teachers' understanding of chemistry concepts or its relation to spatial reasoning ability. The first paper in this dissertation addresses the quantitative relationship between mental rotation, a type of spatial reasoning ability, and understanding a fundamental concept in chemistry, the particulate nature of matter. The data showed a significant, positive correlation between scores on the Purdue Spatial Visualization Test of Rotations (PSVT; Bodner & Guay, 1997) and the Particulate Nature of Matter Assessment (ParNoMA; Yezierski, 2003) for middle school students prior to and after chemistry instruction. A significant difference in spatial ability among students choosing different answer choices on ParNoMA questions was also found. The second paper examined the ways in which students of different spatial abilities talked about matter and chemicals differently. Students with higher spatial ability tended to provide more of an explanation, though not necessarily in an articulate matter. In contrast, lower spatial ability students tended to use any keywords that seemed relevant, but provided little or no explanation. The third paper examined the relationship between mental reasoning and understanding chemistry for middle school science teachers. Similar to their students, a significant, positive correlation between

  10. Patterns of Reasoning about Ecological Systemic Reasoning for Early Elementary Students

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hokayem, H.

    2016-01-01

    Systems and system models are recognized as a crosscutting concept in the newly released framework for K-12 science education (NRC [National Research Council], 2012). In previous work, I developed a learning progression for systemic reasoning in ecology at the elementary level. The learning progression captured five levels of students' reasoning…

  11. The Max Launch Abort System - Concept, Flight Test, and Evolution

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gilbert, Michael G.

    2014-01-01

    The NASA Engineering and Safety Center (NESC) is an independent engineering analysis and test organization providing support across the range of NASA programs. In 2007 NASA was developing the launch escape system for the Orion spacecraft that was evolved from the traditional tower-configuration escape systems used for the historic Mercury and Apollo spacecraft. The NESC was tasked, as a programmatic risk-reduction effort to develop and flight test an alternative to the Orion baseline escape system concept. This project became known as the Max Launch Abort System (MLAS), named in honor of Maxime Faget, the developer of the original Mercury escape system. Over the course of approximately two years the NESC performed conceptual and tradeoff analyses, designed and built full-scale flight test hardware, and conducted a flight test demonstration in July 2009. Since the flight test, the NESC has continued to further develop and refine the MLAS concept.

  12. Development of the Solar System Concept Inventory

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hornstein, S.; Prather, E.

    2009-12-01

    Concept inventories can provide useful insight into students’ understanding of key physical concepts. Knowing what your students have learned during a course is a valuable tool for improving your own teaching. Unfortunately, current astronomy concept inventories are not suitable for an introductory solar system course because they either cover too broad of a range of topics (e.g. Astronomy Diagnostic Test) or are too narrowly focused (e.g. Greenhouse Effect Concept Inventory, Lunar Phase Concept Inventory). We have developed the Solar System Concept Inventory (SSCI) to cover those topics commonly taught in an introductory solar system course. The topics included on the SSCI were selected by having faculty identify the key concepts they address when teaching about the solar system. SSCI topics include formation mechanisms, planetary interiors, atmospheric effects, and small solar system bodies. Student interviews were conducted to identify common naive ideas and reasoning difficulties relating to these key topics. The SSCI has been through two semesters of national, multi-institutional field-testing, involving over 1500 students. After the first semester of testing, question statistics were used to flag ineffective questions and flagged questions were revised or eliminated. We will present an overall outline of the SSCI development as well as our question-flagging criteria and question analyses from the latest round of field-testing. We would like to thank the NSF for funding under Grant No. 0715517, a CCLI Phase III Grant for the Collaboration of Astronomy Teaching Scholars (CATS) Program.

  13. Reason and ethos: Consequences of their separation and necessity of their unity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marković Mihailo

    2003-01-01

    Full Text Available Although the concept of "reason" acquired a precise meaning and clearly defined field of validity only in Kant's critical philosophy, the term has a long genesis in European intellectual history. The roots of the concept lie in the Greek concept of the logos and may be reduced to six basic meanings. The earliest Greek thinkers used the word logos to denote the logical structure of the human thought and the rational structure of the world. Anaxagoras considered the all-embracing spiritual principle of the nous the source of overall rationality. In the philosophy of the Stoa the term - logos spermaticos is the active principle acting on passive matter in order to create the world. For the Stoics, the concept of logos is the fundamental principle of entire morality. In Christian theology, the God is logos, Holy Spirit - pneuma the soul. In modern philosophy the basic meanings of the Greek logos were taken over by Latin terms "intellectus" and "ratio". These concepts chart quite clearly two basic lines of European thought, one characterized by immediate and the other by mediated discursive understanding of the truth. Kant was the first in the history of philosophy to introduce the essential distinction between understanding and reason (Verstand and Vernunft. According to this distinction, understanding is analytical and abstract, while reason is the source of apriori principles connecting and grounding the whole of our knowledge and volition. Therefore Kant distinguishes theoretical from practical reason. Though practical reason applies the concepts and principles of theoretical reason, it has priority over the latter because it bestows practical reality also on what is theoretically unknowable (freedom, God, immortality of the soul. The primacy of practical reason was especially emphasized by Fichte in his Doctrine of Science. Reason is for him a purely purposeful activity. The idea of reason attains full articulation in Hegel's philosophy of the

  14. Fuzzy reasoning on Horn Set

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Liu, X.; Fang, K.

    1986-01-01

    A theoretical study in fuzzy reasoning on Horn Set is presented in this paper. The authors first introduce the concepts of λ-Horn Set of clauses and λ-Input Half Lock deduction. They then use the λ-resolution method to discuss fuzzy reasoning on λ-Horn set of clauses. It is proved that the proposed λ-Input Half Lock resolution method is complete with the rules in certain format

  15. Autism: a transdiagnostic, dimensional, construct of reasoning?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aggernaes, Bodil

    2018-03-01

    The concept of autism has changed across time, from the Bleulerian concept, which defined it as one of several symptoms of dementia praecox, to the present-day concept representing a pervasive development disorder. The present theoretical contribution to this special issue of EJN on autism introduces new theoretical ideas and discusses them in light of selected prior theories, clinical examples, and recent empirical evidence. The overall aim is to identify some present challenges of diagnostic practice and autism research and to suggest new pathways that may help direct future research. Future research must agree on the definitions of core concepts such as autism and psychosis. A possible redefinition of the concept of autism may be a condition in which the rationale of an individual's behaviour differs qualitatively from that of the social environment due to characteristic cognitive impairments affecting reasoning. A broad concept of psychosis could focus on deviances in the experience of reality resulting from impairments of reasoning. In this light and consistent with recent empirical evidence, it may be appropriate to redefine dementia praecox as a developmental disorder of reasoning. A future challenge of autism research may be to develop theoretical models that can account for the impact of complex processes acting at the social level in addition to complex neurobiological and psychological processes. Such models could profit from a distinction among processes related to (i) basic susceptibility, (ii) adaptive processes and (iii) decompensating factors involved in the development of manifest illness. © 2017 Federation of European Neuroscience Societies and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  16. Experimental testing of spanwise morphing trailing edge concept

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pankonien, Alexander; Inman, Daniel J.

    2013-04-01

    Aircraft wings with smooth, hinge-less morphing ailerons exhibit increased chordwise aerodynamic efficiency over conventional hinged ailerons. Ideally, the wing would also use these morphing ailerons to smoothly vary its airfoil shape between spanwise stations to optimize the lift distribution and further increase aerodynamic efficiency. However, the mechanical complexity or added weight of achieving such a design has traditionally exceeded the potential aerodynamic gains. By expanding upon the previously developed cascading bimorph concept, this work uses embedded Macro-Fiber Composites and a flexure box mechanism, created using multi-material 3D printing, to achieve the Spanwise Morphing Trailing Edge (SMTE) concept. The morphing actuators are spaced spanwise along the wing with an elastomer spanning the gaps between them, which allows for optimization of the spanwise lift distribution while maintaining the continuity and efficiency of the morphing trailing edge. The concept is implemented in a representative section of a UAV wing with a 305 mm chord. A novel honeycomb skin is created from an elastomeric material using a 3D printer. The actuation capabilities of the concept are evaluated with and without spanning material on a test stand, free of aerodynamic loads. In addition, the actuation restrictions of the spanning elastomer, necessary in adapting the morphing concept from 2D to 3D, are characterized. Initial aerodynamic results from the 1'×1' wind-tunnel also show the effects of aerodynamic loading on the actuation range of the SMTE concept for uniform morphing.

  17. Rational Thinking and Reasonable Thinking in Physics

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Isaeva E. A.

    2008-04-01

    Full Text Available The usual concept of space and time, based on Aristotle's principle of contemplation of the world and of the absoluteness of time, is a product of rational thinking. At the same time, in philosophy, rational thinking differs from reasonable thinking; the aim of logic is to distinguish finite forms from infinite forms. Agreeing that space and time are things of infinity in this work, we shall show that, with regard to these two things, it is necessary to apply reasonable thinking. Spaces with non-Euclidean geometry, for example Riemannian and Finslerian spaces, in particular, the space of the General Theory of the Relativity (four-dimensional pseudo-Riemannian geometry and also the concept of multi-dimensional space-time are products of reasonable thinking. Consequently, modern physical experiment not dealing with daily occurrences (greater speeds than a low speed to the velocity of light, strong fields, singularities, etc. can be covered only by reasonable thinking.

  18. Rational Thinking and Reasonable Thinking in Physics

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Isaeva E. A.

    2008-04-01

    Full Text Available The usual concept of space and time, based on Aristotle’s principle of contemplation of the world and of the absoluteness of time, is a product of rational thinking. At the same time, in philosophy, rational thinking differs from reasonable thinking; the aim of logic is to distinguish finite forms from infinite forms. Agreeing that space and time are things of infinity in this work, we shall show that, with regard to these two things, it is necessary to apply reasonable thinking. Spaces with non-Euclidean geometry, for example Riemannian and Finslerian spaces, in particular, the space of the General Theory of the Relativity (four-dimensional pseudo-Riemannian geometry and also the concept of multi-dimensional space-time are products of reasonable thinking. Consequently, modern physical experiment not dealing with daily occurrences (greater speeds than a low speed to the velocity of light, strong fields, singularities, etc. can be covered only by reasonable thinking.

  19. Advancing clinical reasoning in virtual patients - development and application of a conceptual framework.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hege, Inga; Kononowicz, Andrzej A; Berman, Norman B; Lenzer, Benedikt; Kiesewetter, Jan

    2018-01-01

    Background: Clinical reasoning is a complex skill students have to acquire during their education. For educators it is difficult to explain their reasoning to students, because it is partly an automatic and unconscious process. Virtual Patients (VPs) are used to support the acquisition of clinical reasoning skills in healthcare education. However, until now it remains unclear which features or settings of VPs optimally foster clinical reasoning. Therefore, our aims were to identify key concepts of the clinical reasoning process in a qualitative approach and draw conclusions on how each concept can be enhanced to advance the learning of clinical reasoning with virtual patients. Methods: We chose a grounded theory approach to identify key categories and concepts of learning clinical reasoning and develop a framework. Throughout this process, the emerging codes were discussed with a panel of interdisciplinary experts. In a second step we applied the framework to virtual patients. Results: Based on the data we identified the core category as the "multifactorial nature of learning clinical reasoning". This category is reflected in the following five main categories: Psychological Theories, Patient-centeredness, Context, Learner-centeredness, and Teaching/Assessment. Each category encompasses between four and six related concepts. Conclusions: With our approach we were able to elaborate how key categories and concepts of clinical reasoning can be applied to virtual patients. This includes aspects such as allowing learners to access a large number of VPs with adaptable levels of complexity and feedback or emphasizing dual processing, errors, and uncertainty.

  20. Essentialist Reasoning and Knowledge Effects on Biological Reasoning in Young Children

    Science.gov (United States)

    Herrmann, Patricia A.; French, Jason A.; DeHart, Ganie B.; Rosengren, Karl S.

    2013-01-01

    Biological kinds undergo a variety of changes during their life span, and these changes vary in degree by organism. Understanding that an organism, such as a caterpillar, maintains category identity over its life span despite dramatic changes is a key concept in biological reasoning. At present, we know little about the developmental trajectory of…

  1. Assessing Differential Item Functioning on the Test of Relational Reasoning

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Denis Dumas

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available The test of relational reasoning (TORR is designed to assess the ability to identify complex patterns within visuospatial stimuli. The TORR is designed for use in school and university settings, and therefore, its measurement invariance across diverse groups is critical. In this investigation, a large sample, representative of a major university on key demographic variables, was collected, and the resulting data were analyzed using a multi-group, multidimensional item-response theory model-comparison procedure. No significant differential item functioning was found on any of the TORR items across any of the demographic groups of interest. This finding is interpreted as evidence of the cultural fairness of the TORR, and potential test-development choices that may have contributed to that cultural fairness are discussed.

  2. Target Users' Diagrammatic Reasoning of Domain-specific Terminology

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pram Nielsen, Louise

    2016-01-01

    In this paper, we investigate target users' diagrammatic reasoning in a controlled experiment, where participants were asked to search for information in a dual visualization comprising of a concept-oriented graphical (diagram) entry and a corresponding textual (article) entry. During the experim......In this paper, we investigate target users' diagrammatic reasoning in a controlled experiment, where participants were asked to search for information in a dual visualization comprising of a concept-oriented graphical (diagram) entry and a corresponding textual (article) entry. During...

  3. Students' Distributive Reasoning with Fractions and Unknowns

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hackenberg, Amy J.; Lee, Mi Yeon

    2016-01-01

    To understand relationships between students' quantitative reasoning with fractions and their algebraic reasoning, a clinical interview study was conducted with 18 middle and high school students. The study included six students with each of three different multiplicative concepts, which are based on how students create and coordinate composite…

  4. Explanatory Item Response Modeling of Children's Change on a Dynamic Test of Analogical Reasoning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stevenson, Claire E.; Hickendorff, Marian; Resing, Wilma C. M.; Heiser, Willem J.; de Boeck, Paul A. L.

    2013-01-01

    Dynamic testing is an assessment method in which training is incorporated into the procedure with the aim of gauging cognitive potential. Large individual differences are present in children's ability to profit from training in analogical reasoning. The aim of this experiment was to investigate sources of these differences on a dynamic test of…

  5. Promoting the self-regulation of clinical reasoning skills in nursing students.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kuiper, R; Pesut, D; Kautz, D

    2009-10-02

    The purpose of this paper is to describe the research surrounding the theories and models the authors united to describe the essential components of clinical reasoning in nursing practice education. The research was conducted with nursing students in health care settings through the application of teaching and learning strategies with the Self-Regulated Learning Model (SRL) and the Outcome-Present-State-Test (OPT) Model of Reflective Clinical Reasoning. Standardized nursing languages provided the content and clinical vocabulary for the clinical reasoning task. This descriptive study described the application of the OPT model of clinical reasoning, use of nursing language content, and reflective journals based on the SRL model with 66 undergraduate nursing students over an 8 month period of time. The study tested the idea that self-regulation of clinical reasoning skills can be developed using self-regulation theory and the OPT model. This research supports a framework for effective teaching and learning methods to promote and document learner progress in mastering clinical reasoning skills. Self-regulated Learning strategies coupled with the OPT model suggest benefits of self-observation and self-monitoring during clinical reasoning activities, and pinpoints where guidance is needed for the development of cognitive and metacognitive awareness. Thinking and reasoning about the complexities of patient care needs requires attention to the content, processes and outcomes that make a nursing care difference. These principles and concepts are valuable to clinical decision making for nurses globally as they deal with local, regional, national and international health care issues.

  6. Assessing clinical reasoning in optometry using the script concordance test.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Faucher, Caroline; Dufour-Guindon, Marie-Pier; Lapointe, Gabrielle; Gagnon, Robert; Charlin, Bernard

    2016-05-01

    Clinical reasoning is central to any health profession but its development among learners is difficult to assess. Over the last few decades, the script concordance test (SCT) has been developed to solve this dilemma and has been used in many health professions; however, no study has been published on the use of the script concordance test in optometry. The purpose of this study was to develop and validate a script concordance test for the field of optometry. A 101-question script concordance test (27 short clinical scenarios) was developed and administered online to a convenience sample of 23 second-year and 19 fourth-year students of optometry. It was also administered to a reference panel of 12 experienced optometrists to develop the scoring key. An item-total correlation was calculated for each question. Cronbach's alpha coefficient was used to evaluate the script concordance test reliability and a t-test compared the two groups. A final 77-question script concordance test was created by eliminating questions with low item-total correlation. Cronbach's alpha for this optimised 77-question script concordance test was 0.80. A group comparison revealed that the second-year students' scores (n = 23; mean score = 66.4 ± 7.87 per cent) were statistically lower (t = -4.141; p Optometry © 2016 Optometry Australia.

  7. Technical concept for a Greater Confinement Disposal test facility

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hunter, P.H.

    1982-01-01

    For the past two years, Ford, Bacon and Davis has been performing technical services for the Department of Energy at the Nevada Test Site in specific development of defense low-level waste management concepts for greater confinement disposal concept with particular application to arid sites. The investigations have included the development of Criteria for Greater Confinement Disposal, NVO-234, which was published in May of 1981 and the draft of the technical concept for Greater Confinement Disposal, with the latest draft published in November 1981. The final draft of the technical concept and design specifications are expected to be published imminently. The document is prerequisite to the actual construction and implementation of the demonstration facility this fiscal year. The GCD Criteria Document, NVO-234 is considered to contain information complimentary and compatible with that being developed for the reserved section 10 CFR 61.51b of the NRCs proposed licensing rule for low level waste disposal facilities

  8. Multiple-choice test of energy and momentum concepts

    OpenAIRE

    Singh, Chandralekha; Rosengrant, David

    2016-01-01

    We investigate student understanding of energy and momentum concepts at the level of introductory physics by designing and administering a 25-item multiple choice test and conducting individual interviews. We find that most students have difficulty in qualitatively interpreting basic principles related to energy and momentum and in applying them in physical situations.

  9. Evidence in clinical reasoning: a computational linguistics analysis of 789,712 medical case summaries 1983-2012.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Seidel, Bastian M; Campbell, Steven; Bell, Erica

    2015-03-21

    Better understanding of clinical reasoning could reduce diagnostic error linked to 8% of adverse medical events and 30% of malpractice cases. To a greater extent than the evidence-based movement, the clinical reasoning literature asserts the importance of practitioner intuition—unconscious elements of diagnostic reasoning. The study aimed to analyse the content of case report summaries in ways that explored the importance of an evidence concept, not only in relation to research literature but also intuition. The study sample comprised all 789,712 abstracts in English for case reports contained in the database PUBMED for the period 1 January 1983 to 31 December 2012. It was hypothesised that, if evidence and intuition concepts were viewed by these clinical authors as essential to understanding their case reports, they would be more likely to be found in the abstracts. Computational linguistics software was used in 1) concept mapping of 21,631,481 instances of 201 concepts, and 2) specific concept analyses examining 200 paired co-occurrences for 'evidence' and research 'literature' concepts. 'Evidence' is a fundamentally patient-centred, intuitive concept linked to less common concepts about underlying processes, suspected disease mechanisms and diagnostic hunches. In contrast, the use of research literature in clinical reasoning is linked to more common reasoning concepts about specific knowledge and descriptions or presenting features of cases. 'Literature' is by far the most dominant concept, increasing in relevance since 2003, with an overall relevance of 13% versus 5% for 'evidence' which has remained static. The fact that the least present types of reasoning concepts relate to diagnostic hunches to do with underlying processes, such as what is suspected, raises questions about whether intuitive practitioner evidence-making, found in a constellation of dynamic, process concepts, has become less important. The study adds support to the existing corpus of

  10. Reversible Reasoning and the Working Backwards Problem Solving Strategy

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ramful, Ajay

    2015-01-01

    Making sense of mathematical concepts and solving mathematical problems may demand different forms of reasoning. These could be either domain-based, such as algebraic, geometric or statistical reasoning, while others are more general such as inductive/deductive reasoning. This article aims at giving visibility to a particular form of reasoning…

  11. Pursuing Improvement in Clinical Reasoning: The Integrated Clinical Education Theory.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jessee, Mary Ann

    2018-01-01

    The link between clinical education and development of clinical reasoning is not well supported by one theoretical perspective. Learning to reason during clinical education may be best achieved in a supportive sociocultural context of nursing practice that maximizes reasoning opportunities and facilitates discourse and meaningful feedback. Prelicensure clinical education seldom incorporates these critical components and thus may fail to directly promote clinical reasoning skill. Theoretical frameworks supporting the development of clinical reasoning during clinical education were evaluated. Analysis of strengths and gaps in each framework's support of clinical reasoning development was conducted. Commensurability of philosophical underpinnings was confirmed, and complex relationships among key concepts were elucidated. Six key concepts and three tenets comprise an explanatory predictive theory-the integrated clinical education theory (ICET). ICET provides critical theoretical support for inquiry and action to promote clinical education that improves development of clinical reasoning skill. [J Nurs Educ. 2018;57(1):7-13.]. Copyright 2018, SLACK Incorporated.

  12. College Teaching and the Development of Reasoning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fuller, Robert G., Ed.; Campbell, Thomas C., Ed.; Dykstra, Dewey I., Jr., Ed.; Stevens, Scott M., Ed.

    2009-01-01

    This book is intended to offer college faculty members the insights of the development of reasoning movement that enlighten physics educators in the late 1970s and led to a variety of college programs directed at improving the reasoning patterns used by college students. While the original materials were directed at physics concepts, they quickly…

  13. Development of diagnostic test instruments to reveal level student conception in kinematic and dynamics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Handhika, J.; Cari, C.; Suparmi, A.; Sunarno, W.; Purwandari, P.

    2018-03-01

    The purpose of this research was to develop a diagnostic test instrument to reveal students' conceptions in kinematics and dynamics. The diagnostic test was developed based on the content indicator the concept of (1) displacement and distance, (2) instantaneous and average velocity, (3) zero and constant acceleration, (4) gravitational acceleration (5) Newton's first Law, (6) and Newton's third Law. The diagnostic test development model includes: Diagnostic test requirement analysis, formulating test-making objectives, developing tests, checking the validity of the content and the performance of reliability, and application of tests. The Content Validation Index (CVI) results in the category are highly relevant, with a value of 0.85. Three questions get negative Content Validation Ratio CVR) (-0.6), after revised distractors and clarify visual presentation; the CVR become 1 (highly relevant). This test was applied, obtained 16 valid test items, with Cronbach Alpha value of 0.80. It can conclude that diagnostic test can be used to reveal the level of students conception in kinematics and dynamics.

  14. High-Risk Behaviors among Youth and Their Reasons for Not Getting Tested for HIV

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moyer, Matthew B.; Silvestre, Anthony J.; Lombardi, Emilia L.; Taylor, Christopher A.

    2007-01-01

    Concerned about reports of a 15% decline in HIV testing among high-risk youth in an earlier study in Pittsburgh, this study was initiated to explore reasons why young people are not getting tested for HIV, while gathering data on their respective level of risk taking behaviors. A total of 580 surveys were collected from youth aged between 14 and…

  15. Cryogenic Testing of Different Seam Concepts for Multilayer Insulation Systems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Johnson, Wesley L.; Fesmire, J. E.

    2009-01-01

    Recent testing in a cylindrical, comparative cryostat at the Cryogenics Test Laboratory has focused on various seam concepts for multilayer insulation systems. Three main types of seams were investigated: straight overlap, fold-over, and roll wrapped. Each blanket was comprised of 40 layer pairs of reflector and spacer materials. The total thickness was approximately 12.5-mm, giving an average layer density of 32 layers per centimeter. The blankets were tested at high vacuum, soft vacuum, and no vacuum using liquid nitrogen to maintain the cold boundary temperature at 77 K. Test results show that all three seam concepts are all close in thermal performance; however the fold-over method provides the lowest heat flux. For the first series of tests, seams were located 120 degrees around the circumference of the cryostat from the previous seam. This technique appears to have lessened the degradation of the blanket due to the seams. In a follow-on test, a 20 layer blanket was tested in a roll wrapped configuration and then cut down the side of the cylinder, taped together, and re-tested. This test result shows the thermal performance impact of having the seams all in one location versus having the seams clocked around the vessel. This experimental investigation indicates that the method of joining the seams in multilayer insulation systems is not as critical as the quality of the installation process.

  16. A knowledge-based system for prototypical reasoning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lieto, Antonio; Minieri, Andrea; Piana, Alberto; Radicioni, Daniele P.

    2015-04-01

    In this work we present a knowledge-based system equipped with a hybrid, cognitively inspired architecture for the representation of conceptual information. The proposed system aims at extending the classical representational and reasoning capabilities of the ontology-based frameworks towards the realm of the prototype theory. It is based on a hybrid knowledge base, composed of a classical symbolic component (grounded on a formal ontology) with a typicality based one (grounded on the conceptual spaces framework). The resulting system attempts to reconcile the heterogeneous approach to the concepts in Cognitive Science with the dual process theories of reasoning and rationality. The system has been experimentally assessed in a conceptual categorisation task where common sense linguistic descriptions were given in input, and the corresponding target concepts had to be identified. The results show that the proposed solution substantially extends the representational and reasoning 'conceptual' capabilities of standard ontology-based systems.

  17. Advancing clinical reasoning in virtual patients – development and application of a conceptual framework

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hege, Inga; Kononowicz, Andrzej A.; Berman, Norman B.; Lenzer, Benedikt; Kiesewetter, Jan

    2018-01-01

    Background: Clinical reasoning is a complex skill students have to acquire during their education. For educators it is difficult to explain their reasoning to students, because it is partly an automatic and unconscious process. Virtual Patients (VPs) are used to support the acquisition of clinical reasoning skills in healthcare education. However, until now it remains unclear which features or settings of VPs optimally foster clinical reasoning. Therefore, our aims were to identify key concepts of the clinical reasoning process in a qualitative approach and draw conclusions on how each concept can be enhanced to advance the learning of clinical reasoning with virtual patients. Methods: We chose a grounded theory approach to identify key categories and concepts of learning clinical reasoning and develop a framework. Throughout this process, the emerging codes were discussed with a panel of interdisciplinary experts. In a second step we applied the framework to virtual patients. Results: Based on the data we identified the core category as the "multifactorial nature of learning clinical reasoning". This category is reflected in the following five main categories: Psychological Theories, Patient-centeredness, Context, Learner-centeredness, and Teaching/Assessment. Each category encompasses between four and six related concepts. Conclusions: With our approach we were able to elaborate how key categories and concepts of clinical reasoning can be applied to virtual patients. This includes aspects such as allowing learners to access a large number of VPs with adaptable levels of complexity and feedback or emphasizing dual processing, errors, and uncertainty. PMID:29497697

  18. Conceptual Knowledge Representation and Reasoning

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Oldager, Steen Nikolaj

    2003-01-01

    One of the main areas in knowledge representation and logic-based artificial intelligence concerns logical formalisms that can be used for representing and reasoning with concepts. For almost 30 years, since research in this area began, the issue of intensionality has had a special status...

  19. Mental life in the space of reasons

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Brinkmann, Svend

    2006-01-01

    This paper argues the Wittgensteinian point that we can undo the psychologizing of psychology by conceiving of mental life as lived in the space of reasons. It is argued that mental life - human action, feeling and thinking - is constituted by normative connections and necessities rather than...... that it violates our conception of mental illness as something mental, yet outside the space of reasons...

  20. Testing Microgravity Flight Hardware Concepts on the NASA KC-135

    Science.gov (United States)

    Motil, Susan M.; Harrivel, Angela R.; Zimmerli, Gregory A.

    2001-01-01

    This paper provides an overview of utilizing the NASA KC-135 Reduced Gravity Aircraft for the Foam Optics and Mechanics (FOAM) microgravity flight project. The FOAM science requirements are summarized, and the KC-135 test-rig used to test hardware concepts designed to meet the requirements are described. Preliminary results regarding foam dispensing, foam/surface slip tests, and dynamic light scattering data are discussed in support of the flight hardware development for the FOAM experiment.

  1. Reasoning about Shape as a Pattern in Variability

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bakker, Arthur

    2004-01-01

    This paper examines ways in which coherent reasoning about key concepts such as variability, sampling, data, and distribution can be developed as part of statistics education. Instructional activities that could support such reasoning were developed through design research conducted with students in grades 7 and 8. Results are reported from a…

  2. Kohlberg and Piaget on Stages and Moral Reasoning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carpendale, Jeremy I. M.

    2000-01-01

    Maintains that although Kohlberg emphasized the importance of perspective taking in moral reasoning, his view of developmental stages is inconsistent with this position. Argues that a modification of Kohlberg's conception of stages drawing on Piagetian theory would result in a view of moral reasoning as a process of coordinating all perspectives…

  3. Cognitive mechanisms of change in delusions: an experimental investigation targeting reasoning to effect change in paranoia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Garety, Philippa; Waller, Helen; Emsley, Richard; Jolley, Suzanne; Kuipers, Elizabeth; Bebbington, Paul; Dunn, Graham; Fowler, David; Hardy, Amy; Freeman, Daniel

    2015-03-01

    Given the evidence that reasoning biases contribute to delusional persistence and change, several research groups have made systematic efforts to modify them. The current experiment tested the hypothesis that targeting reasoning biases would result in change in delusions. One hundred and one participants with current delusions and schizophrenia spectrum psychosis were randomly allocated to a brief computerized reasoning training intervention or to a control condition involving computer-based activities of similar duration. The primary hypotheses tested were that the reasoning training intervention, would improve (1) data gathering and belief flexibility and (2) delusional thinking, specifically paranoia. We then tested whether the changes in paranoia were mediated by changes in data gathering and flexibility, and whether working memory and negative symptoms moderated any intervention effects. On an intention-to-treat analysis, there were significant improvements in state paranoia and reasoning in the experimental compared with the control condition. There was evidence that changes in reasoning mediated changes in paranoia, although this effect fell just outside the conventional level of significance after adjustment for baseline confounders. Working memory and negative symptoms significantly moderated the effects of the intervention on reasoning. The study demonstrated the effectiveness of a brief reasoning intervention in improving both reasoning processes and paranoia. It thereby provides proof-of-concept evidence that reasoning is a promising intermediary target in interventions to ameliorate delusions, and thus supports the value of developing this approach as a longer therapeutic intervention. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center.

  4. A Control Systems Concept Inventory Test Design and Assessment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bristow, M.; Erkorkmaz, K.; Huissoon, J. P.; Jeon, Soo; Owen, W. S.; Waslander, S. L.; Stubley, G. D.

    2012-01-01

    Any meaningful initiative to improve the teaching and learning in introductory control systems courses needs a clear test of student conceptual understanding to determine the effectiveness of proposed methods and activities. The authors propose a control systems concept inventory. Development of the inventory was collaborative and iterative. The…

  5. Reasoning with Previous Decisions: Beyond the Doctrine of Precedent

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Komárek, Jan

    2013-01-01

    in different jurisdictions use previous judicial decisions in their argument, we need to move beyond the concept of precedent to a wider notion, which would embrace practices and theories in legal systems outside the Common law tradition. This article presents the concept of ‘reasoning with previous decisions...... law method’, but they are no less rational and intellectually sophisticated. The reason for the rather conceited attitude of some comparatists is in the dominance of the common law paradigm of precedent and the accompanying ‘case law method’. If we want to understand how courts and lawyers......’ as such an alternative and develops its basic models. The article first points out several shortcomings inherent in limiting the inquiry into reasoning with previous decisions by the common law paradigm (1). On the basis of numerous examples provided in section (1), I will present two basic models of reasoning...

  6. Using Prediction to Promote Mathematical Understanding and Reasoning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kasmer, Lisa; Kim, Ok-Kyeong

    2011-01-01

    Research has shown that prediction has the potential to promote the teaching and learning of mathematics because it can be used to enhance students' thinking and reasoning at all grade levels in various topics. This article addresses the effectiveness of using prediction on students' understanding and reasoning of mathematical concepts in a middle…

  7. Organization of Concepts Relevant to Emotions and Their Regulation during Test Taking.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schutz, Paul A.; Davis, Heather A.; Schwanenflugel, Paula J.

    2002-01-01

    Studied college students' organization of concepts related to emotions and their regulation during test taking and whether students with test anxiety have a different conceptual organization about test taking. Results with 78 and 76 students show that for students with low and moderate test anxiety, the organizational scheme for the selected…

  8. Testing complex animal cognition: Concept learning, proactive interference, and list memory.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wright, Anthony A

    2018-01-01

    This article describes an approach for assessing and comparing complex cognition in rhesus monkeys and pigeons by training them in a sequence of synergistic tasks, each yielding a whole function for enhanced comparisons. These species were trained in similar same/different tasks with expanding training sets (8, 16, 32, 64, 128 … 1024 pictures) followed by novel-stimulus transfer eventually resulting in full abstract-concept learning. Concept-learning functions revealed better rhesus transfer throughout and full concept learning at the 128 set, versus pigeons at the 256 set. They were then tested in delayed same/different tasks for proactive interference by inserting occasional tests within trial-unique sessions where the test stimulus matched a previous sample stimulus (1, 2, 4, 8, 16 trials prior). Proactive-interference functions revealed time-based interference for pigeons (1, 10 s delays), but event-based interference for rhesus (no effect of 1, 10, 20 s delays). They were then tested in list-memory tasks by expanding the sample to four samples in trial-unique sessions (minimizing proactive interference). The four-item, list-memory functions revealed strong recency memory at short delays, gradually changing to strong primacy memory at long delays over 30 s for rhesus, and 10 s for pigeons. Other species comparisons and future directions are discussed. © 2018 Society for the Experimental Analysis of Behavior.

  9. Explanatory item response modeling of children's change on a dynamic test of analogical reasoning

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Stevenson, C.E.; Hickendorff, M.; Resing, W.C.M.; Heiser, W.J.; de Boeck, P.A.L.

    Dynamic testing is an assessment method in which training is incorporated into the procedure with the aim of gauging cognitive potential. Large individual differences are present in children's ability to profit from training in analogical reasoning. The aim of this experiment was to investigate

  10. Test module in NET for a self-cooled liquid metal blanket concept

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Malang, S.; Arheidt, K.; Fischer, U.

    1989-01-01

    The application of a self-cooled liquid metal blanket concept to the condition of a DEMO-reactor and its testing in NET is described. The neutronics analysis shows that tritium self-sufficiency can be achieved without beryllium multiplier if breeding blankets are arranged at both outboard and inboard side of the torus or, using beryllium as multiplier, with outboard breeding only. First estimates indicate that it should be possible to test all relevant features of the concept in one of the horizontal plug positions of NET. (author). 6 refs.; 7 figs.; 1 tab

  11. Clinical reasoning in neurology: use of the repertory grid technique to investigate the reasoning of an experienced occupational therapist.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kuipers, Kathy; Grice, James W

    2009-08-01

    The aim of this paper is to describe the use of a structured interview methodology, the repertory grid technique, for investigating the clinical reasoning of an experienced occupational therapist in the domain of upper limb hypertonia as a result of brain injury. Repertory grid interviews were completed before and after exposure to a protocol designed to guide clinical reasoning and decision-making in relation to upper limb neurological rehabilitation. Data were subjected to both qualitative and quantitative analyses. Qualitative analysis focussed on clinical reasoning content. Common themes across the pre- and post-exposure interviews were the use of theoretical frameworks and practice models, the significance of clinical expertise, and discrimination of 'broad' and 'specific' aspects, as well as differentiation between 'therapist and client-related' aspects of the clinical situation. Quantitative analysis indicated that for both pre- and post-exposure repertory grids, clinical reasoning was structured in terms of two main concepts. In the pre-exposure grid, these were related to the therapist's role, and to the 'scope' of practice tasks (either broad or specific). In the post-exposure grid the two main concepts were upper limb performance, and client-centred aspects of the therapy process. The repertory grid technique is proposed as an effective tool for exploring occupational therapy clinical reasoning, based on its capacity for accessing personal frames of reference, and elucidating both the meaning and the structure supporting clinical reasoning.

  12. Connecting mathematics learning through spatial reasoning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mulligan, Joanne; Woolcott, Geoffrey; Mitchelmore, Michael; Davis, Brent

    2018-03-01

    Spatial reasoning, an emerging transdisciplinary area of interest to mathematics education research, is proving integral to all human learning. It is particularly critical to science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) fields. This project will create an innovative knowledge framework based on spatial reasoning that identifies new pathways for mathematics learning, pedagogy and curriculum. Novel analytical tools will map the unknown complex systems linking spatial and mathematical concepts. It will involve the design, implementation and evaluation of a Spatial Reasoning Mathematics Program (SRMP) in Grades 3 to 5. Benefits will be seen through development of critical spatial skills for students, increased teacher capability and informed policy and curriculum across STEM education.

  13. Theoretical frameworks for the learning of geometrical reasoning

    OpenAIRE

    Jones, Keith

    1998-01-01

    With the growth in interest in geometrical ideas it is important to be clear about the nature of geometrical reasoning and how it develops. This paper provides an overview of three theoretical frameworks for the learning of geometrical reasoning: the van Hiele model of thinking in geometry, Fischbein’s theory of figural concepts, and Duval’s cognitive model of geometrical reasoning. Each of these frameworks provides theoretical resources to support research into the development of geometrical...

  14. Wireless Roadside Inspection Proof of Concept Test Final Report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Capps, Gary J [ORNL; Franzese, Oscar [ORNL; Knee, Helmut E [ORNL; Plate, Randall S [ORNL; Lascurain, Mary Beth [ORNL

    2009-03-01

    The U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) FMCSA commissioned the Wireless Roadside Inspection (WRI) Program to validate technologies and methodologies that can improve safety through inspections using wireless technologies that convey real-time identification of commercial vehicles, drivers, and carriers, as well as information about the condition of the vehicles and their drivers. It is hypothesized that these inspections will: -- Increase safety -- Decrease the number of unsafe commercial vehicles on the road; -- Increase efficiency -- Speed up the inspection process, enabling more inspections to occur, at least on par with the number of weight inspections; -- Improve effectiveness -- Reduce the probability of drivers bypassing CMV inspection stations and increase the likelihood that fleets will attempt to meet the safety regulations; and -- Benefit industry -- Reduce fleet costs, provide good return-on-investment, minimize wait times, and level the playing field. The WRI Program is defined in three phases which are: Phase 1: Proof of Concept Test (POC) Testing of commercially available off-the-shelf (COTS) or near-COTS technology to validate the wireless inspection concept. Phase 2: Pilot Test Safety technology maturation and back office system integration Phase 3: Field Operational Test Multi-vehicle testing over a multi-state instrumented corridor This report focuses on Phase 1 efforts that were initiated in March, 2006. Technical efforts dealt with the ability of a Universal Wireless Inspection System (UWIS) to collect driver, vehicle, and carrier information; format a Safety Data Message Set from this information; and wirelessly transmit a Safety Data Message Set to a roadside receiver unit or mobile enforcement vehicle.

  15. Identification and analysis of student conceptions used to solve chemical equilibrium problems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Voska, Kirk William

    This study identified and quantified chemistry conceptions students use when solving chemical equilibrium problems requiring the application of Le Chatelier's principle, and explored the feasibility of designing a paper and pencil test for this purpose. It also demonstrated the utility of conditional probabilities to assess test quality. A 10-item pencil-and-paper, two-tier diagnostic instrument, the Test to Identify Student Conceptualizations (TISC) was developed and administered to 95 second-semester university general chemistry students after they received regular course instruction concerning equilibrium in homogeneous aqueous, heterogeneous aqueous, and homogeneous gaseous systems. The content validity of TISC was established through a review of TISC by a panel of experts; construct validity was established through semi-structured interviews and conditional probabilities. Nine students were then selected from a stratified random sample for interviews to validate TISC. The probability that TISC correctly identified an answer given by a student in an interview was p = .64, while the probability that TISC correctly identified a reason given by a student in an interview was p=.49. Each TISC item contained two parts. In the first part the student selected the correct answer to a problem from a set of four choices. In the second part students wrote reasons for their answer to the first part. TISC questions were designed to identify students' conceptions concerning the application of Le Chatelier's principle, the constancy of the equilibrium constant, K, and the effect of a catalyst. Eleven prevalent incorrect conceptions were identified. This study found students consistently selected correct answers more frequently (53% of the time) than they provided correct reasons (33% of the time). The association between student answers and respective reasons on each TISC item was quantified using conditional probabilities calculated from logistic regression coefficients. The

  16. Dividing the Force Concept Inventory into two equivalent half-length tests

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jing Han

    2015-05-01

    Full Text Available The Force Concept Inventory (FCI is a 30-question multiple-choice assessment that has been a building block for much of the physics education research done today. In practice, there are often concerns regarding the length of the test and possible test-retest effects. Since many studies in the literature use the mean score of the FCI as the primary variable, it would be useful then to have different shorter tests that can produce FCI-equivalent scores while providing the benefits of being quicker to administer and overcoming the test-retest effects. In this study, we divide the 1995 version of the FCI into two half-length tests; each contains a different subset of the original FCI questions. The two new tests are shorter, still cover the same set of concepts, and produce mean scores equivalent to those of the FCI. Using a large quantitative data set collected at a large midwestern university, we statistically compare the assessment features of the two half-length tests and the full-length FCI. The results show that the mean error of equivalent scores between any two of the three tests is within 3%. Scores from all tests are well correlated. Based on the analysis, it appears that the two half-length tests can be a viable option for score based assessment that need to administer tests quickly or need to measure short-term gains where using identical pre- and post-test questions is a concern.

  17. Concept and Model - Kiwi project deliverable D2.8

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Durao, Frederico; Dolog, Peter

    2009-01-01

    The Concept and Model for personalisation serves several goals: •    Introducing relevant concepts of personalisation, user and group modelling, statistical model, reasoning and reason maintenance for personalisation. •    Reviewing the related work in personalisation and understanding how......, widget arrangement based on user activity and reasoning maintenance for generation of recommendations....

  18. Development of a Solar System Concept Inventory

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hornstein, Seth D.; Duncan, D.; S, C. A. T.

    2009-01-01

    Concept inventories can provide useful insight into students’ understanding of key physical concepts. Knowing what your students have learned during a course is a valuable tool for improving your own teaching. Unfortunately, current astronomy concept inventories are not suitable for an introductory solar system course because they either cover too broad of a range of topics (e.g. Astronomy Diagnostic Test) or are too narrowly focused (e.g. Greenhouse Effect Concept Inventory, Lunar Phase Concept Inventory). We have developed the Solar System Concept Inventory (SSCI) to cover those topics commonly taught in an introductory solar system course. The topics included on the SSCI were selected by having faculty identify the key concepts they address when teaching about the solar system. SSCI topics include formation mechanisms, planetary interiors, atmospheric effects, and small solar system bodies. Student interviews were conducted to identify common naive ideas and reasoning difficulties relating to these key topics. Preliminary development of the SSCI was completed at the University of Colorado and involved over 400 students. A larger, national, multi-institutional field test is planned for Spring 2009 as a Collaboration of Astronomy Teaching Scholars (CATS) research project. We present here the results from the preliminary development and proposed changes for the next stage of research. We would like to thank the NSF for funding under Grant No. 0715517, a CCLI Phase III Grant for the Collaboration of Astronomy Teaching Scholars (CATS) Program.

  19. The early emergence and puzzling decline of relational reasoning: Effects of knowledge and search on inferring abstract concepts.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Walker, Caren M; Bridgers, Sophie; Gopnik, Alison

    2016-11-01

    We explore the developmental trajectory and underlying mechanisms of abstract relational reasoning. We describe a surprising developmental pattern: Younger learners are better than older ones at inferring abstract causal relations. Walker and Gopnik (2014) demonstrated that toddlers are able to infer that an effect was caused by a relation between two objects (whether they are the same or different), rather than by individual kinds of objects. While these findings are consistent with evidence that infants recognize same-different relations, they contrast with a large literature suggesting that older children tend to have difficulty inferring these relations. Why might this be? In Experiment 1a, we demonstrate that while younger children (18-30-month-olds) have no difficulty learning these relational concepts, older children (36-48-month-olds) fail to draw this abstract inference. Experiment 1b replicates the finding with 18-30-month-olds using a more demanding intervention task. Experiment 2 tests whether this difference in performance might be because older children have developed the general hypothesis that individual kinds of objects are causal - the high initial probability of this alternative hypothesis might override the data that favors the relational hypothesis. Providing additional information falsifying the alternative hypothesis improves older children's performance. Finally, Experiment 3 demonstrates that prompting for explanations during learning also improves performance, even without any additional information. These findings are discussed in light of recent computational and algorithmic theories of learning. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  20. Enhancing Historical Reasoning: A Strategy Including Formative Assessment with Systematic Continuous Feedback

    Science.gov (United States)

    Méndez, Sergio; Tirado, Felipe

    2016-01-01

    Learning History promotes students' reasoning. According to Van Drie & Van Boxtel (2008), historical reasoning involves six elements: substantive concepts, metaconcepts, asking historical questions, using sources, contextualization, and argumentation. Although there are didactic strategies that promote historical reasoning, these do not…

  1. Clinical reasoning in nursing: teaching strategies and assessment tools

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Emília Campos de Carvalho

    Full Text Available ABSTRACT Objective: To present the concept and development of teaching strategies and the assessment tools regarding clinical reasoning for accurate practice. Method: This is a theoretical reflection based on scientific studies. Results: Comprehension of the essential concepts of the thought process and its articulation with the different teaching strategies and the assessment tools which has allowed presenting ways to improve the process of diagnostic or therapeutic clinical reasoning. Conclusion: The use of new strategies and assessment tools should be encouraged in order to contribute to the development of skills that lead to safe and effective decision making.

  2. Integrated Case Based and Rule Based Reasoning for Decision Support

    OpenAIRE

    Eshete, Azeb Bekele

    2009-01-01

    This project is a continuation of my specialization project which was focused on studying theoretical concepts related to case based reasoning method, rule based reasoning method and integration of them. The integration of rule-based and case-based reasoning methods has shown a substantial improvement with regards to performance over the individual methods. Verdande Technology As wants to try integrating the rule based reasoning method with an existing case based system. This project focu...

  3. Fuzzy-trace theory: dual processes in memory, reasoning, and cognitive neuroscience.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brainerd, C J; Reyna, V F

    2001-01-01

    Fuzzy-trace theory has evolved in response to counterintuitive data on how memory development influences the development of reasoning. The two traditional perspectives on memory-reasoning relations--the necessity and constructivist hypotheses--stipulate that the accuracy of children's memory for problem information and the accuracy of their reasoning are closely intertwined, albeit for different reasons. However, contrary to necessity, correlational and experimental dissociations have been found between children's memory for problem information that is determinative in solving certain problems and their solutions of those problems. In these same tasks, age changes in memory for problem information appear to be dissociated from age changes in reasoning. Contrary to constructivism, correlational and experimental dissociations also have been found between children's performance on memory tests for actual experience and memory tests for the meaning of experience. As in memory-reasoning studies, age changes in one type of memory performance do not seem to be closely connected to age changes in the other type of performance. Subsequent experiments have led to dual-process accounts in both the memory and reasoning spheres. The account of memory development features four other principles: parallel verbatim-gist storage, dissociated verbatim-gist retrieval, memorial bases of conscious recollection, and identity/similarity processes. The account of the development of reasoning features three principles: gist extraction, fuzzy-to-verbatim continua, and fuzzy-processing preferences. The fuzzy-processing preference is a particularly important notion because it implies that gist-based intuitive reasoning often suffices to deliver "logical" solutions and that such reasoning confers multiple cognitive advantages that enhance accuracy. The explanation of memory-reasoning dissociations in cognitive development then falls out of fuzzy-trace theory's dual-process models of memory and

  4. A Framework to Support Research on Informal Inferential Reasoning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zieffler, Andrew; Garfield, Joan; delMas, Robert; Reading, Chris

    2008-01-01

    Informal inferential reasoning is a relatively recent concept in the research literature. Several research studies have defined this type of cognitive process in slightly different ways. In this paper, a working definition of informal inferential reasoning based on an analysis of the key aspects of statistical inference, and on research from…

  5. A Priori Knowledge and Heuristic Reasoning in Architectural Design.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rowe, Peter G.

    1982-01-01

    It is proposed that the various classes of a priori knowledge incorporated in heuristic reasoning processes exert a strong influence over architectural design activity. Some design problems require exercise of some provisional set of rules, inference, or plausible strategy which requires heuristic reasoning. A case study illustrates this concept.…

  6. Australian Curriculum Linked Lessons: Reasoning in Number and Algebra

    Science.gov (United States)

    Day, Lorraine

    2014-01-01

    The Reasoning Proficiency in number and algebra is about children making sense of the mathematics by explaining their thinking, giving reasons for their decisions and describing mathematical situations and concepts. Lorraine Day notes, children need to be able to speak, read and write the language of mathematics while investigating pattern and…

  7. ANALYSIS OF STUDENTS’ DECISION MAKING TO SOLVE SCIENCE REASONING TEST OF TRENDS IN INTERNATIONAL MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE STUDY (TIMSS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    N. Novianawati

    2015-04-01

    Full Text Available This study aims to determine students’ decision making strategy to answer TIMSS science reasoning test in cognitive reasoning domain. This research is quantitative descriptive research. The result shows that students tend to use compensatory strategy for decision making in solving multiple-choice questions and use rational category to answer essay questions. The result shows that more than half of students have been able to answer the questions TIMSS science tests correctly.

  8. Dividing the Force Concept Inventory into Two Equivalent Half-Length Tests

    Science.gov (United States)

    Han, Jing; Bao, Lei; Chen, Li; Cai, Tianfang; Pi, Yuan; Zhou, Shaona; Tu, Yan; Koenig, Kathleen

    2015-01-01

    The Force Concept Inventory (FCI) is a 30-question multiple-choice assessment that has been a building block for much of the physics education research done today. In practice, there are often concerns regarding the length of the test and possible test-retest effects. Since many studies in the literature use the mean score of the FCI as the…

  9. Internal Structure and Partial Invariance across Gender in the Spanish Version of the Reasoning Test Battery.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Elosua, Paula; Mujika, Josu

    2015-10-13

    The Reasoning Test Battery (BPR) is an instrument built on theories of the hierarchical organization of cognitive abilities and therefore consists of different tasks related with abstract, numerical, verbal, practical, spatial and mechanical reasoning. It was originally created in Belgium and later adapted to Portuguese. There are three forms of the battery consisting of different items and scales which cover an age range from 9 to 22. This paper focuses on the adaptation of the BPR to Spanish, and analyzes different aspects of its internal structure: (a) exploratory item factor analysis was applied to assess the presence of a dominant factor for each partial scale; (b) the general underlined model was evaluated through confirmatory factor analysis, and (c) factorial invariance across gender was studied. The sample consisted of 2624 Spanish students. The results concluded the presence of a general factor beyond the scales, with equivalent values for men and women, and gender differences in the factorial structure which affect the numerical reasoning, abstract reasoning and mechanical reasoning scales.

  10. The script concordance test as a tool to evaluate clinical reasoning in neonatology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ben Hamida, Emira; Ayadi, Imen; Marrakchi, Zahra; Quinton, André

    2017-05-01

    Script concordance test aims to evaluate knowledge organization, which represents an essential component of the clinical competence. To build a script concordance test and demonstrate its relevance in the evaluation of Neonatology skills. A script concordance test including 20 vignettes and 20 items, was provided to 52 fourth year medical students and 11 family medicine interns. Script concordance test scores obtained by experts were higher then those obtained by students and family medicine interns. The scores (out of 100) were 82.52 ± 7.35 CI95% [77.26-87.78] for the experts, 58.52 ± 9.72 CI95% [55.82-61.23] for the students, and 63.17±11.36 IC95%  [55.53-70.81] (p<0.0001) for the interns. Our data suggest that script concordance tests could be used to assess the acquisition of clinical reasoning among fourth year medical students in neonatolgy.

  11. Small Scale Hydrocarbon Fire Test Concept

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Joachim Søreng Bjørge

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available In the oil and gas industry, hydrocarbon process equipment was previously often thermally insulated by applying insulation directly to the metal surface. Fire protective insulation was applied outside the thermal insulation. In some cases, severe corrosion attacks were observed due to ingress of humidity and condensation at cold surfaces. Introducing a 25 mm air gap to prevent wet thermal insulation and metal wall contact is expected to solve the corrosion issues. This improved insulation methodology does, however, require more space that may not be available when refurbishing older process plants. Relocating structural elements would introduce much hot work, which should be minimized in live plants. It is also costly. The aim of the present study is therefore to develop a test concept for testing fire resistance of equipment protected with only air-gap and thermal insulation, i.e., without the fire-protective insulation. The present work demonstrates a conceptual methodology for small scale fire testing of mockups resembling a section of a distillation column. The mockups were exposed to a small-scale propane flame in a test configuration where the flow rate and the flame zone were optimized to give heat flux levels in the range 250–350 kW/m2. Results are presented for a mockup resembling a 16 mm thick distillation column steel wall. It is demonstrated that the modern distance insulation in combination with the heat capacity of the column wall indicates 30+ minutes fire resistance. The results show that this methodology has great potentials for low cost fire testing of other configurations, and it may serve as a set-up for product development.

  12. Reasoning about complex probabilistic concepts in childhood.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fisk, John E; Bury, Angela S; Holden, Rachel

    2006-12-01

    The competencies of children, particularly their understanding of the more complex probabilistic concepts, have not been thoroughly investigated. In the present study participants were required to choose the more likely of two events, a single event, and a joint event (conjunctive or disjunctive). It was predicted that the operation of the representativeness heuristic would result in erroneous judgements when children compared an unlikely component event with a likely-unlikely conjunction (the conjunction fallacy) and when a likely component event was compared to a likely-unlikely disjunction. The results supported the first prediction with both older children aged between 9 and 10 years and younger children aged between 4 and 5 committing the conjunction fallacy. However, the second prediction was not confirmed. It is proposed that the basis of representativeness judgements may differ between the conjunctive and disjunctive cases with absolute frequency information possibly playing a differential role.

  13. On the reasons for bombarding uranium with slow neutrons

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Xu Diyu

    1997-01-01

    Form the concepts of slow neutrons, the binding energy and the excitation energy of complex nuclei, and the activation energy in nuclear fission, the four reasons for bombarding uranium with slow neutrons are summed up. Not only the reasons for uranium fission are brought in light, but also the micromechanism is dealt with

  14. Student Strategies Suggesting Emergence of Mental Structures Supporting Logical and Abstract Thinking: Multiplicative Reasoning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carrier, Jim

    2014-01-01

    For many students, developing mathematical reasoning can prove to be challenging. Such difficulty may be explained by a deficit in the core understanding of many arithmetical concepts taught in early school years. Multiplicative reasoning is one such concept that produces an essential foundation upon which higher-level mathematical thinking skills…

  15. Analyzing reflective narratives to assess the ethical reasoning of pediatric residents.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moon, Margaret; Taylor, Holly A; McDonald, Erin L; Hughes, Mark T; Beach, Mary Catherine; Carrese, Joseph A

    2013-01-01

    A limiting factor in ethics education in medical training has been difficulty in assessing competence in ethics. This study was conducted to test the concept that content analysis of pediatric residents' personal reflections about ethics experiences can identify changes in ethical sensitivity and reasoning over time. Analysis of written narratives focused on two of our ethics curriculum's goals: 1) To raise sensitivity to ethical issues in everyday clinical practice and 2) to enhance critical reflection on personal and professional values as they affect patient care. Content analysis of written reflections was guided by a tool developed to identify and assess the level of ethical reasoning in eight domains determined to be important aspects of ethical competence. Based on the assessment of narratives written at two times (12 to 16 months/apart) during their training, residents showed significant progress in two specific domains: use of professional values, and use of personal values. Residents did not show decline in ethical reasoning in any domain. This study demonstrates that content analysis of personal narratives may provide a useful method for assessment of developing ethical sensitivity and reasoning.

  16. Logical Reasoning Abilities of Junior High School Students in the Province of Cotabato, Philippines

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Paul John B. Ongcoy

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available Reasoning abilities of the learners and its development was well-discussed in the world of education. The higher the ability of the person to reason abstractly, the higher the probability that a person will effectively function in the society. Thus, it is the main goal of the K-12 Curriculum of the Department of Education to improve the reasoning abilities and formal reasoning among students in the country. The higher the reasoning ability of a person, the more productive he is. The ability of logical reasoning has an essential function in the academic performance of students and their construction of the concepts. This study aimed to determine the logical reasoning abilities of 150 randomly selected junior high school students. Specifically, this study aimed to determine the logical reasoning abilities namely combinatorial reasoning, controlling variables, correlation reasoning, probabilistic reasoning and proportional reasoning among the grade 10 junior high school students and determine whether there is a significant difference in students’ logical reasoning abilities according to their gender. The respondents answered the Test of Logical Thinking (TOLT. Thirty respondents were interviewed to verify their answers. The findings of the study led to the following conclusions: most students correctly answered problems in probabilistic reasoning and least number of students correctly answered problems in proportional reasoning and combinatorial reasoning and, male and female respondents have equal performances in problems pertaining to combinatorial reasoning, controlling variables, correlational reasoning and probabilistic reasoning but female respondents are better in proportional reasoning than the male respondents.

  17. Testing a Conception of How School Leadership Influences Student Learning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leithwood, Kenneth; Patten, Sarah; Jantzi, Doris

    2010-01-01

    Purpose: This article describes and reports the results of testing a new conception of how leadership influences student learning ("The Four Paths"). Framework: Leadership influence is conceptualized as flowing along four paths (Rational, Emotions, Organizational, and Family) toward student learning. Each path is populated by multiple…

  18. Focal role of tolerability and reasonableness in the radiological protection system.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schneider, T; Lochard, J; Vaillant, L

    2016-06-01

    The concepts of tolerability and reasonableness are at the core of the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) system of radiological protection. Tolerability allows the definition of boundaries for implementing ICRP principles, while reasonableness contributes to decisions regarding adequate levels of protection, taking into account the prevailing circumstances. In the 1970s and 1980s, attempts to find theoretical foundations in risk comparisons for tolerability and cost-benefit analysis for reasonableness failed. In practice, the search for a rational basis for these concepts will never end. Making a wise decision will always remain a matter of judgement and will depend on the circumstances as well as the current knowledge and past experience. This paper discusses the constituents of tolerability and reasonableness at the heart of the radiological protection system. It also emphasises the increasing role of stakeholder engagement in the quest for tolerability and reasonableness since Publication 103. © The International Society for Prosthetics and Orthotics.

  19. A concept test of novel healthy snacks among adolescents

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nørgaard, Maria Kümpel; Sørensen, Bjarne Taulo; Brunsø, Karen

    2014-01-01

    The purpose of this empirical study was to test 1) which of eight novel healthy snack concepts based on fresh fruit and vegetables that 10 to 16-year old adolescents in Denmark prefer and intend to buy, and 2) which factors explain preferences and buying intentions. Our results revealed that the ......The purpose of this empirical study was to test 1) which of eight novel healthy snack concepts based on fresh fruit and vegetables that 10 to 16-year old adolescents in Denmark prefer and intend to buy, and 2) which factors explain preferences and buying intentions. Our results revealed...... high need satisfaction will increase both higher preferences and buying intentions. Nevertheless, preferences will increase the more snacks are perceived as cool and the stronger the peer influence is perceived to be, whereas buying intentions will increase the higher the personal importance...... of the snack attributes is perceived to be, the higher the willingness to try new snacks among best friends at school and the lower the willingness to try new snacks among other peers outside school. The findings indicate the importance of considering both preferences and buying intentions in future product...

  20. Mixed convection heat transfer experiments using analogy concept

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ko, Bong Jin; Chung, Bum Jin; Lee, Won Jea

    2009-01-01

    A Series of the turbulent mixed convective heat transfer experiments in a vertical cylinder was carried out. In order to achieve high Gr and/or Ra with small scale test rigs, the analogy concept was adopted. Using the concept, heat transfer systems were simulated by mass transfer systems, and large Grashof numbers could be achieved with reasonable facility heights. The tests were performed with buoyancy-aided flow and opposed flow for Reynolds numbers from 4,000 to 10,000 with a constant Grashof number, Gr H of 6.2 x 10 9 and Prandtl number of about 2,000. The test results reproduced the typical of the mixed convection heat transfer phenomena in a turbulent situation and agree well with the experimental study performed by Y. Palratan et al. The analogy experimental method simulated the mixed convection heat transfer phenomena successfully and seems to be a useful tool for heat transfer studies for VHTR as well as the systems with high buoyancy condition and high Prandtl number

  1. The generative basis of natural number concepts.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leslie, Alan M; Gelman, Rochel; Gallistel, C R

    2008-06-01

    Number concepts must support arithmetic inference. Using this principle, it can be argued that the integer concept of exactly ONE is a necessary part of the psychological foundations of number, as is the notion of the exact equality - that is, perfect substitutability. The inability to support reasoning involving exact equality is a shortcoming in current theories about the development of numerical reasoning. A simple innate basis for the natural number concepts can be proposed that embodies the arithmetic principle, supports exact equality and also enables computational compatibility with real- or rational-valued mental magnitudes.

  2. COGITA network has constructed a glossary of diagnostic reasoning terms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barais, Marie; Hauswaldt, Johannes; Dinant, Geert-Jan; van de Wiel, Margje; Stolper, C F Erik; Van Royen, Paul

    2017-12-01

    The role of gut feelings in diagnostic reasoning is recognized by most GPs throughout Europe, and probably throughout the world. Studies on this topic have emerged from different countries but there is the risk that authors will use different terms for similar concepts. The European Expert Group on Cognitive and Interactive Processes in Diagnosis and Management in General Practice, COGITA for short, was founded in 2008 to conduct cross-border research in the area of non-analytical diagnostic reasoning. Academic GPs, PhD students, psychologists, linguists and students meet once a year to share their experiences, exchange results and initiate new studies on the topic. A milestone in their research is this publication of a short glossary of diagnostic reasoning terms relating to the gut feelings research topic. It was constructed by the COGITA group members following a literature review, which aimed to define salient terms used in their publications. They described the terms, cross-reviewed the wording and reached consensus within the group. Two sections were created: (1) a diagnostic reasoning section that describes concepts such as analytical and non-analytical reasoning, clinical mind lines, and intuition, and (2) a research methods section describing concepts such as linguistic validity and saturation. The glossary, including relevant literature, has been published on the website http://www.gutfeelingsingeneralpractice.eu . In the future, the glossary will be modified if necessary and completed by members of the COGITA group. [Box: see text].

  3. Does the Cognitive Reflection Test actually capture heuristic versus analytic reasoning styles in older adults?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hertzog, Christopher; Smith, R Marit; Ariel, Robert

    2018-01-01

    Background/Study Context: This study evaluated adult age differences in the original three-item Cognitive Reflection Test (CRT; Frederick, 2005, The Journal of Economic Perspectives, 19, 25-42) and an expanded seven-item version of that test (Toplak et al., 2013, Thinking and Reasoning, 20, 147-168). The CRT is a numerical problem-solving test thought to capture a disposition towards either rapid, intuition-based problem solving (Type I reasoning) or a more thoughtful, analytical problem-solving approach (Type II reasoning). Test items are designed to induce heuristically guided errors that can be avoided if using an appropriate numerical representation of the test problems. We evaluated differences between young adults and old adults in CRT performance and correlates of CRT performance. Older adults (ages 60 to 80) were paid volunteers who participated in experiments assessing age differences in self-regulated learning. Young adults (ages 17 to 35) were students participating for pay as part of a project assessing measures of critical thinking skills or as a young comparison group in the self-regulated learning study. There were age differences in the number of CRT correct responses in two independent samples. Results with the original three-item CRT found older adults to have a greater relative proportion of errors based on providing the intuitive lure. However, younger adults actually had a greater proportion of intuitive errors on the long version of the CRT, relative to older adults. Item analysis indicated a much lower internal consistency of CRT items for older adults. These outcomes do not offer full support for the argument that older adults are higher in the use of a "Type I" cognitive style. The evidence was also consistent with an alternative hypothesis that age differences were due to lower levels of numeracy in the older samples. Alternative process-oriented evaluations of how older adults solve CRT items will probably be needed to determine

  4. Conceptual design study advanced concepts test (ACT) facility

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zaloudek, F.R.

    1978-09-01

    The Advanced Concepts Test (ACT) Project is part of program for developing improved power plant dry cooling systems in which ammonia is used as a heat transfer fluid between the power plant and the heat rejection tower. The test facility will be designed to condense 60,000 lb/hr of exhaust steam from the No. 1 turbine in the Kern Power Plant at Bakersfield, CA, transport the heat of condensation from the condenser to the cooling tower by an ammonia phase-change heat transport system, and dissipate this heat to the environs by a dry/wet deluge tower. The design and construction of the test facility will be the responsibility of the Electric Power Research Institute. The DOE, UCC/Linde, and the Pacific Northwest Laboratories will be involved in other phases of the project. The planned test facilities, its structures, mechanical and electrical equipment, control systems, codes and standards, decommissioning requirements, safety and environmental aspects, and energy impact are described. Six appendices of related information are included. (LCL)

  5. On the Contradiction in Conception Test of the Categorical Imperative

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    The author argues against Christine Korsgaard\\'s influential interpretation of. Kant\\'s contradiction in conception test of the categorical imperative. Korsgaard\\'s rejection of the 'teleological' interpretation is shown to be based on a misunderstanding of the role that teleology plays for Kant in ruling out immoral maxims, and her ...

  6. Test-Enhanced Learning of Natural Concepts: Effects on Recognition Memory, Classification, and Metacognition

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jacoby, Larry L.; Wahlheim, Christopher N.; Coane, Jennifer H.

    2010-01-01

    Three experiments examined testing effects on learning of natural concepts and metacognitive assessments of such learning. Results revealed that testing enhanced recognition memory and classification accuracy for studied and novel exemplars of bird families on immediate and delayed tests. These effects depended on the balance of study and test…

  7. Taking a Concept to Commercialization: Designing Relevant Tests to Address Safety.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ferrara, Lisa A

    2016-04-01

    Taking a product from concept to commercialization requires careful navigation of the regulatory pathway through a series of steps: (A) moving the idea through proof of concept and beyond; (B) evaluating new technologies that may provide added value to the idea; (C) designing appropriate test strategies and protocols; and (D) evaluating and mitigating risks. Moving an idea from the napkin stage of development to the final product requires a team effort. When finished, the product rarely resembles the original design, but careful steps throughout the product life cycle ensure that the product meets the vision.

  8. Development of Design Concept and Applied Technology for RCP Performance Test Facility

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Park, Sang Jin; Lee, Jung Ho; Yoon, Seok Ho

    2010-02-01

    Performance test facility for RCP (reactor coolant pump) is essential to verify the performance and reliability of RCP before installation in the nuclear power plant. The development of RCP for new-type reactor and the performance verification of hydraulic revolving body also needs the RCP test facility. The design concept of test loop and the technology of flow rate measurement are investigated in this research

  9. Teaching Photosynthesis in a Compulsory School Context. Students’ Reasoning, Understanding and Interactions.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Helena Näs

    2011-02-01

    Full Text Available According to previous research, students show difficulties in understanding photosynthesis and respiration, and basic ecological concepts like energy flow in ecosystems. There are successful teaching units accomplished in this area and many of them can be described as inquiry-based teaching. One definition of inquiry-based teaching is that it involves everything from finding problems, investigating them, debating with peers and trying to explain and give solutions. Accordingly students need to be confronted with challenging questions and empirical data to reason about and teachers need to implement student-generated inquiry discussion since students often stay silent and do not express their thoughts during science lessons. This thesis will focus on young peoples’ understanding of the functioning of plants, students’ participation during biology lessons, and how biology teaching is accomplished in primary and secondary school.Two school classroom projects focusing on teaching about plants and ecology are described. Four teachers and their 4th, 5th and 6th grade classes plus two science teachers and their three 8th grade classes collaborated. Photosynthesis and respiration were made concrete by using tasks where plants, plant cells, germs, seeds and the gas exchange were used. The aim was to listen to students’ reasoning in both teaching and interview situations. Learning outcome, as described by students’ reasoning in the classrooms and in individual interviews but also by their test results, is especially focused. Student-student and student-teacher interactions have been analysed with an ethnographic approach in the classroom context.The plant tasks encouraged the students’ in primary school to develop scientific reasoning and the interviews confirmed that the students had learned about photosynthesis. The ecology teaching in secondary school showed a substantial understanding confirmed both by students’ oral and written

  10. Abstract Spatial Reasoning as an Autistic Strength

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stevenson, Jennifer L.; Gernsbacher, Morton Ann

    2013-01-01

    Autistic individuals typically excel on spatial tests that measure abstract reasoning, such as the Block Design subtest on intelligence test batteries and the Raven’s Progressive Matrices nonverbal test of intelligence. Such well-replicated findings suggest that abstract spatial processing is a relative and perhaps absolute strength of autistic individuals. However, previous studies have not systematically varied reasoning level – concrete vs. abstract – and test domain – spatial vs. numerical vs. verbal, which the current study did. Autistic participants (N = 72) and non-autistic participants (N = 72) completed a battery of 12 tests that varied by reasoning level (concrete vs. abstract) and domain (spatial vs. numerical vs. verbal). Autistic participants outperformed non-autistic participants on abstract spatial tests. Non-autistic participants did not outperform autistic participants on any of the three domains (spatial, numerical, and verbal) or at either of the two reasoning levels (concrete and abstract), suggesting similarity in abilities between autistic and non-autistic individuals, with abstract spatial reasoning as an autistic strength. PMID:23533615

  11. Concept detectors: how good is good enough?

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Aly, Robin; Hiemstra, Djoerd

    2009-01-01

    Today, semantic concept based video retrieval systems often show insufficient performance for real-life applications. Clearly, a big share of the reason is the lacking performance of the detectors of these concepts. While concept detectors are on their endeavor to improve, following important

  12. Ohmically heated toroidal experiment (OHTE) mobile ignition test reactor facility concept study

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Masson, L.S.; Watts, K.D.; Piscitella, R.R.; Sekot, J.P.; Drexler, R.L.

    1983-02-01

    This report presents the results of a study to evaluate the use of an existing nuclear test complex at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory (INEL) for the assembly, testing, and remote maintenance of the ohmically heated toroidal experiment (OHTE) compact reactor. The portable reactor concept is described and its application to OHTE testing and maintenance requirements is developed. Pertinent INEL facilities are described and several test system configurations that apply to these facilities are developed and evaluated

  13. Teaching for clinical reasoning - helping students make the conceptual links.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McMillan, Wendy Jayne

    2010-01-01

    Dental educators complain that students struggle to apply what they have learnt theoretically in the clinical context. This paper is premised on the assumption that there is a relationship between conceptual thinking and clinical reasoning. The paper provides a theoretical framework for understanding the relationship between conceptual learning and clinical reasoning. A review of current literature is used to explain the way in which conceptual understanding influences clinical reasoning and the transfer of theoretical understandings to the clinical context. The paper argues that the connections made between concepts are what is significant about conceptual understanding. From this point of departure the paper describes teaching strategies that facilitate the kinds of learning opportunities that students need in order to develop conceptual understanding and to be able to transfer knowledge from theoretical to clinical contexts. Along with a variety of teaching strategies, the value of concept maps is discussed. The paper provides a framework for understanding the difficulties that students have in developing conceptual networks appropriate for later clinical reasoning. In explaining how students learn for clinical application, the paper provides a theoretical framework that can inform how dental educators facilitate the conceptual learning, and later clinical reasoning, of their students.

  14. The legal reasoning skills. Theoretical considerations

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lisett D. Páez Cuba

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available This research analyzes the legal reasoning as essential skills to the teaching - learning process of law. This approach is based on a theoretical systematization of the Theory of Legal Argumentation (TLA that allows the conception of law as an argumentative act itself. It also determines, as a new element, the inclusion of legal argumentation as the final phase of the law cycle, which has particular impact on the teaching of this science. In this regard, the proposal of three skills of legal reasoning is made: interpreting the law, enforce the rule of law and legally argue the legal decision.

  15. Sexual self-concept: testing a hypothetical model for men and women.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Deutsch, Arielle R; Hoffman, Lesa; Wilcox, Brian L

    2014-01-01

    One theoretical concept receiving modest attention in contemporary sex research is the sexual self-concept (SSC). However, a lack of cohesion within this research has culminated in a collection of SSC models which overlap one another but which are not exactly the same. Therefore, a unified conceptual model of SSC needs to be established. In addition, little research has examined potential differences between genders in SSC, as most SSC research has focused on women. Using Buzwell and Rosenthal's 1996 sexual selves model as a theoretical basis, a six-factor higher-order latent SSC model was tested using confirmatory factor analysis. Lower-order factors for this model included multidimensional sexual self-esteem and sexual self-efficacy factors, as well as unidimensional arousal, anxiety, exploration, and commitment factors. A five-factor latent model (after removing the commitment and the resistance sexual self-efficacy factors) was the best-fitting model. This model was then tested for measurement and structural invariance between genders. Results indicated that while the measurement of SSC was similar between men and women, structural invariance did not hold, as men had a significantly higher latent SSC score compared to women. These findings have important implications for sexual self-concept research, as well as contributing to better understanding of human sexuality.

  16. The script concordance test in radiation oncology: validation study of a new tool to assess clinical reasoning

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lambert, Carole; Gagnon, Robert; Nguyen, David; Charlin, Bernard

    2009-01-01

    The Script Concordance test (SCT) is a reliable and valid tool to evaluate clinical reasoning in complex situations where experts' opinions may be divided. Scores reflect the degree of concordance between the performance of examinees and that of a reference panel of experienced physicians. The purpose of this study is to demonstrate SCT's usefulness in radiation oncology. A 90 items radiation oncology SCT was administered to 155 participants. Three levels of experience were tested: medical students (n = 70), radiation oncology residents (n = 38) and radiation oncologists (n = 47). Statistical tests were performed to assess reliability and to document validity. After item optimization, the test comprised 30 cases and 70 questions. Cronbach alpha was 0.90. Mean scores were 51.62 (± 8.19) for students, 71.20 (± 9.45) for residents and 76.67 (± 6.14) for radiation oncologists. The difference between the three groups was statistically significant when compared by the Kruskall-Wallis test (p < 0.001). The SCT is reliable and useful to discriminate among participants according to their level of experience in radiation oncology. It appears as a useful tool to document the progression of reasoning during residency training

  17. The Haw in-situ test at Asse - its conception and goals

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gies, H.; Hinsch, H.; Monig, J.

    1989-01-01

    The HAW-disposal test is a demonstration and a R and D test utilizing nearly full-size waste canisters with vitrified Cs-137 and Sr-90 as heat and radiation sources in a repository-like setting. It is, however, not intended as an in-situ experiment for testing the glass product of the vitrified waste. The entire test field comprises two separate rooms, A and B, each having four boreholes. The maximum salt temperatures are planned to be 250 0 C (electric heating) and 250/200/200 0 C (γ radiative heating), with essentially the same maximum dose rates for two pairs of boreholes (∼5·10 5 rad/h). The loaded test canisters are now available and do not completely meet the intended specification. Heat loadings as well as dose rates are, for several reasons, lower than planned by about 30%. The designs of the emplacement boreholes in each of the two test rooms are basically the same. For retrievability reasons, all boreholes will have a liner. The only significant difference will be, that the room A-boreholes will have a backfilling of inert alumina pebbles between liner and the salt, whereas these in room B will have a free annulus that allows the salt to converge freely onto the liner surfaces, thus simulating the salt converging onto canisters in an actual repository. Gas sampling from the boreholes will mainly be done in the annular regions. A special dosimetry program, as well as an extensive radiolytic effects program, both in situ and laboratory, are under preparation. A special radiation effects study will be performed with Dummy canisters located at the top of the canister stacks. The entire test is a joint European project with the financial contribution of the CEC and the close cooperation with ECN, ANDRA and ENRESA

  18. Concept de champ électrostatique : Modes de raisonnement des étudiants Tunisiens

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    KAOUTHER RASSAA

    2011-07-01

    Full Text Available The proposed study aims to identifying the reasoning ways of students relative to the concept of electrostatic field. At first, we suggested interpreting the support of students reasoning by a ‘dualistic model’ associating the existence of an electrostatic field with presence of two types of charges: a source charge and a test charge. We finally analysed students reasoning in terms of modelling process in diversified situations. Our theoretical framework leans on the ‘theory of the modelling’ developed in didactics of the physics by Tiberghien (1994. Our analyses of semi directive individual interviews lead to consider that the students implement a model of reasoning which takes support on a concrete element which allows mediating the relationship between the objects and events world and of the theories and the models world.

  19. Academic self-concept, learning motivation, and test anxiety of the underestimated student.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Urhahne, Detlef; Chao, Sheng-Han; Florineth, Maria Luise; Luttenberger, Silke; Paechter, Manuela

    2011-03-01

    BACKGROUND. Teachers' judgments of student performance on a standardized achievement test often result in an overestimation of students' abilities. In the majority of cases, a larger group of overestimated students and a smaller group of underestimated students are formed by these judgments. AIMS. In this research study, the consequences of the underestimation of students' mathematical performance potential were examined. SAMPLE. Two hundred and thirty-five fourth grade students and their fourteen mathematics teachers took part in the investigation. METHOD. Students worked on a standardized mathematics achievement test and completed a self-description questionnaire about motivation and affect. Teachers estimated each individual student's potential with regard to mathematics test performance as well as students' expectancy for success, level of aspiration, academic self-concept, learning motivation, and test anxiety. The differences between teachers' judgments on students' test performance and students' actual performance were used to build groups of underestimated and overestimated students. RESULTS. Underestimated students displayed equal levels of test performance, learning motivation, and level of aspiration in comparison with overestimated students, but had lower expectancy for success, lower academic self-concept, and experienced more test anxiety. Teachers expected that underestimated students would receive lower grades on the next mathematics test, believed that students were satisfied with lower grades, and assumed that the students have weaker learning motivation than their overestimated classmates. CONCLUSION. Teachers' judgment error was not confined to test performance but generalized to motivational and affective traits of the students. © 2010 The British Psychological Society.

  20. Reasoning over taxonomic change: exploring alignments for the Perelleschus use case.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Franz, Nico M; Chen, Mingmin; Yu, Shizhuo; Kianmajd, Parisa; Bowers, Shawn; Ludäscher, Bertram

    2015-01-01

    Classifications and phylogenetic inferences of organismal groups change in light of new insights. Over time these changes can result in an imperfect tracking of taxonomic perspectives through the re-/use of Code-compliant or informal names. To mitigate these limitations, we introduce a novel approach for aligning taxonomies through the interaction of human experts and logic reasoners. We explore the performance of this approach with the Perelleschus use case of Franz & Cardona-Duque (2013). The use case includes six taxonomies published from 1936 to 2013, 54 taxonomic concepts (i.e., circumscriptions of names individuated according to their respective source publications), and 75 expert-asserted Region Connection Calculus articulations (e.g., congruence, proper inclusion, overlap, or exclusion). An Open Source reasoning toolkit is used to analyze 13 paired Perelleschus taxonomy alignments under heterogeneous constraints and interpretations. The reasoning workflow optimizes the logical consistency and expressiveness of the input and infers the set of maximally informative relations among the entailed taxonomic concepts. The latter are then used to produce merge visualizations that represent all congruent and non-congruent taxonomic elements among the aligned input trees. In this small use case with 6-53 input concepts per alignment, the information gained through the reasoning process is on average one order of magnitude greater than in the input. The approach offers scalable solutions for tracking provenance among succeeding taxonomic perspectives that may have differential biases in naming conventions, phylogenetic resolution, ingroup and outgroup sampling, or ostensive (member-referencing) versus intensional (property-referencing) concepts and articulations.

  1. Integrating non-animal test information into an adaptive testing strategy - skin sensitization proof of concept case.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jaworska, Joanna; Harol, Artsiom; Kern, Petra S; Gerberick, G Frank

    2011-01-01

    There is an urgent need to develop data integration and testing strategy frameworks allowing interpretation of results from animal alternative test batteries. To this end, we developed a Bayesian Network Integrated Testing Strategy (BN ITS) with the goal to estimate skin sensitization hazard as a test case of previously developed concepts (Jaworska et al., 2010). The BN ITS combines in silico, in chemico, and in vitro data related to skin penetration, peptide reactivity, and dendritic cell activation, and guides testing strategy by Value of Information (VoI). The approach offers novel insights into testing strategies: there is no one best testing strategy, but the optimal sequence of tests depends on information at hand, and is chemical-specific. Thus, a single generic set of tests as a replacement strategy is unlikely to be most effective. BN ITS offers the possibility of evaluating the impact of generating additional data on the target information uncertainty reduction before testing is commenced.

  2. Validity of a new assessment rubric for a short-answer test of clinical reasoning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yeung, Euson; Kulasagarem, Kulamakan; Woods, Nicole; Dubrowski, Adam; Hodges, Brian; Carnahan, Heather

    2016-07-26

    The validity of high-stakes decisions derived from assessment results is of primary concern to candidates and certifying institutions in the health professions. In the field of orthopaedic manual physical therapy (OMPT), there is a dearth of documented validity evidence to support the certification process particularly for short-answer tests. To address this need, we examined the internal structure of the Case History Assessment Tool (CHAT); this is a new assessment rubric developed to appraise written responses to a short-answer test of clinical reasoning in post-graduate OMPT certification in Canada. Fourteen physical therapy students (novices) and 16 physical therapists (PT) with minimal and substantial OMPT training respectively completed a mock examination. Four pairs of examiners (n = 8) participated in appraising written responses using the CHAT. We conducted separate generalizability studies (G studies) for all participants and also by level of OMPT training. Internal consistency was calculated for test questions with more than 2 assessment items. Decision studies were also conducted to determine optimal application of the CHAT for OMPT certification. The overall reliability of CHAT scores was found to be moderate; however, reliability estimates for the novice group suggest that the scale was incapable of accommodating for scores of novices. Internal consistency estimates indicate item redundancies for several test questions which will require further investigation. Future validity studies should consider discriminating the clinical reasoning competence of OMPT trainees strictly at the post-graduate level. Although rater variance was low, the large variance attributed to error sources not incorporated in our G studies warrant further investigations into other threats to validity. Future examination of examiner stringency is also warranted.

  3. Domestic horses (Equus ferus caballus) fail to intuitively reason about object properties like solidity and weight.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Haemmerli, Sarah; Thill, Corinne; Amici, Federica; Cacchione, Trix

    2018-05-01

    From early infancy, humans reason about the external world in terms of identifiable, solid, cohesive objects persisting in space and time. This is one of the most fundamental human skills, which may be part of our innate conception of object properties. Although object permanence has been extensively studied across a variety of taxa, little is known about how non-human animals reason about other object properties. In this study, we therefore tested how domestic horses (Equus ferus caballus) intuitively reason about object properties like solidity and height, to locate hidden food. Horses were allowed to look for a food reward behind two opaque screens, only one of which had either the proper height or inclination to hide food rewards. Our results suggest that horses could not intuitively reason about physical object properties, but rather learned to select the screen with the proper height or inclination from the second set of 5 trials.

  4. Reasoning=working Memoryattention

    Science.gov (United States)

    Buehner, M.; Krumm, S.; Pick, M.

    2005-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to clarify the relationship between attention, components of working memory, and reasoning. Therefore, twenty working memory tests, two attention tests, and nine intelligence subtests were administered to 135 students. Using structural equation modeling, we were able to replicate a functional model of working memory…

  5. Testing communication strategies to convey genomic concepts using virtual reality technology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kaphingst, Kimberly A; Persky, Susan; McCall, Cade; Lachance, Christina; Beall, Andrew C; Blascovich, Jim

    2009-06-01

    Health professionals need to be able to communicate information about genomic susceptibility in understandable and usable ways, but substantial challenges are involved. We developed four learning modules that varied along two factors: (1) learning mode (active learning vs. didactic learning) and (2) metaphor (risk elevator vs. bridge) and tested them using a 2 x 2 between-subjects, repeated measures design. The study used an innovative virtual reality technology experimental platform; four virtual worlds were designed to convey the concept that genetic and behavioral factors interact to affect common disease risk. The primary outcome was comprehension (recall, transfer). Study participants were 42 undergraduates aged 19-23. The results indicated that the elevator metaphor better supported learning of the concept than the bridge metaphor. Mean transfer score was significantly higher for the elevator metaphor (p health information. The findings also indicated that less complex metaphors might convey abstract concepts more effectively.

  6. Concept Test of a Smoking Cessation Smart Case.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Comello, Maria Leonora G; Porter, Jeannette H

    2018-04-05

    Wearable/portable devices that unobtrusively detect smoking and contextual data offer the potential to provide Just-In-Time Adaptive Intervention (JITAI) support for mobile cessation programs. Little has been reported on the development of these technologies. To address this gap, we offer a case report of users' experiences with a prototype "smart" cigarette case that automatically tracks time and location of smoking. Small-scale user-experience studies are typical of iterative product design and are especially helpful when proposing novel ideas. The purpose of the study was to assess concept acceptability and potential for further development. We tested the prototype case with a small sample of potential users (n = 7). Participants used the hardware/software for 2 weeks and reconvened for a 90-min focus group to discuss experiences and provide feedback. Participants liked the smart case in principle but found the prototype too bulky for easy portability. The potential for the case to convey positive messages about self also emerged as a finding. Participants indicated willingness to pay for improved technology (USD $15-$60 on a one-time basis). The smart case is a viable concept, but design detail is critical to user acceptance. Future research should examine designs that maximize convenience and that explore the device's ability to cue intentions and other cognitions that would support cessation. This study is the first to our knowledge to report formative research on the smart case concept. This initial exploration provides insights that may be helpful to other developers of JITAI-support technology.

  7. Using Garlic As A Far-Transfer Problem of Proportional And Probabilistic Reasoning

    OpenAIRE

    Moore, N. T.; Deming, J. C.

    2008-01-01

    The work describes a general problem, which emphasizes proportional reasoning and probabilistic reasoning skills in the context of planting garlic in a backyard garden. Along with practicing these reasoning skills in a context far-removed from the standard high school or college curriculum, our solution involves the development of a few relatively sophisticated statistical concepts, specifically histograms and confidence intervals.

  8. Heuristics Reasoning in Diagnostic Judgment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    O'Neill, Eileen S.

    1995-01-01

    Describes three heuristics--short-cut mental strategies that streamline information--relevant to diagnostic reasoning: accessibility, similarity, and anchoring and adjustment. Analyzes factors thought to influence heuristic reasoning and presents interventions to be tested for nursing practice and education. (JOW)

  9. Development of the Flame Test Concept Inventory: Measuring Student Thinking about Atomic Emission

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bretz, Stacey Lowery; Murata Mayo, Ana Vasquez

    2018-01-01

    This study reports the development of a 19-item Flame Test Concept Inventory, an assessment tool to measure students' understanding of atomic emission. Fifty-two students enrolled in secondary and postsecondary chemistry courses were interviewed about atomic emission and explicitly asked to explain flame test demonstrations and energy level…

  10. Comparison of the results of wide plate tests with the predictions of several fracture concepts

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Rosezin, H.J.; Dahl, W.

    1985-01-01

    With the results of wide plate tests on center cracked specimens the concept of the plastic limit load, the Burdekin-Dawes-design-concept, the J-design-curve according to Turner, the estimation proceeding according to Shih and Kumar, the Two-Criteria-Approach and the FAD according to Pellini were examined and the limits of their application exhibited. The maximum loads of wide plate specimens can be estimated by the plastic limit load, if no low-stress-fractures occur. Corresponding to the Pellini-concept no low-stress-fractures occured at test temperatures above NDT, if the NDT-temperature of the region of material was used, in which the crack was located. With the concept according to Shih and Kumar an estimation of the instability loads of wide plate specimens is possible, if the fracture behaviour is fully ductile, but not in all cases conservative predictions were made. A prediction of critical stresses and crack sizes is possible with the other concepts examined, if the evaluations are based on the critical values for the onset of stable or unstable crack growth. (orig.) [de

  11. Force Concept Inventory-based multiple-choice test for investigating students’ representational consistency

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pasi Nieminen

    2010-08-01

    Full Text Available This study investigates students’ ability to interpret multiple representations consistently (i.e., representational consistency in the context of the force concept. For this purpose we developed the Representational Variant of the Force Concept Inventory (R-FCI, which makes use of nine items from the 1995 version of the Force Concept Inventory (FCI. These original FCI items were redesigned using various representations (such as motion map, vectorial and graphical, yielding 27 multiple-choice items concerning four central concepts underpinning the force concept: Newton’s first, second, and third laws, and gravitation. We provide some evidence for the validity and reliability of the R-FCI; this analysis is limited to the student population of one Finnish high school. The students took the R-FCI at the beginning and at the end of their first high school physics course. We found that students’ (n=168 representational consistency (whether scientifically correct or not varied considerably depending on the concept. On average, representational consistency and scientifically correct understanding increased during the instruction, although in the post-test only a few students performed consistently both in terms of representations and scientifically correct understanding. We also compared students’ (n=87 results of the R-FCI and the FCI, and found that they correlated quite well.

  12. Automation Hooks Architecture for Flexible Test Orchestration - Concept Development and Validation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lansdowne, C. A.; Maclean, John R.; Winton, Chris; McCartney, Pat

    2011-01-01

    The Automation Hooks Architecture Trade Study for Flexible Test Orchestration sought a standardized data-driven alternative to conventional automated test programming interfaces. The study recommended composing the interface using multicast DNS (mDNS/SD) service discovery, Representational State Transfer (Restful) Web Services, and Automatic Test Markup Language (ATML). We describe additional efforts to rapidly mature the Automation Hooks Architecture candidate interface definition by validating it in a broad spectrum of applications. These activities have allowed us to further refine our concepts and provide observations directed toward objectives of economy, scalability, versatility, performance, severability, maintainability, scriptability and others.

  13. Agent Based Reasoning in Multilevel Flow Modeling

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lind, Morten; Zhang, Xinxin

    2012-01-01

    to launch the MFM Workbench into an agent based environment, which can complement disadvantages of the original software. The agent-based MFM Workbench is centered on a concept called “Blackboard System” and use an event based mechanism to arrange the reasoning tasks. This design will support the new...

  14. Boolean reasoning the logic of boolean equations

    CERN Document Server

    Brown, Frank Markham

    2012-01-01

    A systematic treatment of Boolean reasoning, this concise, newly revised edition combines the works of early logicians with recent investigations, including previously unpublished research results. Brown begins with an overview of elementary mathematical concepts and outlines the theory of Boolean algebras. Two concluding chapters deal with applications. 1990 edition.

  15. Fission Surface Power System Initial Concept Definition

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-01-01

    Under the NASA Exploration Technology Development Program (ETDP) and in partnership with the Department of Energy (DOE), NASA has embarked on a project to develop Fission Surface Power (FSP) technology. The primary goals of the project are to 1) develop FSP concepts that meet expected surface power requirements at reasonable cost with added benefits over other options, 2) establish a hardwarebased technical foundation for FSP design concepts and reduce overall development risk, 3) reduce the cost uncertainties for FSP and establish greater credibility for flight system cost estimates, and 4) generate the key products to allow NASA decision-makers to consider FSP as a preferred option for flight development. The FSP project was initiated in 2006 as the Prometheus Program and the Jupiter Icy Moons Orbiter (JIMO) mission were phased-out. As a first step, NASA Headquarters commissioned the Affordable Fission Surface Power System Study to evaluate the potential for an affordable FSP development approach. With a cost-effective FSP strategy identified, the FSP team evaluated design options and selected a Preliminary Reference Concept to guide technology development. Since then, the FSP Preliminary Reference Concept has served as a point-of-departure for several NASA mission architecture studies examining the use of nuclear power and has provided the foundation for a series of "Pathfinder" hardware tests. The long-term technology goal is a Technology Demonstration Unit (TDU) integrated system test using full-scale components and a non-nuclear reactor simulator. The FSP team consists of Glenn Research Center (GRC), Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) and the DOE National Laboratories at Los Alamos (LANL), Idaho (INL), Oak Ridge (ORNL), and Sandia (SNL). The project is organized into two main elements: Concept Definition and Risk Reduction. Under Concept Definition, the team performs trade studies, develops analytical tools, and formulates system concepts. Under Risk

  16. University Students' Knowledge Structures and Informal Reasoning on the Use of Genetically Modified Foods: Multidimensional Analyses

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Ying-Tien

    2013-10-01

    This study aims to provide insights into the role of learners' knowledge structures about a socio-scientific issue (SSI) in their informal reasoning on the issue. A total of 42 non-science major university students' knowledge structures and informal reasoning were assessed with multidimensional analyses. With both qualitative and quantitative analyses, this study revealed that those students with more extended and better-organized knowledge structures, as well as those who more frequently used higher-order information processing modes, were more oriented towards achieving a higher-level informal reasoning quality. The regression analyses further showed that the "richness" of the students' knowledge structures explained 25 % of the variation in their rebuttal construction, an important indicator of reasoning quality, indicating the significance of the role of students' sophisticated knowledge structure in SSI reasoning. Besides, this study also provides some initial evidence for the significant role of the "core" concept within one's knowledge structure in one's SSI reasoning. The findings in this study suggest that, in SSI-based instruction, science instructors should try to identify students' core concepts within their prior knowledge regarding the SSI, and then they should try to guide students to construct and structure relevant concepts or ideas regarding the SSI based on their core concepts. Thus, students could obtain extended and well-organized knowledge structures, which would then help them achieve better learning transfer in dealing with SSIs.

  17. Explicit Knowledge-based Reasoning for Visual Question Answering

    OpenAIRE

    Wang, Peng; Wu, Qi; Shen, Chunhua; Hengel, Anton van den; Dick, Anthony

    2015-01-01

    We describe a method for visual question answering which is capable of reasoning about contents of an image on the basis of information extracted from a large-scale knowledge base. The method not only answers natural language questions using concepts not contained in the image, but can provide an explanation of the reasoning by which it developed its answer. The method is capable of answering far more complex questions than the predominant long short-term memory-based approach, and outperform...

  18. Abstracting Sequences: Reasoning That Is a Key to Academic Achievement.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pasnak, Robert; Kidd, Julie K; Gadzichowski, K Marinka; Gallington, Debbie A; Schmerold, Katrina Lea; West, Heather

    2015-01-01

    The ability to understand sequences of items may be an important cognitive ability. To test this proposition, 8 first-grade children from each of 36 classes were randomly assigned to four conditions. Some were taught sequences that represented increasing or decreasing values, or were symmetrical, or were rotations of an object through 6 or 8 positions. Control children received equal numbers of sessions on mathematics, reading, or social studies. Instruction was conducted three times weekly in 15-min sessions for seven months. In May, the children taught sequences applied their understanding to novel sequences, and scored as well or better on three standardized reading tests as the control children. They outscored all children on tests of mathematics concepts, and scored better than control children on some mathematics scales. These findings indicate that developing an understanding of sequences is a form of abstraction, probably involving fluid reasoning, that provides a foundation for academic achievement in early education.

  19. Computer-Based Assessment of School Readiness and Early Reasoning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Csapó, Beno; Molnár, Gyöngyvér; Nagy, József

    2014-01-01

    This study explores the potential of using online tests for the assessment of school readiness and for monitoring early reasoning. Four tests of a face-to-face-administered school readiness test battery (speech sound discrimination, relational reasoning, counting and basic numeracy, and deductive reasoning) and a paper-and-pencil inductive…

  20. Learning physics concepts as a function of colloquial language usage

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maier, Steven J.

    Data from two sections of college introductory, algebra-based physics courses (n1 = 139, n2 = 91) were collected using three separate instruments to investigate the relationships between reasoning ability, conceptual gain and colloquial language usage. To obtain a measure of reasoning ability, Lawson's Classroom Test of Scientific Reasoning Ability (TSR) was administered once near mid-term for each sample. The Force Concept Inventory (FCI) was administered at the beginning and at the end of the term for pre- and post-test measures. Pre- and post-test data from the Mechanics Language Usage instrument were also collected in conjunction with FCI data collection at the beginning and end of the term. The MLU was developed specifically for this study prior to data collection, and results of a pilot test to establish validity and reliability are reported. T-tests were performed on the data collected to compare the means from each sample. In addition, correlations among the measures were investigated between the samples separately and combined. Results from these investigations served as justification for combining the samples into a single sample of 230 for performing further statistical analyses. The primary objective of this study was to determine if scientific reasoning ability (a function of developmental stage) and conceptual gains in Newtonian mechanics predict students' usages of "force" as measured by the MLU. Regression analyses were performed to evaluate these mediated relationships among TSR and FCI performance as a predictor of MLU performance. Statistically significant correlations and relationships existed among several of the measures, which are discussed at length in the body of the narrative. The findings of this research are that although there exists a discernable relationship between reasoning ability and conceptual change, more work needs to be done to establish improved quantitative measures of the role language usage has in developing understandings

  1. Elementary Children’s Retrodictive Reasoning about Earth Science

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Julie C. LIBARKIN

    2012-10-01

    Full Text Available We report on interviews conducted with twenty-one elementary school children (grades 1-5 about a number of Earth science concepts. These interviews were undertaken as part of a teacher training video series designed specifically to assist elementary teachers in learning essential ideas in Earth science. As such, children were interviewed about a wide array of earth science concepts, from rock formation to the Earth’s interior. We analyzed interview data primarily to determine whether or not young children are capable of inferring understanding of the past based on present-day observation (retrodictive reasoning in the context of Earth science. This work provides a basis from which curricula for teaching earth and environmental sciences can emerge, and suggests that new studies into the retrodictive reasoning abilities of young children are needed, including curricula that encourage inference of the past from modern observations.

  2. MODERN METHODS OF REASONABLE PRODUCT SUPPLY

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anna Kulik

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available Thesis objective is to study modern methods of product supply with the purpose to determine optimal ways for their rationalization. Since the use of reasonable practices, taking into account external and internal factors under the specific conditions of product moving from the supplier to the buyer, makes the process of product supply economically viable, i.e., low costs for product transportation, ensures fast moving products, their safety and, ultimately, results in reduction of the costs of product disposal. Methodology. The study is based on theoretical methods to study this problem. System analysis method and simulation of the ways to improve were also used in the study. Results. Addressing these issues, the concept, form and stages of product supply process organization depending on the type of product have been studied; product supply management methods based on logistics concept of “demand response”. Practical significance. Optimization of the principles and methods of product supply, factors affecting its organization will, in practice, contribute to the development of reasonable product delivery systems featured with economic efficiency of advanced technologies of product supply. Value/ originality. The analyzed methods of product supply management based on logistics concept of “demand response” can ensure maximum reduction of response time to the changes in demand by rapid stocktaking at those points of the market where the demand is expected to increase, which will allow to reduce the costs of bringing the product to the consumer.

  3. LOGICAL REASONING ABILITY AND STUDENT PERFORMANCE IN GENERAL CHEMISTRY.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bird, Lillian

    2010-03-01

    Logical reasoning skills of students enrolled in General Chemistry at the University of Puerto Rico in Río Piedras were measured using the Group Assessment of Logical Thinking (GALT) test. The results were used to determine the students' cognitive level (concrete, transitional, formal) as well as their level of performance by logical reasoning mode (mass/volume conservation, proportional reasoning, correlational reasoning, experimental variable control, probabilistic reasoning and combinatorial reasoning). This information was used to identify particular deficiencies and gender effects, and to determine which logical reasoning modes were the best predictors of student performance in the general chemistry course. Statistical tests to analyze the relation between (a) operational level and final grade in both semesters of the course; (b) GALT test results and performance in the ACS General Chemistry Examination; and (c) operational level and student approach (algorithmic or conceptual) towards a test question that may be answered correctly using either strategy, were also performed.

  4. Playful Fostering of 6- to 8-Year-Old Students' Inductive Reasoning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Molnar, Gyongyver

    2011-01-01

    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…

  5. Investigating the Correlation Between Pharmacy Student Performance on the Health Science Reasoning Test and a Critical Thinking Assignment

    OpenAIRE

    Nornoo, Adwoa O.; Jackson, Jonathan; Axtell, Samantha

    2017-01-01

    Objective. To determine whether there is a correlation between pharmacy students? scores on the Health Science Reasoning Test (HSRT) and their grade on a package insert assignment designed to assess critical thinking.

  6. One good reason to speak of ‘climate refugees’

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    François Gemenne

    2015-05-01

    Full Text Available The concept of ‘environmental refugees’, or ‘climate refugees’, has been progressively abandoned, as having no legal basis. I want to argue that there are good reasons to use the term.

  7. A review of practical reasoning in child and youth research

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Ljungdalh, Anders Kruse

    2016-01-01

    The purpose of the review is to investigate various relations between the concepts of competence and participation found within child and youth research with the aim of identifying differences in practical reasoning of the various kinds of child research. The search identified 260 articles, and a...... different ways of understanding means and ends in child research. The review thereby offers an understanding of how and why interdisciplinary problems sometimes occur in education and child care.......The purpose of the review is to investigate various relations between the concepts of competence and participation found within child and youth research with the aim of identifying differences in practical reasoning of the various kinds of child research. The search identified 260 articles......, and an in-depth analysis of 39 articles was conducted, elaborating the conceptual differences inherent in the different child research fields. Based on a philosophy of practice, the analysis identified 3 different causal connections between the concepts of competence and participation, indicating 3...

  8. Dual processing theory and experts' reasoning: exploring thinking on national multiple-choice questions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Durning, Steven J; Dong, Ting; Artino, Anthony R; van der Vleuten, Cees; Holmboe, Eric; Schuwirth, Lambert

    2015-08-01

    and number of concepts used in the reasoning but not item accuracy. When all MCQs were included, 19 % of the variance of correctness could be explained by the frequency of expression of these three think-aloud processes (analytic, nonanalytic, or combined). We found evidence to support the notion that the difficulty of an item in a test is not a systematic feature of the item itself but is always a result of the interaction between the item and the candidate. Use of analytic reasoning did not appear to improve accuracy. Our data suggest that individuals do not apply either System 1 or System 2 but instead fall along a continuum with some individuals falling at one end of the spectrum.

  9. Students’ Covariational Reasoning in Solving Integrals’ Problems

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harini, N. V.; Fuad, Y.; Ekawati, R.

    2018-01-01

    Covariational reasoning plays an important role to indicate quantities vary in learning calculus. This study investigates students’ covariational reasoning during their studies concerning two covarying quantities in integral problem. Six undergraduate students were chosen to solve problems that involved interpreting and representing how quantities change in tandem. Interviews were conducted to reveal the students’ reasoning while solving covariational problems. The result emphasizes that undergraduate students were able to construct the relation of dependent variables that changes in tandem with the independent variable. However, students faced difficulty in forming images of continuously changing rates and could not accurately apply the concept of integrals. These findings suggest that learning calculus should be increased emphasis on coordinating images of two quantities changing in tandem about instantaneously rate of change and to promote conceptual knowledge in integral techniques.

  10. University mathematics teachers' views on the required reasoning in calculus exams

    OpenAIRE

    Bergqvist, Ewa

    2012-01-01

    Students often use imitative reasoning, i.e. copy algorithms or recall facts, when solving mathematical tasks. Research show that this type of imitative reasoning might weaken the students' understanding of the underlying mathematical concepts. In a previous study, the author classified tasks from 16 final exams from introductory calculus courses at Swedish universities. The results showed that it was possible to pass 15 of the exams, and solve most of the tasks, using imitative reasoning. Th...

  11. Current quality assurance concepts and considerations for quality control of in-clinic biochemistry testing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lester, Sally; Harr, K E; Rishniw, Mark; Pion, Paul

    2013-01-15

    Quality assurance is an implied concept inherent in every consumer's purchase of a product or service. In laboratory testing, quality assurance encompasses preanalytic (sampling, transport, and handling prior to testing), analytic (measurement), and postanalytic (reporting and interpretation) factors. Quality-assurance programs require that procedures are in place to detect errors in all 3 components and that the procedures are characterized by both documentation and correction of errors. There are regulatory bodies that provide mandatory standards for and regulation of human medical laboratories. No such regulations exist for veterinary laboratory testing. The American Society for Veterinary Clinical Pathology (ASVCP) Quality Assurance and Laboratory Standards Committee was formed in 1996 in response to concerns of ASVCP members about quality assurance and quality control in laboratories performing veterinary testing. Guidelines for veterinary laboratory testing have been developed by the ASVCP. The purpose of this report was to provide an overview of selected quality-assurance concepts and to provide recommendations for quality control for in-clinic biochemistry testing in general veterinary practice.

  12. Increased Specificity of Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Third Edition Matrix Reasoning Test Instructions and Time Limits

    Science.gov (United States)

    Callens, Andy M.; Atchison, Timothy B.; Engler, Rachel R.

    2009-01-01

    Instructions for the Matrix Reasoning Test (MRT) of the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Third Edition were modified by explicitly stating that the subtest was untimed or that a per-item time limit would be imposed. The MRT was administered within one of four conditions: with (a) standard administration instructions, (b) explicit instructions…

  13. Developing early algebraic reasoning in a mathematical community of inquiry

    OpenAIRE

    Hunter, Jodie Margaret Roberta

    2013-01-01

    This study explores the development of early algebraic reasoning in mathematical communities of inquiry. Under consideration is the different pathways teachers take as they develop their own understanding of early algebra and then enact changes in their classroom to facilitate algebraic reasoning opportunities. Teachers participated in a professional development intervention which focused on understanding of early algebraic concepts, task development, modification, and enactment, and clas...

  14. Artificial intelligence approach to legal reasoning

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gardner, A.V.D.L.

    1984-01-01

    For artificial intelligence, understanding the forms of human reasoning is a central goal. Legal reasoning is a form that makes a new set of demands on artificial intelligence methods. Most importantly, a computer program that reasons about legal problems must be able to distinguish between questions it is competent to answer and questions that human lawyers could seriously argue either way. In addition, a program for analyzing legal problems should be able to use both general legal rules and decisions in past cases; and it should be able to work with technical concepts that are only partly defined and subject to shifts of meaning. Each of these requirements has wider applications in artificial intelligence, beyond the legal domain. This dissertation presents a computational framework for legal reasoning, within which such requirements can be accommodated. The development of the framework draws significantly on the philosophy of law, in which the elucidation of legal reasoning is an important topic. A key element of the framework is the legal distinction between hard cases and clear cases. In legal writing, this distinction has been taken for granted more often than it has been explored. Here, some initial heuristics are proposed by which a program might make the distinction

  15. What variables can influence clinical reasoning?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vahid Ashoorion

    2012-01-01

    Full Text Available Background: Clinical reasoning is one of the most important competencies that a physician should achieve. Many medical schools and licensing bodies try to predict it based on some general measures such as critical thinking, personality, and emotional intelligence. This study aimed at providing a model to design the relationship between the constructs. Materials and Methods: Sixty-nine medical students participated in this study. A battery test devised that consist four parts: Clinical reasoning measures, personality NEO inventory, Bar-On EQ inventory, and California critical thinking questionnaire. All participants completed the tests. Correlation and multiple regression analysis consumed for data analysis. Results: There is low to moderate correlations between clinical reasoning and other variables. Emotional intelligence is the only variable that contributes clinical reasoning construct (r=0.17-0.34 (R 2 chnage = 0.46, P Value = 0.000. Conclusion: Although, clinical reasoning can be considered as a kind of thinking, no significant correlation detected between it and other constructs. Emotional intelligence (and its subscales is the only variable that can be used for clinical reasoning prediction.

  16. What variables can influence clinical reasoning?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ashoorion, Vahid; Liaghatdar, Mohammad Javad; Adibi, Peyman

    2012-12-01

    Clinical reasoning is one of the most important competencies that a physician should achieve. Many medical schools and licensing bodies try to predict it based on some general measures such as critical thinking, personality, and emotional intelligence. This study aimed at providing a model to design the relationship between the constructs. Sixty-nine medical students participated in this study. A battery test devised that consist four parts: Clinical reasoning measures, personality NEO inventory, Bar-On EQ inventory, and California critical thinking questionnaire. All participants completed the tests. Correlation and multiple regression analysis consumed for data analysis. There is low to moderate correlations between clinical reasoning and other variables. Emotional intelligence is the only variable that contributes clinical reasoning construct (r=0.17-0.34) (R(2) chnage = 0.46, P Value = 0.000). Although, clinical reasoning can be considered as a kind of thinking, no significant correlation detected between it and other constructs. Emotional intelligence (and its subscales) is the only variable that can be used for clinical reasoning prediction.

  17. Learning Abstract Physical Concepts from Experience: Design and Use of an RC Circuit

    Science.gov (United States)

    Parra, Alfredo; Ordenes, Jorge; de la Fuente, Milton

    2018-05-01

    Science learning for undergraduate students requires grasping a great number of theoretical concepts in a rather short time. In our experience, this is especially difficult when students are required to simultaneously use abstract concepts, mathematical reasoning, and graphical analysis, such as occurs when learning about RC circuits. We present a simple experimental model in this work that allows students to easily design, build, and analyze RC circuits, thus providing an opportunity to test personal ideas, build graphical descriptions, and explore the meaning of the respective mathematical models, ultimately gaining a better grasp of the concepts involved. The result suggests that the simple setup indeed helps untrained students to visualize the essential points of this kind of circuit.

  18. Immagini e Concetti in Geometria=The Figural and the Conceptual Components of Geometrical Concepts.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mariotti, Maria Alessandra

    1992-01-01

    Discusses geometrical reasoning in the framework of the theory of Figural Concepts to highlight the interaction between the figural and conceptual components of geometrical concepts. Examples of students' difficulties and errors in geometrical reasoning are interpreted according to the internal tension that appears in figural concepts resulting…

  19. Effectiveness of interactive tutorials in promoting "which-path" information reasoning in advanced quantum mechanics

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maries, Alexandru; Sayer, Ryan; Singh, Chandralekha

    2017-12-01

    Research suggests that introductory physics students often have difficulty using a concept in contexts different from the ones in which they learned it without explicit guidance to help them make the connection between the different contexts. We have been investigating advanced students' learning of quantum mechanics concepts and have developed interactive tutorials which strive to help students learn these concepts. Two such tutorials, focused on the Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) and the double-slit experiment (DSE), help students learn how to use the concept of "which-path" information to reason about the presence or absence of interference in these two experiments in different situations. After working on a pretest that asked students to predict interference in the MZI with single photons and polarizers of various orientations placed in one or both paths of the MZI, students worked on the MZI tutorial which, among other things, guided them to reason in terms of which-path information in order to predict interference in similar situations. We investigated the extent to which students were able to use reasoning related to which-path information learned in the MZI tutorial to answer analogous questions on the DSE (before working on the DSE tutorial). After students worked on the DSE pretest they worked on a DSE tutorial in which they learned to use the concept of which-path information to answer questions about interference in the DSE with single particles with mass sent through the two slits and a monochromatic lamp placed between the slits and the screen. We investigated if this additional exposure to the concept of which-path information promoted improved learning and performance on the DSE questions with single photons and polarizers placed after one or both slits. We find evidence that both tutorials promoted which-path information reasoning and helped students use this reasoning appropriately in contexts different from the ones in which they had learned

  20. Reflective ability and moral reasoning in final year medical students: a semi-qualitative cohort study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chalmers, Patricia; Dunngalvin, Audrey; Shorten, George

    2011-01-01

    Moral reasoning and reflective ability are important concepts in medical education. To date, the association between reflective ability and moral reasoning in medical students has not been measured. This study tested the hypotheses that, amongst final year medical students, (1) moral reasoning and reflective ability improve over time and (2) positive change in reflective ability favourably influences moral reasoning. With Institutional Ethical approval, 56 medical students (of a class of 110) participated fully both at the beginning and end of the final academic year. Reflective ability and moral reasoning were assessed at each time using Sobral's reflection-in-learning scale (RLS), Boenink's overall reflection score and by employing Kohlberg's schema for moral reasoning. The most important findings were that (1) Students' level of reflective ability scores related to medicine decreased significantly over the course of the year, (2) students demonstrated a predominantly conventional level of moral reasoning at both the beginning and end of the year, (3) moral reasoning scores tended to decrease over the course of the year and (4) RLS is a strong predictor of change in moral reasoning over time. This study confirms the usefulness of Sobral's RLS and BOR score for evaluating moral development in the context of medical education. This study further documents regression and levelling in the moral reasoning of final year medical students and a decrease in reflective ability applied in the medical context. Further studies are required to determine factors that would favourably influence reflective ability and moral reasoning among final year medical students.

  1. Persistence of the Intuitive Conception of Living Things in Adolescence

    Science.gov (United States)

    Babai, Reuven; Sekal, Rachel; Stavy, Ruth

    2010-02-01

    This study investigated whether intuitive, naive conceptions of "living things" based on objects' mobility (movement = alive) persist into adolescence and affect 10th graders' accuracy of responses and reaction times during object classification. Most of the 58 students classified the test objects correctly as living/nonliving, yet they demonstrated significantly longer reaction times for classifying plants compared to animals and for classifying dynamic objects compared to static inanimate objects. Findings indicated that, despite prior learning in biology, the intuitive conception of living things persists up to age 15-16 years, affecting related reasoning processes. Consideration of these findings may help educators in their decisions about the nature of examples they use in their classrooms.

  2. Mind-sets of functional reasoning in engineering design

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Howard, Thomas J.; Andreasen, Mogens Myrup

    2013-01-01

    The concept of a function is of great importance in design. This paper describes from theory how designers should reason about functions when designing. This paper introduces the link model, showing how functions and properties link the product and its use, to the perceived value of the product...... that not only is a product's behavior or mode of action designed but also the use activity of the end user. Based on the theoretical perspective unfolded, the authors offer nine mind-sets for both design practitioners and researchers to consider when reasoning about functions....

  3. 'ILRT' integrated leak reason test of the primary restraint of the reactor

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Herrera C, G.

    2006-01-01

    To obtain the operation licenses of the Units 1 and 2 of the Laguna Verde Nucleo electric plant, its were required to fulfill certain license points, inside which is the one of limiting capable and dependably the displacement of radioactive materials to the environment, later to a postulated event of lost of coolant ('LOCA' by its initials in english), accident basis of design, so that the doses outside of place, be smaller to the established ones in the chapter 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations of United States of America Part 100 (10CFR100), to be the supplying country of the reactor. The design of the container uses the characteristics of Dry Well and Pressure Suppression pool in the concept of Contention BWR-Mark II. In the event of being presented a 'LOCA', the flight to the exterior of the primary container will be limited to a global flight reason integrated smaller or similar to 0.5 percent in weight of the air of the contention for every 24 hours to an accident pressure, similar to 2.6 Kg/cm 2 (37.0 psig), as they indicate it the Technical Specifications of Operation of the CLV, based on the context of the Option B of the Appendix J on the 10CFR50. For this end, its will be known parameters such as: pressure, temperature and volume, making necessary then the use of additional sensors for monitoring these parameters and by means of the ideal gases equation, to calculate the punctual mass in that instant contained inside the primary contention. The pressure of the primary contention is taken to accident pressure by means of a compressors train. The information of the sensors is channeled to a computer system which will calculate, starting from a time zero and pressure of accident of 37 psig (tight), the punctual mass of the primary contention in a lapse of 24 hs, with that which through the one time and by means of mathematical calculations, we will know the mass percentage escaping through the same one, that which will fulfill that indicated in the

  4. Diagnostic Reasoning across the Medical Education Continuum

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    C. Scott Smith

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available We aimed to study linguistic and non-linguistic elements of diagnostic reasoning across the continuum of medical education. We performed semi-structured interviews of premedical students, first year medical students, third year medical students, second year internal medicine residents, and experienced faculty (ten each as they diagnosed three common causes of dyspnea. A second observer recorded emotional tone. All interviews were digitally recorded and blinded transcripts were created. Propositional analysis and concept mapping were performed. Grounded theory was used to identify salient categories and transcripts were scored with these categories. Transcripts were then unblinded. Systematic differences in propositional structure, number of concept connections, distribution of grounded theory categories, episodic and semantic memories, and emotional tone were identified. Summary concept maps were created and grounded theory concepts were explored for each learning level. We identified three major findings: (1 The “apprentice effect” in novices (high stress and low narrative competence; (2 logistic concept growth in intermediates; and (3 a cognitive state transition (between analytical and intuitive approaches in experts. These findings warrant further study and comparison.

  5. Critical thinking versus clinical reasoning versus clinical judgment: differential diagnosis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Victor-Chmil, Joyce

    2013-01-01

    Concepts of critical thinking, clinical reasoning, and clinical judgment are often used interchangeably. However, they are not one and the same, and understanding subtle difference among them is important. Following a review of the literature for definitions and uses of the terms, the author provides a summary focused on similarities and differences in the processes of critical thinking, clinical reasoning, and clinical judgment and notes suggested methods of measuring each.

  6. Reasons on the similarity of objections with regards to gambling and speculation in Islamic finance and conventional finance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kunhibava, Sherin

    2011-03-01

    Gambling and speculation which leads to zero-sum outcomes are prohibited in Islamic finance and condemned in conventional finance. This article explores the reasons for the similarity of objections towards gambling and speculation. Three probable reasons are explored namely the concept of stewardship in conventional thought and the concept of khalifa in Islam, Christianity and morality's influence on conventional law and finance and the concept of ethics of sacrifice and ethics of tolerance.

  7. Tacit knowledge and visual expertise in medical diagnostic reasoning: implications for medical education.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heiberg Engel, Peter Johan

    2008-01-01

    Much education--especially at the university level--has been criticized for having primarily dealt with explicit knowledge, i.e. those aspects of mental activities, which are verbal and conscious. Furthermore, research in medical diagnostic reasoning has been criticized for having focused on the specialty of intern medicine, while specialties with other skills, i.e. perceptive skills within pathology and radiology, have been ignored. To show that the concept of tacit knowledge is important in medical education-at all levels and in medical diagnostic reasoning. Describing how tacit knowledge according to Michael Polany, is experienced and expressed in day-to-day life, it is shown that there is a tacit dimension to all knowledge. Reviewing recent literature on medical diagnostic reasoning, it is shown that tacit knowledge is recognized in connection with concepts such as "non-analytical reasoning" and "dual process of reasoning." It is important that educators are trained in how explicit and implicit knowledge is attained and that tacit knowledge is included in educational programmes of all medical specialties.

  8. Critique of influential epistemological presuppositions in clinical reasoning

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Thorgård, Keld

    2013-01-01

    , better clinical reasoning is typically linked to detachment, neutrality and monological conceptions of rationality. In this article, it is argued that rational clinical decision-making must also include position-dependent experiences, values and dialogical deliberation.......Evidence-based medicine is an important resource in modern clinical reasoning. It is, however, widely discussed how judgement, experience and patient perspectives are supposed to be integrated in evidence-based decision-making. They are recognised as important aspects, but their epistemological...... status has remained unclarified. In this article, it is argued that we need to consider three different yet related epistemological problems in order to obtain a better understanding of these aspects in clinical reasoning. Even though judgement and values are mentioned in the decision-making procedure...

  9. An inferentialist perspective on the coordination of actions and reasons involved in making a statistical inference

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bakker, Arthur; Ben-Zvi, Dani; Makar, Katie

    2017-12-01

    To understand how statistical and other types of reasoning are coordinated with actions to reduce uncertainty, we conducted a case study in vocational education that involved statistical hypothesis testing. We analyzed an intern's research project in a hospital laboratory in which reducing uncertainties was crucial to make a valid statistical inference. In his project, the intern, Sam, investigated whether patients' blood could be sent through pneumatic post without influencing the measurement of particular blood components. We asked, in the process of making a statistical inference, how are reasons and actions coordinated to reduce uncertainty? For the analysis, we used the semantic theory of inferentialism, specifically, the concept of webs of reasons and actions—complexes of interconnected reasons for facts and actions; these reasons include premises and conclusions, inferential relations, implications, motives for action, and utility of tools for specific purposes in a particular context. Analysis of interviews with Sam, his supervisor and teacher as well as video data of Sam in the classroom showed that many of Sam's actions aimed to reduce variability, rule out errors, and thus reduce uncertainties so as to arrive at a valid inference. Interestingly, the decisive factor was not the outcome of a t test but of the reference change value, a clinical chemical measure of analytic and biological variability. With insights from this case study, we expect that students can be better supported in connecting statistics with context and in dealing with uncertainty.

  10. Informal reasoning regarding socioscientific issues: The influence of morality and content knowledge

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sadler, Troy Dow

    This study focused on informal reasoning regarding socioscientific issues. It explored how morality and content knowledge influenced the negotiation and resolution of contentious and complex scenarios based on genetic engineering. Two hundred and sixty-nine undergraduate students completed a quantitative test of genetics concepts. A sub-set of the students (n = 30) who completed this instrument and represented divergent levels of content knowledge participated in two individual interviews, during which they discussed their ideas, reactions, and solutions to three gene therapy scenarios and three cloning scenarios. A mixed-methods approach was used to examine patterns of informal reasoning and the influence of morality, the effects of content knowledge on the use of informal reasoning patterns, and the effects of content knowledge on the quality of informal reasoning. Students demonstrated evidence of rationalistic, emotive, and intuitive forms of informal reasoning. Rationalistic informal reasoning described reason-based considerations; emotive informal reasoning described care-based considerations; and intuitive reasoning described considerations based on immediate reactions to the context of a scenario. Participants frequently relied on combinations of these reasoning patterns as they worked to resolve individual socioscientific scenarios. Most of the participants appreciated at least some of the moral implications of their decisions, and these considerations were typically interwoven within an overall pattern of informal reasoning. Although differences in content knowledge were not found to be related to modes of informal reasoning (rationalistic, emotive, and informal), data did indicate that differences in content knowledge were related to variations in informal reasoning quality. Participants, with more advanced understandings of genetics, demonstrated fewer instances of reasoning flaws, as defined by a priori criteria (intra-scenario coherence, inter

  11. 'Reasonable' regulation of low doses in the Netherlands?

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zuur, Ciska

    2002-01-01

    As long as it is not clear exactly what the risks of low doses are, exposures should be regulated to be 'as low as reasonably achievable' (ALARA). In radiation protection, for normal situations, this means that a projected dose reduction can only be obligatory when the efforts needed to achieve the reduction are 'reasonable' in comparison with it, economical and social aspects being taken into account. In the recent Dutch regulations, 'reasonable' values have been established for the relevant parameters used in the ALARA concept and the paper discusses the values required to calculate the doses for the critical group due to a source. In some cases, the effort expended in making the ALARA dose assessments might not be reasonable in comparison with the dose reduction to be expected. The system which has been developed in the Netherlands to avoid these 'unreasonable' dose calculations, measurements and assessments is explained. (author)

  12. A concept analysis of young adults; Perception of HIV Counselling and Testing

    OpenAIRE

    Patrone R. Risenga; Mashudu Davhana-Maselesele

    2017-01-01

    Aim: The aim of the study was to investigate perceptions of young adults regarding HIV Counselling and Testing (HCT) and the factors contributing to either negative or positive perceptions towards the programme. This article is a report of a concept analysis of young adults' perceptions of HCT that were collected during the study. Background: Perception forms the core of HIV Counselling and Testing (HCT) use by young adults, because it is from these perceptions that young adults will decid...

  13. Obstacles to Reasoning about Inertia in Different Contexts

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yerdelen-Damar, Sevda

    2015-01-01

    The present study investigated the underlying reasons for difficulties faced by students when they applied the concept of inertia across varying contexts. The participants of the study included five high school students. Data obtained from interviews were interpreted from the perspectives of the coordination class and epistemological framing…

  14. Concept mapping enhances learning of biochemistry.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Surapaneni, Krishna M; Tekian, Ara

    2013-03-05

    Teaching basic science courses is challenging in undergraduate medical education because of the ubiquitous use of didactic lectures and reward for recall of factual information during examinations. The purpose of this study is to introduce concept maps with clinical cases (the innovative program) to improve learning of biochemistry course content. Participants were first year medical students (n=150) from Saveetha Medical College and Hospital (India); they were randomly divided into two groups of 75, one group attending the traditional program, the other the innovative program. Student performance was measured using three written knowledge tests (each with a maximum score of 20). The students also evaluated the relevance of the learning process using a 12-item questionnaire. Students in the innovative program using concept mapping outperformed those in the traditional didactic program (means of 7.13-8.28 vs. 12.33-13.93, pbiochemistry to clinical practice, and to enhance their reasoning and learning skills, as well as their deeper understanding for biochemistry.

  15. Concept mapping enhances learning of biochemistry.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Surapaneni, KrishnaM; Tekian, Ara

    2013-01-01

    Teaching basic science courses is challenging in undergraduate medical education because of the ubiquitous use of didactic lectures and reward for recall of factual information during examinations. The purpose of this study is to introduce concept maps with clinical cases (the innovative program) to improve learning of biochemistry course content. Participants were first year medical students (n=150) from Saveetha Medical College and Hospital (India); they were randomly divided into two groups of 75, one group attending the traditional program, the other the innovative program. Student performance was measured using three written knowledge tests (each with a maximum score of 20). The students also evaluated the relevance of the learning process using a 12-item questionnaire. Students in the innovative program using concept mapping outperformed those in the traditional didactic program (means of 7.13-8.28 vs. 12.33-13.93, pbiochemistry to clinical practice, and to enhance their reasoning and learning skills, as well as their deeper understanding for biochemistry.

  16. Level of evidence for reasonable assurance guides to prediction

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schweitzer, D.G.; Sastre, C.

    1987-04-01

    Over the past years, the DOE Contractors have produced a great deal of work that has been extensively reviewed and criticized by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), the Materials Review Board (MRB) of the DOE, the Advisory Committee on Reactor Safeguards (ACRS), and the technical support group at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL). Common aspects of the reviews and criticisms have provided information on the level of evidence required by the scientific community to defend performance claims. Important indicators of the type of evidence that the NRC will require for favorable decisions of reasonable assurance also can be obtained from 10 CFR 60 and its rationale, from NRC guides and Technical Position papers, from past reviews of the DOE programs by NRC Contractors, and from the use of reasonable assurance by the NRC in its 1984 Waste Confidence Decision. This report describes general concepts related to the acceptability and unacceptability of the level of evidence needed to defend claims with reasonable assurance. The concepts were formulated on the basis of analyses of the NRC position papers, and of common aspects of the reviews and criticisms dealing with compliance demonstration

  17. Teaching-Learning Conceptions and Academic Achievement: The Mediating Role of Test Anxiety

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bas, Gökhan

    2016-01-01

    The current research aimed at examining the mediating role of test anxiety in the relationship between teaching-learning conceptions and academic achievement. The correlation investigation model was adopted in this research. The participants of the research were volunteering teachers (n = 108) and students (n = 526) from five different high…

  18. Plasma Deflection Test Setup for E-Sail Propulsion Concept

    Science.gov (United States)

    Andersen, Allen; Vaughn, Jason; Schneider, Todd; Wright, Ken

    2016-01-01

    The Electronic Sail or E-Sail is a novel propulsion concept based on momentum exchange between fast solar wind protons and the plasma sheath of long positively charged conductors comprising the E-Sail. The effective sail area increases with decreasing plasma density allowing an E-Sail craft to continue to accelerate at predicted ranges well beyond the capabilities of existing electronic or chemical propulsion spacecraft. While negatively charged conductors in plasmas have been extensively studied and flown, the interaction between plasma and a positively charged conductor is not well studied. We present a plasma deflection test method using a differential ion flux probe (DIFP). The DIFP measures the angle and energy of incident ions. The plasma sheath around a charged body can measured by comparing the angular distribution of ions with and without a positively charged test body. These test results will be used to evaluate numerical calculations of expected thrust per unit length of conductor in the solar wind plasma. This work was supported by a NASA Space Technology Research Fellowship.

  19. Relational Reasoning in Word and in Figure

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alexander, Patricia A.; Singer, Lauren M.; Jablansky, Sophie; Hattan, Courtney

    2016-01-01

    This study investigated the relational reasoning capabilities of older adolescents and young adults when the focal assessment was a verbal and more schooled measure than 1 that was figural and more novel in its configuration. To achieve this end, the verbal test of relational reasoning (vTORR) was constructed to parallel the test of relational…

  20. Teaching Complex Concepts in the Geosciences by Integrating Analytical Reasoning with GIS

    Science.gov (United States)

    Houser, Chris; Bishop, Michael P.; Lemmons, Kelly

    2017-01-01

    Conceptual models have long served as a means for physical geographers to organize their understanding of feedback mechanisms and complex systems. Analytical reasoning provides undergraduate students with an opportunity to develop conceptual models based upon their understanding of surface processes and environmental conditions. This study…

  1. Estimation of Post-Test Probabilities by Residents: Bayesian Reasoning versus Heuristics?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hall, Stacey; Phang, Sen Han; Schaefer, Jeffrey P.; Ghali, William; Wright, Bruce; McLaughlin, Kevin

    2014-01-01

    Although the process of diagnosing invariably begins with a heuristic, we encourage our learners to support their diagnoses by analytical cognitive processes, such as Bayesian reasoning, in an attempt to mitigate the effects of heuristics on diagnosing. There are, however, limited data on the use ± impact of Bayesian reasoning on the accuracy of…

  2. Continued Development of the Solar System Concept Inventory

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hornstein, Seth D.; Prather, E. E.; English, T. R.; Desch, S. M.; Keller, J. M.; CATS

    2010-01-01

    The Solar System Concept Inventory (SSCI) was developed in order to provide a pre-/post-instruction assessment instrument suitable for use in an introductory solar system course. The topics included on the SSCI focus on formation mechanisms, planetary interiors, atmospheric and surface effects, and small solar system bodies. These topics were selected by having faculty identify the key concepts they address when teaching about the solar system. Student interviews were then conducted to identify common naive ideas and reasoning difficulties relating to these key topics. As of December 2009, the SSCI has been through four semesters of both pre- and post-instruction classroom testing, involving over 2000 students and 11 institutions (ranging from two-year colleges to doctoral/research universities). After each semester of testing, item analysis statistics such as point biserial, percentage correct on pre- or post-testing, and frequently-chosen distracters (incorrect answers) were used to flag ineffective questions. Flagged questions were revised or eliminated. We present an overall outline of the SSCI development as well as our question-flagging criteria and question analyses from the latest round of field-testing. We would like to thank the NSF for funding under Grant No. 0715517, a CCLI Phase III Grant for the Collaboration of Astronomy Teaching Scholars (CATS) Program.

  3. Using a Concept Inventory to Assess the Reasoning Component of Citizen-Level Science Literacy: Results from a 17,000-Student Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nuhfer, Edward B; Cogan, Christopher B; Kloock, Carl; Wood, Gregory G; Goodman, Anya; Delgado, Natalie Zayas; Wheeler, Christopher W

    2016-03-01

    After articulating 12 concepts for the reasoning component of citizen-level science literacy and restating these as assessable student learning outcomes (SLOs), we developed a valid and reliable assessment instrument for addressing the outcomes with a brief 25-item science literacy concept inventory (SLCI). In this paper, we report the results that we obtained from assessing the citizen-level science literacy of 17,382 undergraduate students, 149 graduate students, and 181 professors. We address only findings at or above the 99.9% confidence level. We found that general education (GE) science courses do not significantly advance understanding of science as a way of knowing. However, the understanding of science's way of knowing does increase through academic ranks, indicating that the extended overall academic experience better accounts for increasing such thinking capacity than do science courses alone. Higher mean institutional SLCI scores correlate closely with increased institutional selectivity, as measured by the institutions' higher mean SAT and ACT scores. Socioeconomic factors of a) first-generation student, b) English as a native language, and c) interest in commitment to a science major are unequally distributed across ethnic groups. These factors proved powerful in accounting for the variations in SLCI scores across ethnicities and genders.

  4. Using a Concept Inventory to Assess the Reasoning Component of Citizen-Level Science Literacy: Results from a 17,000-Student Study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Edward B. Nuhfer

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available After articulating 12 concepts for the reasoning component of citizen-level science literacy and restating these as assessable student learning outcomes (SLOs, we developed a valid and reliable assessment instrument for addressing the outcomes with a brief 25-item science literacy concept inventory (SLCI. In this paper, we report the results that we obtained from assessing the citizen-level science literacy of 17,382 undergraduate students, 149 graduate students, and 181 professors. We address only findings at or above the 99.9% confidence level. We found that general education (GE science courses do not significantly advance understanding of science as a way of knowing. However, the understanding of science’s way of knowing does increase through academic ranks, indicating that the extended overall academic experience better accounts for increasing such thinking capacity than do science courses alone. Higher mean institutional SLCI scores correlate closely with increased institutional selectivity, as measured by the institutions’ higher mean SAT and ACT scores. Socioeconomic factors of a first-generation student, b English as a native language, and c interest in commitment to a science major are unequally distributed across ethnic groups. These factors proved powerful in accounting for the variations in SLCI scores across ethnicities and genders.

  5. Using a Concept Inventory to Assess the Reasoning Component of Citizen-Level Science Literacy: Results from a 17,000-Student Study†

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nuhfer, Edward B.; Cogan, Christopher B.; Kloock, Carl; Wood, Gregory G.; Goodman, Anya; Delgado, Natalie Zayas; Wheeler, Christopher W.

    2016-01-01

    After articulating 12 concepts for the reasoning component of citizen-level science literacy and restating these as assessable student learning outcomes (SLOs), we developed a valid and reliable assessment instrument for addressing the outcomes with a brief 25-item science literacy concept inventory (SLCI). In this paper, we report the results that we obtained from assessing the citizen-level science literacy of 17,382 undergraduate students, 149 graduate students, and 181 professors. We address only findings at or above the 99.9% confidence level. We found that general education (GE) science courses do not significantly advance understanding of science as a way of knowing. However, the understanding of science’s way of knowing does increase through academic ranks, indicating that the extended overall academic experience better accounts for increasing such thinking capacity than do science courses alone. Higher mean institutional SLCI scores correlate closely with increased institutional selectivity, as measured by the institutions’ higher mean SAT and ACT scores. Socioeconomic factors of a) first-generation student, b) English as a native language, and c) interest in commitment to a science major are unequally distributed across ethnic groups. These factors proved powerful in accounting for the variations in SLCI scores across ethnicities and genders. PMID:27047612

  6. The Development of Analogical Reasoning Processes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sternberg, Robert J.; Rifkin, Bathsheva

    1979-01-01

    Two experiments were conducted to test the generalizability to children of a theory of analogical reasoning processes, originally proposed for adults, and to examine the development of analogical reasoning processes in terms of five proposed sources of cognitive development. (MP)

  7. Crash Test of an MD-500 Helicopter with a Deployable Energy Absorber Concept

    Science.gov (United States)

    Littell, Justin D.; Jackson, Karen E.; Kellas, Sotiris

    2010-01-01

    On December 2, 2009, a full scale crash test was successfully conducted of a MD-500 helicopter at the NASA Langley Research Center Landing and Impact Research Facility . The purpose of this test was to evaluate a novel composite honeycomb deployable energy absorbing (DEA) concept for attenuation of structural and crew loads during helicopter crashes under realistic crash conditions. The DEA concept is an alternative to external airbags, and absorbs impact energy through crushing. In the test, the helicopter impacted the concrete surface with 11.83 m/s (38.8 ft/s) horizontal, 7.80 m/s (25.6 ft/s) vertical and 0.15 m/s (0.5 ft/s) lateral velocities; corresponding to a resultant velocity of 14.2 m/s (46.5 ft/s). The airframe and skid gear were instrumented with accelerometers and strain gages to determine structural integrity and load attenuation, while the skin of the airframe was covered with targets for use by photogrammetry to record gross vehicle motion before, during, and after the impact. Along with the collection of airframe data, one Hybrid III 50th percentile anthropomorphic test device (ATD), two Hybrid II 50th percentile ATDs and a specialized human surrogate torso model (HSTM) occupant were seated in the airframe and instrumented for the collection of occupant loads. Resultant occupant data showed that by using the DEA, the loads on the Hybrid II and Hybrid III ATDs were in the Low Risk regime for the injury criteria, while structural data showed the airframe retained its structural integrity post crash. Preliminary results show that the DEA is a viable concept for the attenuation of impact loads.

  8. LETTERS AND COMMENTS: Comment on 'The effects of students' reasoning abilities on conceptual understanding and problem-solving skills in introductory mechanics'

    Science.gov (United States)

    Coletta, Vincent P.; Phillips, Jeffrey A.; Savinainen, Antti; Steinert, Jeffrey J.

    2008-09-01

    In a recent article, Ates and Cataloglu (2007 Eur. J. Phys. 28 1161-71), in analysing results for a course in introductory mechanics for prospective science teachers, found no statistically significant correlation between students' pre-instruction scores on the Lawson classroom test of scientific reasoning ability (CTSR) and post-instruction scores on the force concept inventory (FCI). As a possible explanation, the authors suggest that the FCI does not probe for skills required to determine reasoning abilities. Our previously published research directly contradicts the authors' finding. We summarize our research and present a likely explanation for their observation of no correlation.

  9. Operating philosophy for maintaining occupational radiation exposures as low as is reasonably achievable

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1975-09-01

    Both this guide and Regulatory Guide 8.8, ''Information Relevant to Maintaining Occupational Radiation Exposure as Low as is Reasonably Achievable (Nuclear Power Reactors),'' deal with the concept of ''as low as is reasonably achievable'' occupational exposures to radiation. This guide describes an operating philosophy that the NRC staff believes all specific licensees should follow to keep occupational exposures to radiation as low as is reasonably achievable. (auth)

  10. Making Big Data, Safe Data: A Test Optimization Approach

    Science.gov (United States)

    2016-06-15

    catalyzed by the need to put a value on testing. Included with this project report is a proof of concept created in MS Excel utilizing its VBA ...Language To make the proof of concept more user friendly, MS Excel was chosen for its convenient user interface and its developer tool, VBA . Another...reason it was selected is everyone has easy access to MS Excel, so the file accompanying this project paper can be easily viewed, used, and modified by

  11. Sex Differences in Fluid Reasoning: Manifest and Latent Estimates from the Cognitive Abilities Test

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Joni M. Lakin

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available The size and nature of sex differences in cognitive ability continues to be a source of controversy. Conflicting findings result from the selection of measures, samples, and methods used to estimate sex differences. Existing sex differences work on the Cognitive Abilities Test (CogAT has analyzed manifest variables, leaving open questions about sex differences in latent narrow cognitive abilities and the underlying broad ability of fluid reasoning (Gf. This study attempted to address these questions. A confirmatory bifactor model was used to estimate Gf and three residual narrow ability factors (verbal, quantitative, and figural. We found that latent mean differences were larger than manifest estimates for all three narrow abilities. However, mean differences in Gf were trivial, consistent with previous research. In estimating group variances, the Gf factor showed substantially greater male variability (around 20% greater. The narrow abilities varied: verbal reasoning showed small variability differences while quantitative and figural showed substantial differences in variance (up to 60% greater. These results add precision and nuance to the study of the variability and masking hypothesis.

  12. An Application of Kohlberg's Moral Reasoning Theory to Understanding Problems of Marital and Family Communication.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Winsor, Jerry L.; Lower, Frank J.

    The concepts of moral reasoning developed by Lawrence Kohlberg can be applied to the analysis of communication in intimate relationships in an attempt to deal with the high rate of marital dissolution. Kohlberg has identified three levels of moral reasoning: (1) preconventional, in which a person reasons in terms of punishment, reward, or exchange…

  13. The Role of Reasoning in the Australian Curriculum: Mathematics

    Science.gov (United States)

    McCluskey, Catherine; Mulligan, Joanne; Mitchelmore, Mike

    2016-01-01

    The mathematical proficiencies in the "Australian Curriculum: Mathematics" of understanding, problem solving, reasoning, and fluency are intended to be entwined actions that work together to build generalised understandings of mathematical concepts. A content analysis identifying the incidence of key proficiency terms (KPTs) embedded in…

  14. How Childcare Providers Interpret "Reasonable Suspicion" of Child Abuse

    Science.gov (United States)

    Levi, Benjamin H.; Crowell, Kathryn; Walsh, Kerryann; Dellasega, Cheryl

    2015-01-01

    Background: Childcare providers are often "first responders" for suspected child abuse, and how they understand the concept of "reasonable suspicion" will influence their decisions regarding which warning signs warrant reporting. Objective: The purpose of this study was to investigate how childcare providers interpret the…

  15. New concept single screw compressors and their manufacture technology

    Science.gov (United States)

    Feng, Q.; Liu, F.; Chang, L.; Feng, C.; Peng, C.; Xie, J.; van den Broek, M.

    2017-08-01

    Single screw compressors were generally acknowledged as one of the nearly perfect machines by compressor researchers and manufacturers. However the rapid wear of the star-wheel in a single screw compressor during operation is a key reason why it hasn’t previously joined the main current compressors’ market. After more than ten years of effective work, the authors of this paper have proposed a new concept single screw compressor whose mesh-couple profile is enveloped with multi-column. Also a new design method and manufacture equipment for this kind of compressor have been developed and are described in this paper. A lot of prototype tests and a long period of industrial operations under full loading conditions have shown that the mesh-couple profiles of the new concept single compressors have excellent anti-wearness.

  16. Testing the Concept of Drift Shadow at Yucca Mountain, Nevada

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    J.B. Paces; L.A. Neymark; T. Ghezzehei; P.F. Dobson

    2006-01-01

    If proven, the concept of drift shadow, a zone of reduced water content and slower ground-water travel time beneath openings in fractured rock of the unsaturated zone, may increase performance of a proposed geologic repository for high-level radioactive waste at Yucca Mountain. To test this concept under natural-flow conditions present in the proposed repository horizon, isotopes within the uranium-series decay chain (uranium-238, uranium-234, and thorium-230, or 238 U- 234 U- 230 Th) have been analyzed in samples of rock from beneath four naturally occurring lithophysal cavities. All samples show 234 U depletion relative to parent 238 U, indicating varying degrees of water-rock interaction over the past million years. Variations in 234 U/ 238 U activity ratios indicate that depletion of 234 U relative to 238 U can be either smaller or greater in rock beneath cavity floors relative to rock near cavity margins. These results are consistent with the concept of drift shadow and with numerical simulations of meter-scale spherical cavities in fractured tuff. Differences in distribution patterns of 234 U/ 238 U activity ratios in rock beneath the cavity floors are interpreted to reflect differences in the amount of past seepage into lithophysal cavities, as indicated by the abundance of secondary mineral deposits present on the cavity floors

  17. Clinical reasoning of nursing students on clinical placement: Clinical educators' perceptions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hunter, Sharyn; Arthur, Carol

    2016-05-01

    Graduate nurses may have knowledge and adequate clinical psychomotor skills however they have been identified as lacking the clinical reasoning skills to deliver safe, effective care suggesting contemporary educational approaches do not always facilitate the development of nursing students' clinical reasoning. While nursing literature explicates the concept of clinical reasoning and develops models that demonstrate clinical reasoning, there is very little published about nursing students and clinical reasoning during clinical placements. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with ten clinical educators to gain an understanding of how they recognised, developed and appraised nursing students' clinical reasoning while on clinical placement. This study found variability in the clinical educators' conceptualisation, recognition, and facilitation of students' clinical reasoning. Although most of the clinical educators conceptualised clinical reasoning as a process those who did not demonstrated the greatest variability in the recognition and facilitation of students' clinical reasoning. The clinical educators in this study also described being unable to adequately appraise a student's clinical reasoning during clinical placement with the use of the current performance assessment tool. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  18. Design Concepts of Polycarbonate-Based Intervertebral Lumbar Cages: Finite Element Analysis and Compression Testing

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    J. Obedt Figueroa-Cavazos

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available This work explores the viability of 3D printed intervertebral lumbar cages based on biocompatible polycarbonate (PC-ISO® material. Several design concepts are proposed for the generation of patient-specific intervertebral lumbar cages. The 3D printed material achieved compressive yield strength of 55 MPa under a specific combination of manufacturing parameters. The literature recommends a reference load of 4,000 N for design of intervertebral lumbar cages. Under compression testing conditions, the proposed design concepts withstand between 7,500 and 10,000 N of load before showing yielding. Although some stress concentration regions were found during analysis, the overall viability of the proposed design concepts was validated.

  19. Análise de itens de uma prova de raciocínio estatístico Analysis of items of a statistical reasoning test

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Claudette Maria Medeiros Vendramini

    2004-12-01

    Full Text Available Este estudo objetivou analisar as 18 questões (do tipo múltipla escolha de uma prova sobre conceitos básicos de Estatística pelas teorias clássica e moderna. Participaram 325 universitários, selecionados aleatoriamente das áreas de humanas, exatas e saúde. A análise indicou que a prova é predominantemente unidimensional e que os itens podem ser mais bem ajustados ao modelo de três parâmetros. Os índices de dificuldade, discriminação e correlação bisserial apresentam valores aceitáveis. Sugere-se a inclusão de novos itens na prova, que busquem confiabilidade e validade para o contexto educacional e revelem o raciocínio estatístico de universitários ao ler representações de dados estatísticos.This study aimed at to analyze the 18 questions (of multiple choice type of a test on basic concepts of Statistics for the classic and modern theories. The test was taken by 325 undergraduate students, randomly selected from the areas of Human, Exact and Health Sciences. The analysis indicated that the test has predominantly one dimension and that the items can be better fitting to the model of three parameters. The indexes of difficulty, discrimination and biserial correlation present acceptable values. It is suggested to include new items to the test in order to obtain reliability and validity to use it in the education context and to reveal the statistical reasoning of undergraduate students when dealing with statistical data representation.

  20. The design decisions of breeding zone sub-module for testing in ITER in order to validate the CHC TBM concept

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Leshukov, A.Yu.; Kapyshev, V.K.; Kartashev, I.A.; Kovalenko, V.G.; Razmerov, A.V.; Sviridenko, M.N.; Strebkov, Yu.S.

    2010-01-01

    Russian Federation has adopted the strategy to participate in the TBM Program on the rights of 'Partner' in the development of ceramic helium-cooled (CHC) test blanket module (TBM) concept. In this connection one of the possible collaboration scenarios is to integrate the characteristic design element of RF concept in the structure of 'Leader's' TBM and to test it in ITER environment. According to the collaboration in the framework of Test Blanket Working Group (TBWG) the 'Leader' and 'Partner' should develop together the selected (DEMO-relevant) TBM concept which will not disturb the ITER operation. Because of the analogue in the design principles, testing objectives and parameters of the EU CHC TBM concept ('Leader') and of the RF one, the RF specialists have developed the design options of breeding zone sub-module (BZSM) to be integrated in one of the EU TBM cells for further testing in ITER. There are four BZSM design options (according to four types of TBM to be tested) have been developed. Brief explanation of RF strategy in the partnership for the development of CHC blanket concept is presented in this paper. This paper also contains the description of all the four BZSM designs and some technological features.

  1. Inductive Reasoning in Patients with Paranoid Type Schizophrenia

    OpenAIRE

    Mehmet Emrah Karadere; Yasir Safak; Halime Seyma Ozcelik; Emre Demir; Mehmet Hakan Turkcapar

    2017-01-01

    The goal of our study is to evaluate the decision making and reasoning of the paranoid type schizophrenic patients, and their confidence in reasoning and perseverance in keeping to their decisions via using Reasoning with Inductive Argument Test (RIAT). Thirty-two delusional patients and 30 healthy volunteers were included in the study. After the diagnostic interview was conducted by SCID-I to the patients who were asked to participate in the study, RIAT test was applied by the interviewe...

  2. Mismanagement Reasons of the Projects Execution Phase

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hatem Khaleefah Al-Agele

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available The execution phase of the project is most dangerous and the most drain on the resources during project life cycle, therefore, its need to monitor and control by specialists to exceeded obstructions and achieve the project goals. The study aims to detect the actual reasons behind mismanagement of the execution phase. The study begins with theoretical part, where it deals with the concepts of project, project selection, project management, and project processes. Field part consists of three techniques: 1- brainstorming, 2- open interviews with experts and 3- designed questionnaire (with 49 reason. These reasons result from brainstorming and interviewing with experts., in order to find the real reasons behind mismanagement of the execution phase. The most important reasons which are negatively impact on management of the execution phase that proven by the study were (Inability of company to meet project requirements because it's specialized and / or large project, Multiple sources of decision and overlap in powers, Inadequate planning, Inaccurate estimation of cost, Delayed cash flows by owners, Poor performance of project manager, inefficient decision making process, and the Negative impact of people in the project area. Finally, submitting a set of recommendations which will contribute to overcome the obstructions of successful management of the execution phase.

  3. Association of Health Sciences Reasoning Test scores with academic and experiential performance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cox, Wendy C; McLaughlin, Jacqueline E

    2014-05-15

    To assess the association of scores on the Health Sciences Reasoning Test (HSRT) with academic and experiential performance in a doctor of pharmacy (PharmD) curriculum. The HSRT was administered to 329 first-year (P1) PharmD students. Performance on the HSRT and its subscales was compared with academic performance in 29 courses throughout the curriculum and with performance in advanced pharmacy practice experiences (APPEs). Significant positive correlations were found between course grades in 8 courses and HSRT overall scores. All significant correlations were accounted for by pharmaceutical care laboratory courses, therapeutics courses, and a law and ethics course. There was a lack of moderate to strong correlation between HSRT scores and academic and experiential performance. The usefulness of the HSRT as a tool for predicting student success may be limited.

  4. Proportional Reasoning: An Essential Component of Scientific Understanding

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hilton, Annette; Hilton, Geoff

    2016-01-01

    In many scientific contexts, students need to be able to use mathematical knowledge in order to engage in scientific reasoning and problem-solving, and their understanding of scientific concepts relies heavily on their ability to understand and use mathematics in often new or unfamiliar contexts. Not only do science students need high levels of…

  5. In-reactor testing of the closed cycle gas core reactor---the nuclear light bulb concept

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gauntt, R.O.; Slutz, S.A.; Harms, G.A.; Latham, T.S.; Roman, W.C.; Rodgers, R.J.

    1993-01-01

    The Nuclear Light Bulb (NLB) concept is an advanced closed cycle space propulsion rocket engine design that offers unprecidented performance characteristics in terms of specific impulse (>1800 s) and thrust (>445 kN). The NLB is a gas-core nuclear reactor making use of thermal radiation from a high temperature U-plasma core to heat the hydrogen propellant to very high temperatures (∼4000 K). The following paper describes analyses performed in support of the design of in-reactor tests that are planned to be performed in the Annular Core Research Reactor (ACRR) at Sandia National Laboratories in order to demonstrate the technical feasibility of this advanced concept. The tests will examine the stability of a hydrodynamically confined fissioning U-plasma under steady and transient conditions. Testing will also involve study of propellant heating by thermal radiation from the plasma and materials performance in the nuclear environment of the NLB. The analyses presented here include neutronic performance studies and U-plasma radiation heat-transport studies of small vortex-confined fissioning U-plasma experiments that are irradiated in the ACRR. These analyses indicate that high U-plasma temperatures (4000 to 9000 K) can be sustained in the ACRR for periods of time on the order of 5 to 20 s. These testing conditions are well suited to examine the stability and performance requirements necessary to demonstrate the feasibility of this concept

  6. Concept-Based Curricula: A National Study of Critical Concepts.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brussow, Jennifer A; Roberts, Karin; Scaruto, Matthew; Sommer, Sheryl; Mills, Christine

    2018-02-22

    As nursing education struggles to address a rapidly changing health care system, overcrowded curricula, and an increased focus on clinical reasoning skills, many programs have adopted or transitioned to concept-based curricula (CBCs), which are structured around key concepts and exemplars. Despite CBC's promised benefits, the process of developing a CBC framework may pose a challenge to programs. To address this barrier, a national study was conducted to develop a representative list of concepts and exemplars. This initiative expands on prior work by suggesting a leveled approach to positioning exemplars within a curricular sequence.This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives License 4.0 (CCBY-NC-ND), where it is permissible to download and share the work provided it is properly cited. The work cannot be changed in any way or used commercially without permission from the journal.

  7. Analysis and Test Correlation of Proof of Concept Box for Blended Wing Body-Low Speed Vehicle

    Science.gov (United States)

    Spellman, Regina L.

    2003-01-01

    The Low Speed Vehicle (LSV) is a 14.2% scale remotely piloted vehicle of the revolutionary Blended Wing Body concept. The design of the LSV includes an all composite airframe. Due to internal manufacturing capability restrictions, room temperature layups were necessary. An extensive materials testing and manufacturing process development effort was underwent to establish a process that would achieve the high modulus/low weight properties required to meet the design requirements. The analysis process involved a loads development effort that incorporated aero loads to determine internal forces that could be applied to a traditional FEM of the vehicle and to conduct detailed component analyses. A new tool, Hypersizer, was added to the design process to address various composite failure modes and to optimize the skin panel thickness of the upper and lower skins for the vehicle. The analysis required an iterative approach as material properties were continually changing. As a part of the material characterization effort, test articles, including a proof of concept wing box and a full-scale wing, were fabricated. The proof of concept box was fabricated based on very preliminary material studies and tested in bending, torsion, and shear. The box was then tested to failure under shear. The proof of concept box was also analyzed using Nastran and Hypersizer. The results of both analyses were scaled to determine the predicted failure load. The test results were compared to both the Nastran and Hypersizer analytical predictions. The actual failure occurred at 899 lbs. The failure was predicted at 1167 lbs based on the Nastran analysis. The Hypersizer analysis predicted a lower failure load of 960 lbs. The Nastran analysis alone was not sufficient to predict the failure load because it does not identify local composite failure modes. This analysis has traditionally been done using closed form solutions. Although Hypersizer is typically used as an optimizer for the design

  8. Use of the concept mapping in teaching during a medical rotation of interns: an exploratory study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kwas, Hamida; Ghédira, Habib

    2017-12-01

    Concept mapping is an excellent learning toolallowing to stimulate active learning.For this reason, the concept mapping is currently used increasingly in the medical and paramedical field. The aim of our study is to determine the contribution of teaching of medical interns by the concept mapping. Fourteen students enrolled at the same time in a medical rotation in Pulmonology were recruited for this exploratory study. Interns are divided into two groups (A and B).Both groups are taught by the clinical case method, illustrated by a concept mapping for group A interns. The evolution of the knowledge accuracy at post-testing has been greater in the group taught by the method of concept mapping: the number of correct responses increased in all participants of group A versus only 4 of group B. All students taught by concept mapping had at the post-test a note higher than or equal to 10/20 versus only three of the group taught by the method without concept map. The average score was 13 (11-15) in group A versus 10.28 (6-14) in group B. We emphasize the use of concept mapping in teaching especially in the faculty of medicine and we encourage clinicians to use this method in teaching interns in the hospital.

  9. Is there a need for political liberalism to have an account of pre-overlapping consensus reasoning?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zelić Nebojša

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available In his Liberalism without Perfection, Jonathan Quong argues for internal conception of political liberalism which goal is to show that a liberal well-ordered society is internally coherent ideal and that citizens who would be raised in such society could endorse and support their own liberal institutions and principles if those institutions and principles are justified in particular way These institutions should be justified by particular conception of public reason which main feature is that overlapping consensus is the first stage of its justificatory structure. So, public reasoning of citizens in well-ordered society should be based solely on values and ideas inherent to liberal conception of justice - freedom, equality, fair system of cooperation and burdens of judgment. Another important feature of Quong’s conception of public reason concerns its scope. Quong argues for a wide scope of public reason which demands that all coercive or binding laws or public policies should be justified (whenever possible on basis of these values alone. Thus, reasonable citizens in well-ordered society by definition accord deliberative priority to public reasons over their other comprehensive or nonpublic beliefs whenever they exercise their collective political power over one another. The problem I raise in this paper is that it is very likely that in well-ordered society there will be a group of citizens that will not accord full deliberative priority to political values, especially not at all levels of political deliberation. On certain issues they will like to see their particular values being realized through common political institutions. If our political theory excludes this group from justificatory constituency on this particular issue or categorize them as unreasonable it can easily undermine their general adherence to liberal conception of justice and endanger stability of well-ordered society. Thus, my point is that we need a further development

  10. Students' affordance of teleologic explanations and antrhropomorphic language in eliciting concepts in physics

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Romiro Gordo Bautista

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available This study ascertains the students’ affordance of teleologic explanations and anthropomorphic language in eliciting concepts in Physics as influenced by their age and learning exposure and experience. Using Explicative-Reductive Method of Descriptive Research, this study focused on the determinants of students’ affordance of teleologic-anthropomorphic reasoning to select concepts in Physics: Kinematics, Dynamics, Statics and Introduction to Thermodynamics.  It was found out that the respondents had intermittently committed teleologic-anthropomorphic languages across age and nature of their secondary education. Furthermore, teleologic-anthropomorphic languages were found correctible by classroom interventions as indicated by the test results on age and curricular exposure.

  11. Identifying novel drug indications through automated reasoning.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Luis Tari

    Full Text Available With the large amount of pharmacological and biological knowledge available in literature, finding novel drug indications for existing drugs using in silico approaches has become increasingly feasible. Typical literature-based approaches generate new hypotheses in the form of protein-protein interactions networks by means of linking concepts based on their cooccurrences within abstracts. However, this kind of approaches tends to generate too many hypotheses, and identifying new drug indications from large networks can be a time-consuming process.In this work, we developed a method that acquires the necessary facts from literature and knowledge bases, and identifies new drug indications through automated reasoning. This is achieved by encoding the molecular effects caused by drug-target interactions and links to various diseases and drug mechanism as domain knowledge in AnsProlog, a declarative language that is useful for automated reasoning, including reasoning with incomplete information. Unlike other literature-based approaches, our approach is more fine-grained, especially in identifying indirect relationships for drug indications.To evaluate the capability of our approach in inferring novel drug indications, we applied our method to 943 drugs from DrugBank and asked if any of these drugs have potential anti-cancer activities based on information on their targets and molecular interaction types alone. A total of 507 drugs were found to have the potential to be used for cancer treatments. Among the potential anti-cancer drugs, 67 out of 81 drugs (a recall of 82.7% are indeed known cancer drugs. In addition, 144 out of 289 drugs (a recall of 49.8% are non-cancer drugs that are currently tested in clinical trials for cancer treatments. These results suggest that our method is able to infer drug indications (original or alternative based on their molecular targets and interactions alone and has the potential to discover novel drug indications for

  12. Reasoning about Informal Statistical Inference: One Statistician's View

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rossman, Allan J.

    2008-01-01

    This paper identifies key concepts and issues associated with the reasoning of informal statistical inference. I focus on key ideas of inference that I think all students should learn, including at secondary level as well as tertiary. I argue that a fundamental component of inference is to go beyond the data at hand, and I propose that statistical…

  13. Evidence of students' content reasoning in relation to measure of reform

    Science.gov (United States)

    Haghanikar, Mojgan Matloob; Murphy, Sytil; Zollman, Dean

    2012-02-01

    As part of a study of the science preparation of elementary school teachers, we investigated the quality of students' reasoning and explored the relationship between sophistication of reasoning and the degree to which the courses are considered inquiry oriented. First, we devised written content questions, which were open ended with the distinguishing feature of applying recently learned concepts in a new context. All the questions developed were based on a common template that required students to recognize and generalize the relevant facts or concepts and their interrelationships to suggest an applicable or plausible theory. To evaluate students' answers, we developed a rubric based on Bloom's taxonomy as revised and expanded by Anderson. Along with analyzing students' reasoning, we visited 20 universities and observed the courses in which the students were enrolled. We ranked the courses with respect to characteristics that are valued for the inquiry courses. With the large amount of collected data, we found that the likelihood of the higher cognitive processes are in favor of classes with higher measures of inquiry.

  14. Children's Moral Reasoning about Illness in Chhattisgarh, Central India

    Science.gov (United States)

    Froerer, Peggy

    2011-01-01

    This article is about children's moral reasoning about illness and supernatural retribution in a rural tribal community in Chhattisgarh, central India. Detailed ethnographic analysis is devoted to the norms and experiences within which conceptions about illness causality and morality are formed. The author is principally interested in the…

  15. The relationship between academic self-concept, intrinsic motivation, test anxiety, and academic achievement among nursing students: mediating and moderating effects.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Khalaila, Rabia

    2015-03-01

    The impact of cognitive factors on academic achievement is well documented. However, little is known about the mediating and moderating effects of non-cognitive, motivational and situational factors on academic achievement among nursing students. The aim of this study is to explore the direct and/or indirect effects of academic self-concept on academic achievement, and examine whether intrinsic motivation moderates the negative effect of test anxiety on academic achievement. This descriptive-correlational study was carried out on a convenience sample of 170 undergraduate nursing students, in an academic college in northern Israel. Academic motivation, academic self-concept and test anxiety scales were used as measuring instruments. Bootstrapping with resampling strategies was used for testing multiple mediators' model and examining the moderator effect. A higher self-concept was found to be directly related to greater academic achievement. Test anxiety and intrinsic motivation were found to be significant mediators in the relationship between self-concept and academic achievement. In addition, intrinsic motivation significantly moderated the negative effect of test anxiety on academic achievement. The results suggested that institutions should pay more attention to the enhancement of motivational factors (e.g., self-concept and motivation) and alleviate the negative impact of situational factors (e.g., test anxiety) when offering psycho-educational interventions designed to improve nursing students' academic achievements. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  16. Comparison of Analysis with Test for Static Loading of Two Hypersonic Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator Concepts

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lyle, Karen H.

    2015-01-01

    Acceptance of new spacecraft structural architectures and concepts requires validated design methods to minimize the expense involved with technology demonstration via flight-testing. Hypersonic Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator (HIAD) architectures are attractive for spacecraft deceleration because they are lightweight, store compactly, and utilize the atmosphere to decelerate a spacecraft during entry. However, designers are hesitant to include these inflatable approaches for large payloads or spacecraft because of the lack of flight validation. This publication summarizes results comparing analytical results with test data for two concepts subjected to representative entry, static loading. The level of agreement and ability to predict the load distribution is considered sufficient to enable analytical predictions to be used in the design process.

  17. Risk behaviors and reasons for not getting tested for HIV among men who have sex with men: an online survey in Peru.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Magaly M Blas

    Full Text Available Men who have sex with men (MSM account for the greatest burden of the HIV epidemic in Peru. Given that MSM are frequent users of the Internet, understanding the risk behaviors and the reasons for not getting tested among MSM who surf the Internet may improve the tailoring of future online behavioral interventions.From October 2007 to April 2008, we conducted an online survey among users of seven Peruvian gay websites.We received 1,481 surveys, 1,301 of which were included in the analysis. The median age of the participants was 22.5 years (range 12-71, 67% were homosexual, and the remainder was bisexual. Of survey respondents, 49.4% had never been tested for HIV and only 11.3% were contacted in-person during the last year by peer health educators from the Peruvian Ministry of Health and NGOs. Additionally, 50.8% had unprotected anal or vaginal sex at last intercourse, and a significant percentage reported a condom broken (22.1%, slipped (16.4% or sexual intercourse initiated without wearing a condom (39.1%. The most common reasons for not getting tested for HIV among high-risk MSM were "I fear the consequences of a positive test result" (n = 55, 34.4%, and "I don't know where I can get tested" (n = 50, 31.3%.A small percentage of Peruvian MSM who answered our online survey, were reached by traditional peer-based education programs. Given that among high-risk MSM, fear of a positive test result and lack of awareness of places where to get tested are the most important reasons for not taking an HIV test, Internet interventions aimed at motivating HIV testing should work to reduce fear of testing and increase awareness of places that offer free HIV testing services to MSM.

  18. Principles for designing mathematical tasks that enhance imitative and creative reasoning

    OpenAIRE

    Lithner, Johan

    2017-01-01

    The design research programme Learning by Imitative and Creative Reasoning (LICR) studies whether, how and why tasks and teaching that enhance creative reasoning lead to a more productive struggle and more efficient learning than the common but inefficient task designs based on imitating given solution procedures. The purpose of this paper is to synthesise the research outcomes determined to date by providing the following: a conceptual framework for key concepts and relationships among teach...

  19. Technology-based strategies for promoting clinical reasoning skills in nursing education.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shellenbarger, Teresa; Robb, Meigan

    2015-01-01

    Faculty face the demand of preparing nursing students for the constantly changing health care environment. Effective use of online, classroom, and clinical conferencing opportunities helps to enhance nursing students' clinical reasoning capabilities needed for practice. The growth of technology creates an avenue for faculty to develop engaging learning opportunities. This article presents technology-based strategies such as electronic concept mapping, electronic case histories, and digital storytelling that can be used to facilitate clinical reasoning skills.

  20. Attitudes and exercise adherence: test of the Theories of Reasoned Action and Planned Behaviour.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smith, R A; Biddle, S J

    1999-04-01

    Three studies of exercise adherence and attitudes are reported that tested the Theory of Reasoned Action and the Theory of Planned Behaviour. In a prospective study of adherence to a private fitness club, structural equation modelling path analysis showed that attitudinal and social normative components of the Theory of Reasoned Action accounted for 13.1% of the variance in adherence 4 months later, although only social norm significantly predicted intention. In a second study, the Theory of Planned Behaviour was used to predict both physical activity and sedentary behaviour. Path analyses showed that attitude and perceived control, but not social norm, predicted total physical activity. Physical activity was predicted from intentions and control over sedentary behaviour. Finally, an intervention study with previously sedentary adults showed that intentions to be active measured at the start and end of a 10-week intervention were associated with the planned behaviour variables. A multivariate analysis of variance revealed no significant multivariate effects for time on the planned behaviour variables measured before and after intervention. Qualitative data provided evidence that participants had a positive experience on the intervention programme and supported the role of social normative factors in the adherence process.

  1. Probability in reasoning: a developmental test on conditionals.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barrouillet, Pierre; Gauffroy, Caroline

    2015-04-01

    Probabilistic theories have been claimed to constitute a new paradigm for the psychology of reasoning. A key assumption of these theories is captured by what they call the Equation, the hypothesis that the meaning of the conditional is probabilistic in nature and that the probability of If p then q is the conditional probability, in such a way that P(if p then q)=P(q|p). Using the probabilistic truth-table task in which participants are required to evaluate the probability of If p then q sentences, the present study explored the pervasiveness of the Equation through ages (from early adolescence to adulthood), types of conditionals (basic, causal, and inducements) and contents. The results reveal that the Equation is a late developmental achievement only endorsed by a narrow majority of educated adults for certain types of conditionals depending on the content they involve. Age-related changes in evaluating the probability of all the conditionals studied closely mirror the development of truth-value judgements observed in previous studies with traditional truth-table tasks. We argue that our modified mental model theory can account for this development, and hence for the findings related with the probability task, which do not consequently support the probabilistic approach of human reasoning over alternative theories. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  2. Emotional intelligence and reasoning tests: a correlacional study / Inteligência emocional e provas de raciocínio: um estudo correlacional

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Adauto Garcia de Jesus Junior

    2007-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper intended to study the convergent validity as detailed by Mayer, Salovey and Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test – MSCEIT, as a tool to assess Emotional Intelligence by relating them to the Baterias de Provas de Raciocínio (Series of Reasoning Tests – BPR-5, regarding fluid and crystallized intelligence. The sample consisted of 191 grad students, between 17 and 60 years old, with majors in the areas of Pedagogy, PE, BA, Accounting and Information Systems, from a privately funded university from the state of Sao Paulo. The instruments were applied in two collective sessions in groups classified by their majors. The general correlation between MSCEIT and BPR-5 was low and significant (r=0,18; p<0,05, showing a little convergence of constructs. However, this correlation was increased (r=0,28; p<0,01, when discarding the Spatial and Mechanical reasoning tests (BPR-5, for they also assess other skills besides Crystallized and Fluid Intelligence.

  3. Nash Equilibria in Theory of Reasoned Action

    Science.gov (United States)

    Almeida, Leando; Cruz, José; Ferreira, Helena; Pinto, Alberto Adrego

    2009-08-01

    Game theory and Decision Theory have been applied to many different areas such as Physics, Economics, Biology, etc. In its application to Psychology, we introduce, in the literature, a Game Theoretical Model of Planned Behavior or Reasoned Action by establishing an analogy between two specific theories. In this study we take in account that individual decision-making is an outcome of a process where group decisions can determine individual probabilistic behavior. Using Game Theory concepts, we describe how intentions can be transformed in behavior and according to the Nash Equilibrium, this process will correspond to the best individual decision/response taking in account the collective response. This analysis can be extended to several examples based in the Game Theoretical Model of Planned Behavior or Reasoned Action.

  4. Health system guidance appraisal--concept evaluation and usability testing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ako-Arrey, Denis E; Brouwers, Melissa C; Lavis, John N; Giacomini, Mita K

    2016-01-05

    Health system guidance (HSG) provides recommendations aimed to address health system challenges. However, there is a paucity of methods to direct, appraise, and report HSG. Earlier research identified 30 candidate criteria (concepts) that can be used to evaluate the quality of HSG and guide development and reporting requirements. The objective of this paper was to describe two studies aimed at evaluating the importance of these 30 criteria, design a draft HSG appraisal tool, and test its usability. This study involved a two-step survey process. In step 1, respondents rated the 30 concepts for appropriateness to, relevance to, and priority for health system decisions and HSG. This led to a draft tool. In step 2, respondents reviewed HSG documents, appraised them using the tool, and answered a series of questions. Descriptive analyses were computed. Fifty participants were invited in step 1, and we had a response rate of 82 %. The mean response rates for each concept within each survey question were universally favorable. There was also an overall agreement about the need for a high-quality tool to systematically direct the development, appraisal, and reporting of HSG. Qualitative feedback and a consensus process by the team led to refinements to some of the concepts and the creation of a beta (draft) version of the HSG tool. In step 2, 35 participants were invited and we had a response rate of 74 %. Exploratory analyses showed that the quality of the HSGs reviewed varied as a function of the HSG item and the specific document assessed. A favorable consensus was reached with participants agreeing that the HSG items were easy to understand and easy to apply. Moreover, the overall agreement was high for the usability of the tool to systematically direct the development (85 %), appraisal (92 %), and reporting (81 %) of HSG. From this process, version 1.0 of the HSG appraisal tool was generated complete with 32 items (and their descriptions) and 4 domains. The final

  5. Deducto and Color Deducto: Enhance Logical Reasoning through Educational Games

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    2010-09-01

    Full Text Available The objective of this paper is to present the various features of the educational games, Deducto and Color Deducto. With a firm belief that technology can bring about a revolution in education, these activities have been designed to help enhance the logical reasoning and analytical thinking of children. They have been developed in python with a focus on Sugar environment, OLPC XO’s software paradigm. They conform to Sugar's cardinal objective of learning through reasoning, critique and experimentation. Deducto focuses on helping children learn the art of deducing logic through pattern recognition. Color Deducto, a variant of Deducto, combines pattern recognition and concepts of Munsell Color System helping children get familiar with color system concepts in a playful manner. Besides the pre-defined levels of the games, the activities empower children to design their own levels and develop games on their own.

  6. Analogy-Enhanced Instruction: Effects on Reasoning Skills in Science

    Science.gov (United States)

    Remigio, Krisette B.; Yangco, Rosanelia T.; Espinosa, Allen A.

    2014-01-01

    The study examined the reasoning skills of first year high school students after learning general science concepts through analogies. Two intact heterogeneous sections were randomly assigned to Analogy-Enhanced Instruction (AEI) group and Non Analogy-Enhanced (NAEI) group. Various analogies were incorporated in the lessons of the AEI group for…

  7. Promoting Middle School Students' Proportional Reasoning Skills through an Ongoing Professional Development Programme for Teachers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hilton, Annette; Hilton, Geoff; Dole, Shelley; Goos, Merrilyn

    2016-01-01

    Proportional reasoning, the ability to use ratios in situations involving comparison of quantities, is essential for mathematical competence, especially in the middle school years, and is an important determinant of success beyond school. Research shows students find proportional reasoning and its foundational concepts difficult. Proportional…

  8. How can we study reasoning in the brain?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Papo, David

    2015-01-01

    The brain did not develop a dedicated device for reasoning. This fact bears dramatic consequences. While for perceptuo-motor functions neural activity is shaped by the input's statistical properties, and processing is carried out at high speed in hardwired spatially segregated modules, in reasoning, neural activity is driven by internal dynamics and processing times, stages, and functional brain geometry are largely unconstrained a priori. Here, it is shown that the complex properties of spontaneous activity, which can be ignored in a short-lived event-related world, become prominent at the long time scales of certain forms of reasoning. It is argued that the neural correlates of reasoning should in fact be defined in terms of non-trivial generic properties of spontaneous brain activity, and that this implies resorting to concepts, analytical tools, and ways of designing experiments that are as yet non-standard in cognitive neuroscience. The implications in terms of models of brain activity, shape of the neural correlates, methods of data analysis, observability of the phenomenon, and experimental designs are discussed.

  9. A Dissipative Connector for CLT Buildings: Concept, Design and Testing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Scotta, Roberto; Marchi, Luca; Trutalli, Davide; Pozza, Luca

    2016-02-26

    This paper deals with the conception and characterization of an innovative connection for cross-laminated timber (CLT) panels. The connection is designed to provide an adequate level of dissipative capacity to CLT structures also when realized with large horizontal panels and therefore prone to fragile shear sliding failure. The connector, named X-bracket, has been theorized and designed by means of numerical parametric analyses. Furthermore, its cyclic behavior has been verified with experimental tests and compared to that of traditional connectors. Numerical simulations of cyclic tests of different CLT walls anchored to the foundation with X-brackets were also performed to assess their improved seismic performances. Finally, the analysis of the response of a 6 m × 3 m squat wall demonstrates that the developed connection provides good ductility and dissipation capacities also to shear walls realized with a single CLT panel.

  10. Patient survey to identify reasons for non-adherence and elicitation of quality of life concepts associated with immunosuppressant therapy in kidney transplant recipients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Muduma, Gorden; Shupo, Francis C; Dam, Sophie; Hawken, Natalia A; Aballéa, Samuel; Odeyemi, Isaac; Toumi, Mondher

    2016-01-01

    Renal transplantation (RT) is considered the treatment of choice for end-stage renal disease compared to dialysis, offering better health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and higher survival rates. However, immunosuppressants are essential for the long-term survival of kidney grafts and patients' non-adherence to their medication leads to poor outcomes. Immunosuppressants can also significantly alter patients' HRQoL because of their side effects and the complex chronic medication regimen they represent. To elicit key concepts related to adherence to immunosuppressant therapy (IT) and reasons for non-adherence in terms of patient reported outcomes, side effects, and the impact of the medication on HRQoL in RT population, including patient preference of once daily over twice-daily immunosuppressive regimen. Results were used to develop an IT-specific conceptual framework and provide suggestions for improving patients' adherence to IT. Interviews were conducted with three clinical experts to determine key concepts related to RT and immunosuppressants. Thirty-seven participants in four focus groups were asked to cite important concepts related to adherence and impact of IT on HRQoL and to rate them. Qualitative analysis was conducted to code participants' responses. Non-adherence among participants where admitted was unintentional. The reason for this included forgetfulness, interference with lifestyle, being asleep at the time the medication should be taken, change in routine, and impact of side effects. Overall, participants reported that the evening dose was more problematic to remember and that the exclusion of this dose could make them more adherent. Participants also reported that IT impacted on their HRQoL in a number of ways including: placing restrictions on their lifestyle, causing anxiety, or impairing their ability to work. This study provides qualitative evidence about the barriers to IT adherence and the components of HRQoL that are important from the

  11. De minimis concept from a regulatory standpoint

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cunningham, G.H. III.

    1983-01-01

    The author maintains that the de minimis concept does not have the same legal connotations as a license exemption or a general license, nor is it the same concept as ALARA (as low as reasonably achievable), and to equate this concept with any of the three is erroneous. He discusses the concept with regard to the revision of 10 CFR Part 20 regulations and concludes that incorporating de minimis into Part 20 is preferable to including it in other parts, that legal precedents for doing so exist, and that coordinating with the Environmental Protection Agency is expected in formulating the concept for inclusion in Part 20

  12. IMS IN SMES - REASONS, ADVANTAGES AND BARRIERS ON IMPLEMENTATION

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dragan Rajković

    2008-09-01

    Full Text Available Appearance of a number of management systems with various and sometimes divergent demands, demands for revise of optimal strategy on implementation of these standards in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs and the attempt on their integration into integrated management system are suggested even more. Firstly question on choice and reasons for implementation of standards is raised. Management and employees expect benefits on the implementation and they pass and minimize the implementation barriers. Basic concept on integrated management system (IMS into SMEs and analyse on reasons, advantages and barriers at IMS implementation are presented in this paper.

  13. Designing instruction to support mechanical reasoning: Three alternatives in the simple machines learning environment

    Science.gov (United States)

    McKenna, Ann Frances

    2001-07-01

    Creating a classroom environment that fosters a productive learning experience and engages students in the learning process is a complex endeavor. A classroom environment is dynamic and requires a unique synergy among students, teacher, classroom artifacts and events to achieve robust understanding and knowledge integration. This dissertation addresses this complex issue by developing, implementing, and investigating the simple machines learning environment (SIMALE) to support students' mechanical reasoning and understanding. SIMALE was designed to support reflection, collaborative learning, and to engage students in generative learning through multiple representations of concepts and successive experimentation and design activities. Two key components of SIMALE are an original web-based software tool and hands-on Lego activities. A research study consisting of three treatment groups was created to investigate the benefits of hands-on and web-based computer activities on students' analytic problem solving ability, drawing/modeling ability, and conceptual understanding. The study was conducted with two populations of students that represent a diverse group with respect to gender, ethnicity, academic achievement and social/economic status. One population of students in this dissertation study participated from the Mathematics, Engineering, and Science Achievement (MESA) program that serves minorities and under-represented groups in science and mathematics. The second group was recruited from the Academic Talent Development Program (ATDP) that is an academically competitive outreach program offered through the University of California at Berkeley. Results from this dissertation show success of the SIMALE along several dimensions. First, students in both populations achieved significant gains in analytic problem solving ability, drawing/modeling ability, and conceptual understanding. Second, significant differences that were found on pre-test measures were eliminated

  14. Rule-Based Reasoning Is Fast and Belief-Based Reasoning Can Be Slow: Challenging Current Explanations of Belief-Bias and Base-Rate Neglect

    Science.gov (United States)

    Newman, Ian R.; Gibb, Maia; Thompson, Valerie A.

    2017-01-01

    It is commonly assumed that belief-based reasoning is fast and automatic, whereas rule-based reasoning is slower and more effortful. Dual-Process theories of reasoning rely on this speed-asymmetry explanation to account for a number of reasoning phenomena, such as base-rate neglect and belief-bias. The goal of the current study was to test this…

  15. Concept-Development of a Structure Supported Membrane for Deployable Space Applications - From Nature to Manufacture and Testing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zander, Martin; Belvin, W. K.

    2012-01-01

    Current space applications of membrane structures include large area solar power arrays, solar sails, antennas, and numerous other large aperture devices like the solar shades of the new James Webb Space Telescope. These expandable structural systems, deployed in-orbit to achieve the desired geometry, are used to collect, reflect and/or transmit electromagnetic radiation. This work, a feasibility study supporting a diploma thesis, describes the systematic process for developing a biologically inspired concept for a structure supported (integrated) membrane, that features a rip stop principle, makes self-deployment possible and is part of an ultra-light weight space application. Novel manufacturing of membrane prototypes and test results are presented for the rip-stop concepts. Test data showed that the new membrane concept has a higher tear resistance than neat film of equivalent mass.

  16. Interpreting force concept inventory scores: Normalized gain and SAT scores

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jeffrey J. Steinert

    2007-05-01

    Full Text Available Preinstruction SAT scores and normalized gains (G on the force concept inventory (FCI were examined for individual students in interactive engagement (IE courses in introductory mechanics at one high school (N=335 and one university (N=292 , and strong, positive correlations were found for both populations ( r=0.57 and r=0.46 , respectively. These correlations are likely due to the importance of cognitive skills and abstract reasoning in learning physics. The larger correlation coefficient for the high school population may be a result of the much shorter time interval between taking the SAT and studying mechanics, because the SAT may provide a more current measure of abilities when high school students begin the study of mechanics than it does for college students, who begin mechanics years after the test is taken. In prior research a strong correlation between FCI G and scores on Lawson’s Classroom Test of Scientific Reasoning for students from the same two schools was observed. Our results suggest that, when interpreting class average normalized FCI gains and comparing different classes, it is important to take into account the variation of students’ cognitive skills, as measured either by the SAT or by Lawson’s test. While Lawson’s test is not commonly given to students in most introductory mechanics courses, SAT scores provide a readily available alternative means of taking account of students’ reasoning abilities. Knowing the students’ cognitive level before instruction also allows one to alter instruction or to use an intervention designed to improve students’ cognitive level.

  17. Interpreting force concept inventory scores: Normalized gain and SAT scores

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vincent P. Coletta

    2007-05-01

    Full Text Available Preinstruction SAT scores and normalized gains (G on the force concept inventory (FCI were examined for individual students in interactive engagement (IE courses in introductory mechanics at one high school (N=335 and one university (N=292, and strong, positive correlations were found for both populations (r=0.57 and r=0.46, respectively. These correlations are likely due to the importance of cognitive skills and abstract reasoning in learning physics. The larger correlation coefficient for the high school population may be a result of the much shorter time interval between taking the SAT and studying mechanics, because the SAT may provide a more current measure of abilities when high school students begin the study of mechanics than it does for college students, who begin mechanics years after the test is taken. In prior research a strong correlation between FCI G and scores on Lawson’s Classroom Test of Scientific Reasoning for students from the same two schools was observed. Our results suggest that, when interpreting class average normalized FCI gains and comparing different classes, it is important to take into account the variation of students’ cognitive skills, as measured either by the SAT or by Lawson’s test. While Lawson’s test is not commonly given to students in most introductory mechanics courses, SAT scores provide a readily available alternative means of taking account of students’ reasoning abilities. Knowing the students’ cognitive level before instruction also allows one to alter instruction or to use an intervention designed to improve students’ cognitive level.

  18. Metaphor Clusters: Characterizing Instructor Metaphorical Reasoning on Limit Concepts in College Calculus

    Science.gov (United States)

    Patel, Rita Manubhai; McCombs, Paul; Zollman, Alan

    2014-01-01

    Novice students have difficulty with the topic of limits in calculus. We believe this is in part because of the multiple perspectives and shifting metaphors available to solve items correctly. We investigated college calculus instructors' personal concepts of limits. Based upon previous research investigating introductory calculus student…

  19. Learning Gains for Core Concepts in a Serious Game on Scientific Reasoning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Forsyth, Carol; Pavlik, Philip, Jr.; Graesser, Arthur C.; Cai, Zhiqiang; Germany, Mae-lynn; Millis, Keith; Dolan, Robert P.; Butler, Heather; Halpern, Diane

    2012-01-01

    "OperationARIES!" is an Intelligent Tutoring System that teaches scientific inquiry skills in a game-like atmosphere. Students complete three different training modules, each with natural language conversations, in order to acquire deep-level knowledge of 21 core concepts of research methodology (e.g., correlation does not mean…

  20. Assuring safety without animal testing concept (ASAT). Integration of human disease data with in vitro data to improve toxicology testing

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Stierum, Rob; Aarts, Jac; Boorsma, Andre; Bosgra, Sieto; Caiment, Florian; Ezendam, Janine; Greupink, Rick; Hendriksen, Peter; Soeteman-Hernandez, Lya G.; Jennen, Danyel; Kleinjans, Jos; Kroese, Dinant; Kuper, Frieke; van Loveren, Henk; Monshouwer, Mario; Russel, Frans; van Someren, Eugene; Tsamou, Maria; Groothuis, Geny

    2014-01-01

    According to the Assuring Safety Without Animal Testing (ASAT) principle, risk assessment may ultimately become possible without the use of animals (Fentem et al., (2004). Altern. Lab. Anim. 32, 617-623). The ASAT concept takes human disease mechanisms as starting point and tries to define if

  1. An integrated real-time diagnostic concept using expert systems, qualitative reasoning and quantitative analysis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Edwards, R.M.; Lee, K.Y.; Kumara, S.; Levine, S.H.

    1989-01-01

    An approach for an integrated real-time diagnostic system is being developed for inclusion as an integral part of a power plant automatic control system. In order to participate in control decisions and automatic closed loop operation, the diagnostic system must operate in real-time. Thus far, an expert system with real-time capabilities has been developed and installed on a subsystem at the Experimental Breeder Reactor (EBR-II) in Idaho, USA. Real-time simulation testing of advanced power plant concepts at the Pennsylvania State University has been developed and was used to support the expert system development and installation at EBR-II. Recently, the US National Science Foundation (NSF) and the US Department of Energy (DOE) have funded a Penn State research program to further enhance application of real-time diagnostic systems by pursuing implementation in a distributed power plant computer system including microprocessor based controllers. This paper summarizes past, current, planned, and possible future approaches to power plant diagnostic systems research at Penn State. 34 refs., 9 figs

  2. The influence of analogical reasoning instruction on the pedagogical reasoning ability of preservice elementary teachers

    Science.gov (United States)

    James, Mark Charles

    Novice teachers with little prior knowledge of science concepts often resort to teaching science as a litany of jargon and definitions. The primary objective of this study was to establish the efficacy of analogy-based pedagogy on influencing the teaching performance of preservice elementary teachers, a group that has been identified for their particular difficulties in teaching science content. While numerous studies have focused on the efficacy of analogy-based instruction on the conceptual knowledge of learners, this was the first study to focus on the influence of analogy-based pedagogy instruction on the teaching performance of novice teachers. The study utilized a treatment/contrast group design where treatment and contrast groups were obtained from intact sections of a university course on methods of teaching science for preservice elementary education students. Preservice teachers in the treatment group were provided instruction in pedagogy that guided them in the generation of analogies to aid in the explanation phase of their learning cycle lessons. The process of generating and evaluating analogies for use in teaching was instrumental in focusing the preservice teachers' lesson planning efforts on critical attributes in target concepts, and away from misplaced concentrations on jargon and definitions. Teaching performance was primarily analyzed using coded indicants of Shulman's (1986) six stages of pedagogical reasoning ability. The primary data source was preservice teachers' work submitted for a major course assignment where the preservice teachers interviewed an elementary school student to gauge prior knowledge of Newtonian force concepts. The culmination of the semester-long assignment was the design of an individualized lesson that was presented by the preservice teachers to individual elementary school students. The results of this study strongly suggest that instruction in methods to include analogy-based pedagogy within a learning cycle lesson

  3. HERCULES Advanced Combustion Concepts Test Facility: Spray/Combustion Chamber

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Herrmann, K. [Eidgenoessische Technische Hochschule (ETH), Labor fuer Aerothermochemie und Verbrennungssysteme, Zuerich (Switzerland)

    2004-07-01

    This yearly report for 2004 on behalf of the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE) at the Laboratory for Aero-thermochemistry and Combustion Systems at the Federal Institute of Technology ETH in Zurich, Switzerland, presents a review of work being done within the framework of HERCULES (High Efficiency R and D on Combustion with Ultra Low Emissions for Ships) - the international R and D project concerning new technologies for ships' diesels. The work involves the use and augmentation of simulation models. These are to be validated using experimental data. The report deals with the development of an experimental set-up that will simulate combustion in large two-stroke diesel engines and allow the generation of reference data. The main element of the test apparatus is a spray / combustion chamber with extensive possibilities for optical observation under variable flow conditions. The results of first simulations confirm concepts and shall help in further work on the project. The potential offered by high-speed camera systems was tested using the institute's existing HTDZ combustion chamber. Further work to be done is reviewed.

  4. Switching Service Providers: Reasons, Service Types, and Sequences

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    In Keaveney.s (1995) landmark study on the reasons for switching service providers, data were gathered using critical incident technique (CIT); here the original findings are tested using survey method. Keaveney.s typology of reasons for switching is supported across a range of categories but, in this new study, the reasons ...

  5. Student Moon Observations and Spatial-Scientific Reasoning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cole, Merryn; Wilhelm, Jennifer; Yang, Hongwei

    2015-07-01

    Relationships between sixth grade students' moon journaling and students' spatial-scientific reasoning after implementation of an Earth/Space unit were examined. Teachers used the project-based Realistic Explorations in Astronomical Learning curriculum. We used a regression model to analyze the relationship between the students' Lunar Phases Concept Inventory (LPCI) post-test score variables and several predictors, including moon journal score, number of moon journal entries, student gender, teacher experience, and pre-test score. The model shows that students who performed better on moon journals, both in terms of overall score and number of entries, tended to score higher on the LPCI. For every 1 point increase in the overall moon journal score, participants scored 0.18 points (out of 20) or nearly 1% point higher on the LPCI post-test when holding constant the effects of the other two predictors. Similarly, students who increased their scores by 1 point in the overall moon journal score scored approximately 1% higher in the Periodic Patterns (PP) and Geometric Spatial Visualization (GSV) domains of the LPCI. Also, student gender and teacher experience were shown to be significant predictors of post-GSV scores on the LPCI in addition to the pre-test scores, overall moon journal score, and number of entries that were also significant predictors on the LPCI overall score and the PP domain. This study is unique in the purposeful link created between student moon observations and spatial skills. The use of moon journals distinguishes this study further by fostering scientific observation along with skills from across science, technology, engineering, and mathematics disciplines.

  6. Students' Reasoning When Tackling Electric Field and Potential in Explanation of DC Resistive Circuits

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leniz, Ane; Zuza, Kristina; Guiasola, Jenaro

    2017-01-01

    This study examines the causal reasoning that university students use to explain how dc circuits work. We analyze how students use the concepts of electric field and potential difference in their explanatory models of dc circuits, and what kinds of reasoning they use at the macroscopic and microscopic levels in their explanations. This knowledge…

  7. Remote sensing of potential and actual daily transpiration of plant canopies based on spectral reflectance and infrared thermal measurements: Concept with preliminary test

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Inoue, Y.; Moran, M.S.; Pinter, P.J.Jr.

    1994-01-01

    A new concept for estimating potential and actual values of daily transpiration rate of vegetation canopies is presented along with results of an initial test. The method is based on a physical foundation of spectral radiation balance for a vegetation canopy, the key inputs to the model being the remotely sensed spectral reflectance and the surface temperature of the plant canopy. The radiation interception or absorptance is estimated more directly from remotely sensed spectral data than it is from the leaf area index. The potential daily transpiration is defined as a linear function of the absorbed solar radiation, which can be estimated using a linear relationship between the fraction absorptance of solar radiation and the remotely sensed Soil Adjusted Vegetation Index for the canopy. The actual daily transpiration rate is estimated by combining this concept with the Jackson-Idso Crop Water Stress Index, which also can be calculated from remotely sensed plant leaf temperatures measured by infrared thermometry. An initial demonstration with data sets from an alfalfa crop and a rangeland suggests that the method may give reasonable estimates of potential and actual values of daily transpiration rate over diverse vegetation area based on simple remote sensing measurements and basic meteorological parameters

  8. Technological Knowledge and Reasoning in Finnish and Estonian Technology Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Autio, Ossi; Soobik, Mart

    2017-01-01

    The main idea of this research was to find out if there is a relationship between students' undertakings within Craft and Technology education and their ability to understand technological concepts. Study participants' technological knowledge and reasoning was measured with a questionnaire regarding mechanical systems connected with simple…

  9. Varieties of noise: analogical reasoning in synthetic biology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Knuuttila, Tarja; Loettgers, Andrea

    2014-12-01

    The picture of synthetic biology as a kind of engineering science has largely created the public understanding of this novel field, covering both its promises and risks. In this paper, we will argue that the actual situation is more nuanced and complex. Synthetic biology is a highly interdisciplinary field of research located at the interface of physics, chemistry, biology, and computational science. All of these fields provide concepts, metaphors, mathematical tools, and models, which are typically utilized by synthetic biologists by drawing analogies between the different fields of inquiry. We will study analogical reasoning in synthetic biology through the emergence of the functional meaning of noise, which marks an important shift in how engineering concepts are employed in this field. The notion of noise serves also to highlight the differences between the two branches of synthetic biology: the basic science-oriented branch and the engineering-oriented branch, which differ from each other in the way they draw analogies to various other fields of study. Moreover, we show that fixing the mapping between a source domain and the target domain seems not to be the goal of analogical reasoning in actual scientific practice.

  10. Quantitative Reasoning Learning Progressions for Environmental Science: Developing a Framework

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Robert L. Mayes

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Quantitative reasoning is a complex concept with many definitions and a diverse account in the literature. The purpose of this article is to establish a working definition of quantitative reasoning within the context of science, construct a quantitative reasoning framework, and summarize research on key components in that framework. Context underlies all quantitative reasoning; for this review, environmental science serves as the context.In the framework, we identify four components of quantitative reasoning: the quantification act, quantitative literacy, quantitative interpretation of a model, and quantitative modeling. Within each of these components, the framework provides elements that comprise the four components. The quantification act includes the elements of variable identification, communication, context, and variation. Quantitative literacy includes the elements of numeracy, measurement, proportional reasoning, and basic probability/statistics. Quantitative interpretation includes the elements of representations, science diagrams, statistics and probability, and logarithmic scales. Quantitative modeling includes the elements of logic, problem solving, modeling, and inference. A brief comparison of the quantitative reasoning framework with the AAC&U Quantitative Literacy VALUE rubric is presented, demonstrating a mapping of the components and illustrating differences in structure. The framework serves as a precursor for a quantitative reasoning learning progression which is currently under development.

  11. Clinical Reasoning Terms Included in Clinical Problem Solving Exercises?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Musgrove, John L; Morris, Jason; Estrada, Carlos A; Kraemer, Ryan R

    2016-05-01

    Background Published clinical problem solving exercises have emerged as a common tool to illustrate aspects of the clinical reasoning process. The specific clinical reasoning terms mentioned in such exercises is unknown. Objective We identified which clinical reasoning terms are mentioned in published clinical problem solving exercises and compared them to clinical reasoning terms given high priority by clinician educators. Methods A convenience sample of clinician educators prioritized a list of clinical reasoning terms (whether to include, weight percentage of top 20 terms). The authors then electronically searched the terms in the text of published reports of 4 internal medicine journals between January 2010 and May 2013. Results The top 5 clinical reasoning terms ranked by educators were dual-process thinking (weight percentage = 24%), problem representation (12%), illness scripts (9%), hypothesis generation (7%), and problem categorization (7%). The top clinical reasoning terms mentioned in the text of 79 published reports were context specificity (n = 20, 25%), bias (n = 13, 17%), dual-process thinking (n = 11, 14%), illness scripts (n = 11, 14%), and problem representation (n = 10, 13%). Context specificity and bias were not ranked highly by educators. Conclusions Some core concepts of modern clinical reasoning theory ranked highly by educators are mentioned explicitly in published clinical problem solving exercises. However, some highly ranked terms were not used, and some terms used were not ranked by the clinician educators. Effort to teach clinical reasoning to trainees may benefit from a common nomenclature of clinical reasoning terms.

  12. Theory of mind broad and narrow: reasoning about social exchange engages ToM areas, precautionary reasoning does not.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ermer, Elsa; Guerin, Scott A; Cosmides, Leda; Tooby, John; Miller, Michael B

    2006-01-01

    Baron-Cohen (1995) proposed that the theory of mind (ToM) inference system evolved to promote strategic social interaction. Social exchange--a form of co-operation for mutual benefit--involves strategic social interaction and requires ToM inferences about the contents of other individuals' mental states, especially their desires, goals, and intentions. There are behavioral and neuropsychological dissociations between reasoning about social exchange and reasoning about equivalent problems tapping other, more general content domains. It has therefore been proposed that social exchange behavior is regulated by social contract algorithms: a domain-specific inference system that is functionally specialized for reasoning about social exchange. We report an fMRI study using the Wason selection task that provides further support for this hypothesis. Precautionary rules share so many properties with social exchange rules--they are conditional, deontic, and involve subjective utilities--that most reasoning theories claim they are processed by the same neurocomputational machinery. Nevertheless, neuroimaging shows that reasoning about social exchange activates brain areas not activated by reasoning about precautionary rules, and vice versa. As predicted, neural correlates of ToM (anterior and posterior temporal cortex) were activated when subjects interpreted social exchange rules, but not precautionary rules (where ToM inferences are unnecessary). We argue that the interaction between ToM and social contract algorithms can be reciprocal: social contract algorithms requires ToM inferences, but their functional logic also allows ToM inferences to be made. By considering interactions between ToM in the narrower sense (belief-desire reasoning) and all the social inference systems that create the logic of human social interaction--ones that enable as well as use inferences about the content of mental states--a broader conception of ToM may emerge: a computational model embodying

  13. A Dissipative Connector for CLT Buildings: Concept, Design and Testing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Scotta, Roberto; Marchi, Luca; Trutalli, Davide; Pozza, Luca

    2016-01-01

    This paper deals with the conception and characterization of an innovative connection for cross-laminated timber (CLT) panels. The connection is designed to provide an adequate level of dissipative capacity to CLT structures also when realized with large horizontal panels and therefore prone to fragile shear sliding failure. The connector, named X-bracket, has been theorized and designed by means of numerical parametric analyses. Furthermore, its cyclic behavior has been verified with experimental tests and compared to that of traditional connectors. Numerical simulations of cyclic tests of different CLT walls anchored to the foundation with X-brackets were also performed to assess their improved seismic performances. Finally, the analysis of the response of a 6 m × 3 m squat wall demonstrates that the developed connection provides good ductility and dissipation capacities also to shear walls realized with a single CLT panel. PMID:28773265

  14. Reasons Internalism and the function of normative reasons

    OpenAIRE

    Sinclair, Neil

    2017-01-01

    What is the connection between reasons and motives? According to Reasons Internalism there is a non-trivial conceptual connection between normative reasons and the possibility of rationally accessing relevant motivation. Reasons Internalism is attractive insofar as it captures the thought that reasons are for reasoning with and repulsive insofar as it fails to generate sufficient critical distance between reasons and motives. Rather than directly adjudicate this dispute, I extract from it two...

  15. Distributed tactical reasoning framework for intelligent vehicles

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sukthankar, Rahul; Pomerleau, Dean A.; Thorpe, Chuck E.

    1998-01-01

    In independent vehicle concepts for the Automated Highway System (AHS), the ability to make competent tactical-level decisions in real-time is crucial. Traditional approaches to tactical reasoning typically involve the implementation of large monolithic systems, such as decision trees or finite state machines. However, as the complexity of the environment grows, the unforeseen interactions between components can make modifications to such systems very challenging. For example, changing an overtaking behavior may require several, non-local changes to car-following, lane changing and gap acceptance rules. This paper presents a distributed solution to the problem. PolySAPIENT consists of a collection of autonomous modules, each specializing in a particular aspect of the driving task - classified by traffic entities rather than tactical behavior. Thus, the influence of the vehicle ahead on the available actions is managed by one reasoning object, while the implications of an approaching exit are managed by another. The independent recommendations form these reasoning objects are expressed in the form of votes and vetos over a 'tactical action space', and are resolved by a voting arbiter. This local independence enables PolySAPIENT reasoning objects to be developed independently, using a heterogenous implementation. PolySAPIENT vehicles are implemented in the SHIVA tactical highway simulator, whose vehicles are based on the Carnegie Mellon Navlab robots.

  16. Psychological Correlates of School Bullying Victimization: Academic Self-Concept, Learning Motivation and Test Anxiety

    Science.gov (United States)

    Caputo, Andrea

    2014-01-01

    The paper aims at detecting the association between students' bullying victimization at school and some psychological dimensions, referred to academic self-concept (for both Mathematics and Reading), learning motivation (intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, commitment to study) and test anxiety. A questionnaire including these measures was…

  17. Selection and Analysis of Social Studies Concepts for Inclusion in Tests of Concept Attainment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tabachnick, B. Robert; And Others

    Major social studies concepts taught to fourth graders in Madison, Wisconsin, were identified by examining the school district course of study and social studies textbooks and by consulting central office supervisors and teachers. The concepts identified in this manner fell into three major categories: Geographic Region, Man and Society, and Map…

  18. Proportional and functional analogical reasoning in normal and language-impaired children.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nippold, M A; Erskine, B J; Freed, D B

    1988-11-01

    Teachers often use analogies in classroom settings to clarify new concepts for their students. However, analogies may inadvertently confuse the youngster who has difficulty identifying the one-to-one comparisons underlying them. Although analogical reasoning has been studied extensively in normal children, no information was available concerning this construct in children having a specific language impairment. Thus, it was unknown to what extent they might be deficient in analogical reasoning. Therefore, in the present study, 20 children ages 6-8 years (mean age = 7:6) having normal nonverbal intelligence but deficits in language comprehension were administered tasks of verbal and perceptual proportional analogical reasoning and a problem-solving task of functional analogical reasoning. Compared to a normal-language control group matched on the basis of chronological age and sex, the language-impaired group was deficient in all three tasks of analogical reasoning. However, when the factor of nonverbal intelligence was controlled statistically, the differences between the groups on each of the tasks were removed. Additional findings were that verbal proportional analogical reasoning was significantly correlated to perceptual proportional analogical reasoning and to functional analogical reasoning. Implications for assessment and intervention with young school-age language-impaired children are discussed.

  19. Analogical reasoning in schizophrenic delusions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Simpson, Jane; Done, D John

    2004-09-01

    Reasoning ability has often been argued to be impaired in people with schizophrenic delusions, although evidence for this is far from convincing. This experiment examined the analogical reasoning abilities of several groups of patients, including non-deluded and deluded schizophrenics, to test the hypothesis that performance by the deluded schizophrenic group would be impaired. Eleven deluded schizophrenics, 10 depressed subjects, seven non-deluded schizophrenics and 16 matched non-psychiatric controls, who were matched on a number of key variables, were asked to solve an analogical reasoning task. Performance by the deluded schizophrenic group was certainly impaired when compared with the depressed and non-psychiatric control groups though less convincingly so when compared with the non-deluded schizophrenic group. The impairment shown by the deluded schizophrenic group seemed to occur at the initial stage of the reasoning task. The particular type of impairment shown by the deluded subjects was assessed in relation to other cognitive problems already researched and the implications of these problems on reasoning tasks and theories of delusions was discussed.

  20. Comparison of in vitro test systems using bacterial and mammalian cells for genotoxicity assessment within the "health-related indication value (HRIV) concept.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Prantl, Eva-Maria; Kramer, Meike; Schmidt, Carsten K; Knauer, Martina; Gartiser, Stefan; Shuliakevich, Aliaksandra; Milas, Julia; Glatt, Hansruedi; Meinl, Walter; Hollert, Henner

    2018-02-01

    In numerous cases, the German health-related indication value (HRIV) concept has proved its practicability for the assessment of drinking water relevant trace substances (Umweltbundesamt 2003). The HRIV is based on the toxicological profile of a substance. An open point of the HRIV concept has been the assignment of standardized test procedures to be used for the assessment. The level of the HRIV is at its lowest as soon as the genotoxicity of the substance is detected. As a single test on its own, it is not sufficient enough to assess the human toxicological relevance of a genotoxic effect or exclude it in the case of a negative result; a reasonable test battery was required, technically oriented towards the already harmonized international, hierarchical evaluation for toxicological assessment of chemicals. Therefore, an important aim of this project was to define a strategy for the genotoxicological assessment of anthropogenic trace substances. The basic test battery for genotoxicity of micropollutants in drinking water needs to fulfill several requirements. Although quick test results are needed for the determination of HRIV, a high degree of transferability to human genotoxicity should be ensured. Therefore, an in vitro genotoxicity test battery consisting of the Ames fluctuation test with two tester strains (ISO 11350), the umu test and the micronucleus test, or from the Ames test with five tester strains (OECD 471) and the micronucleus test is proposed. On the basis of selected test substances, it could be shown that the test battery leads to positive, indifferent, and negative results. Given indifferent results, the health authority and the water supplier must assume that it is a genotoxic substance. Genetically modified tester strains are being sensitive to different chemical classes by expression of selected mammalian key enzymes for example nitroreductase, acetyltransferase, and glutathione-S-transferase. These strains may provide valuable additional

  1. Development of numerical concepts

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sabine Peucker

    2013-06-01

    Full Text Available The development of numerical concepts is described from infancy to preschool age. Infants a few days old exhibit an early sensitivity for numerosities. In the course of development, nonverbal mental models allow for the exact representation of small quantities as well as changes in these quantities. Subitising, as the accurate recognition of small numerosities (without counting, plays an important role. It can be assumed that numerical concepts and procedures start with insights about small numerosities. Protoquantitative schemata comprise fundamental knowledge about quantities. One-to-one-correspondence connects elements and numbers, and, for this reason, both quantitative and numerical knowledge. If children understand that they can determine the numerosity of a collection of elements by enumerating the elements, they have acquired the concept of cardinality. Protoquantitative knowledge becomes quantitative if it can be applied to numerosities and sequential numbers. The concepts of cardinality and part-part-whole are key to numerical development. Developmentally appropriate learning and teaching should focus on cardinality and part-part-whole concepts.

  2. Development and Evaluation of a Three-Tier Diagnostic Test to Assess Undergraduate Primary Teachers' Understanding of Ecological Footprint

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liampa, Vasiliki; Malandrakis, George N.; Papadopoulou, Penelope; Pnevmatikos, Dimitrios

    2017-08-01

    This study focused on the development and validation of a three-tier multiple-choice diagnostic instrument about the ecological footprint. Each question in the three-tier test comprised by; (a) the content tier, assessing content knowledge; (b) the reason tier, assessing explanatory knowledge; and (c) the confidence tier that differentiates lack of knowledge from misconception through the use of a certainty response index. Based on the literature, the propositional knowledge statements and the identified misconceptions of 97 student-teachers, a first version of the test was developed and subsequently administered to another group of 219 student-teachers from Primary and Early Childhood Education Departments. Due to the complexity of the ecological footprint concept, and that it is a newly introduced concept, unknown to the public, both groups have been previously exposed to relevant instruction. Experts in the field established face and content validity. The reliability, in terms of Cronbach's alpha, was found adequate (α = 0.839), and the test-retest reliability, as indicated by Pearson r, was also satisfactory (0.554). The mean performance of the students was 56.24% in total score, 59.75% in content tiers and 48.05% in reason tiers. A variety of concepts about the ecological footprint were also observed. The test can help educators to understand the alternative views that students hold about the ecological footprint concept and assist them in developing the concept through appropriately designed teaching methods and materials.

  3. Part-whole reasoning in medical ontologies revisited--introducing SEP triplets into classification-based description logics.

    OpenAIRE

    Schulz, S.; Romacker, M.; Hahn, U.

    1998-01-01

    The development of powerful and comprehensive medical ontologies that support formal reasoning on a large scale is one of the key requirements for clinical computing in the next millennium. Taxonomic medical knowledge, a major portion of these ontologies, is mainly characterized by generalization and part-whole relations between concepts. While reasoning in generalization hierarchies is quite well understood, no fully conclusive mechanism as yet exists for part-whole reasoning. The approach w...

  4. The reasons for conflict and conflict management

    OpenAIRE

    Ceylan, Adnan; Ergün, Ercan; Alpkan, Lütfihak

    2000-01-01

    This study has been conducted in order to investigate the nature, types, reasons and parties of conflict, and thus to contribute to the conflict management. After defining the concept of conflict as "a struggle in the form of a limited competition" or "disagreement or discord among the parties" , this article has mentioned the fact that conflict is unavoidable and also if managed properly, it can bring to the organization some functional advantage. In this respect, we conducted a question...

  5. Mobile work station concept for assembly of large space structures (zero gravity simulation tests)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heard, W. L., Jr.; Bush, H. G.; Wallsom, R. E.; Jensen, J. K.

    1982-03-01

    The concept presented is intended to enhance astronaut assembly of truss structure that is either too large or complex to fold for efficient Shuttle delivery to orbit. The potential of augmented astronaut assembly is illustrated by applying the result of the tests to a barebones assembly of a truss structure. If this structure were assembled from the same nestable struts that were used in the Mobile Work Station assembly tests, the spacecraft would be 55 meters in diameter and consist of about 500 struts. The struts could be packaged in less than 1/2% of the Shuttle cargo bay volume and would take up approximately 3% of the mass lift capability. They could be assembled in approximately four hours. This assembly concept for erectable structures is not only feasible, but could be used to significant economic advantage by permitting the superior packaging feature of erectable structures to be exploited and thereby reduce expensive Shuttle delivery flights.

  6. Diagnostic reasoning: where we've been, where we're going.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Monteiro, Sandra M; Norman, Geoffrey

    2013-01-01

    Recently, clinical diagnostic reasoning has been characterized by "dual processing" models, which postulate a fast, unconscious (System 1) component and a slow, logical, analytical (System 2) component. However, there are a number of variants of this basic model, which may lead to conflicting claims. This paper critically reviews current theories and evidence about the nature of clinical diagnostic reasoning. We begin by briefly discussing the history of research in clinical reasoning. We then focus more specifically on the evidence to support dual-processing models. We conclude by identifying knowledge gaps about clinical reasoning and provide suggestions for future research. In contrast to work on analytical and nonanalytical knowledge as a basis for reasoning, these theories focus on the thinking process, not the nature of the knowledge retrieved. Ironically, this appears to be a revival of an outdated concept. Rather than defining diagnostic performance by problem-solving skills, it is now being defined by processing strategy. The version of dual processing that has received most attention in the literature in medical diagnosis might be labeled a "default/interventionist" model,(17) which suggests that a default system of cognitive processes (System 1) is responsible for cognitive biases that lead to diagnostic errors and that System 2 intervenes to correct these errors. Consequently, from this model, the best strategy for reducing errors is to make students aware of the biases and to encourage them to rely more on System 2. However, an accumulation of evidence suggests that (a) strategies directed at increasing analytical (System 2) processing, by slowing down, reducing distractions, paying conscious attention, and (b) strategies directed at making students aware of the effect of cognitive biases, have no impact on error rates. Conversely, strategies based on increasing application of relevant knowledge appear to have some success and are consistent with basic

  7. Development of Students’ Informal Reasoning across School Level

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ari Widodo

    2017-08-01

    Full Text Available Informal reasoning is the basic reasoning frequently used by most people to solve complex daily life problems. Unlike scientific reasoning, informal reasoning includes cognitive and affective processes that the types of reasoning can be intuitive, emotive and rational. This cross sectional study describes the development of students’ informal reasoning at elementary school, junior high school, and senior high school. Moreover, the study also identifies differences between boys and girls reasoning. Participants are 20 elementary school students, 30 junior high school students, and 30 high school students who attend schools managed by the same foundation. Data were collected using five items test on issues found in everyday life. Students’ responses were grouped into intuitive, emotive, or rational reasoning. The results suggest that students’ informal reasoning tend to develop parallel to the school grade. Related to gender, the study finds that girls tend to use rational reasoning while boys tend to use intuitive reasoning.

  8. Are Psychotic Experiences Related to Poorer Reflective Reasoning?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Martin J. Mækelæ

    2018-02-01

    Full Text Available Background: Cognitive biases play an important role in the formation and maintenance of delusions. These biases are indicators of a weak reflective mind, or reduced engaging in reflective and deliberate reasoning. In three experiments, we tested whether a bias to accept non-sense statements as profound, treat metaphorical statements as literal, and suppress intuitive responses is related to psychotic-like experiences.Methods: We tested deliberate reasoning and psychotic-like experiences in the general population and in patients with a former psychotic episode. Deliberate reasoning was assessed with the bullshit receptivity scale, the ontological confabulation scale and the cognitive reflection test (CRT. We also measured algorithmic performance with the Berlin numeracy test and the wordsum test. Psychotic-like experiences were measured with the Community Assessment of Psychic Experience (CAPE-42 scale.Results: Psychotic-like experiences were positively correlated with a larger receptivity toward bullshit, more ontological confabulations, and also a lower score on the CRT but not with algorithmic task performance. In the patient group higher psychotic-like experiences significantly correlated with higher bullshit receptivity.Conclusion: Reduced deliberate reasoning may contribute to the formation of delusions, and be a general thinking bias largely independent of a person's general intelligence. Acceptance of bullshit may be facilitated the more positive symptoms a patient has, contributing to the maintenance of the delusions.

  9. What Do Pre-Service Physics Teachers Know and Think about Concept Mapping?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Didis, Nilüfer; Özcan, Özgür; Azar, Ali

    2014-01-01

    In order to use concept maps in physics classes effectively, teachers' knowledge and ideas about concept mapping are as important as the physics knowledge used in mapping. For this reason, we aimed to examine pre-service physics teachers' knowledge on concept mapping, their ideas about the implementation of concept mapping in physics…

  10. Research ethics in dissertations: ethical issues and complexity of reasoning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kjellström, S; Ross, S N; Fridlund, B

    2010-07-01

    Conducting ethically sound research is a fundamental principle of scientific inquiry. Recent research has indicated that ethical concerns are insufficiently dealt with in dissertations. To examine which research ethical topics were addressed and how these were presented in terms of complexity of reasoning in Swedish nurses' dissertations. Analyses of ethical content and complexity of ethical reasoning were performed on 64 Swedish nurses' PhD dissertations dated 2007. A total of seven ethical topics were identified: ethical approval (94% of the dissertations), information and informed consent (86%), confidentiality (67%), ethical aspects of methods (61%), use of ethical principles and regulations (39%), rationale for the study (20%) and fair participant selection (14%). Four of those of topics were most frequently addressed: the majority of dissertations (72%) included 3-5 issues. While many ethical concerns, by their nature, involve systematic concepts or metasystematic principles, ethical reasoning scored predominantly at lesser levels of complexity: abstract (6% of the dissertations), formal (84%) and systematic (10%). Research ethics are inadequately covered in most dissertations by nurses in Sweden. Important ethical concerns are missing, and the complexity of reasoning on ethical principles, motives and implications is insufficient. This is partly due to traditions and norms that discount ethical concerns but is probably also a reflection of the ability of PhD students and supervisors to handle complexity in general. It is suggested that the importance of ethical considerations should be emphasised in graduate and post-graduate studies and that individuals with capacity to deal with systematic and metasystematic concepts are recruited to senior research positions.

  11. Effects of acute caffeine withdrawal on Short Category Test performance in sleep-deprived individuals.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Killgore, William D S; Kahn-Greene, Ellen T; Killgore, Desiree B; Kamimori, Gary H; Balkin, Thomas J

    2007-12-01

    Caffeine is a popular stimulant often used to counter the effects of sleep loss and fatigue. Withdrawal from caffeine may produce mild declines in simple cognitive capacities such as attention and concentration, but it is unclear whether more complex cognitive functions, such as abstract reasoning or concept formation, may be similarly affected. To assess the effect of acute caffeine withdrawal on executive functioning during sleep deprivation, 26 healthy volunteers were administered in double-blind form either repeated doses of caffeine or placebo over two nights of continuous wakefulness. The 108-item Short Category Test was administered after 56 hr. of total sleep deprivation (9 hr. post-caffeine administration). The caffeine group scored significantly more poorly, making approximately 57% more errors on the test than the placebo group. These findings suggest that acute caffeine withdrawal during prolonged sleep deprivation has an adverse effect on abstract reasoning and concept formation.

  12. Crows spontaneously exhibit analogical reasoning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smirnova, Anna; Zorina, Zoya; Obozova, Tanya; Wasserman, Edward

    2015-01-19

    Analogical reasoning is vital to advanced cognition and behavioral adaptation. Many theorists deem analogical thinking to be uniquely human and to be foundational to categorization, creative problem solving, and scientific discovery. Comparative psychologists have long been interested in the species generality of analogical reasoning, but they initially found it difficult to obtain empirical support for such thinking in nonhuman animals (for pioneering efforts, see [2, 3]). Researchers have since mustered considerable evidence and argument that relational matching-to-sample (RMTS) effectively captures the essence of analogy, in which the relevant logical arguments are presented visually. In RMTS, choice of test pair BB would be correct if the sample pair were AA, whereas choice of test pair EF would be correct if the sample pair were CD. Critically, no items in the correct test pair physically match items in the sample pair, thus demanding that only relational sameness or differentness is available to support accurate choice responding. Initial evidence suggested that only humans and apes can successfully learn RMTS with pairs of sample and test items; however, monkeys have subsequently done so. Here, we report that crows too exhibit relational matching behavior. Even more importantly, crows spontaneously display relational responding without ever having been trained on RMTS; they had only been trained on identity matching-to-sample (IMTS). Such robust and uninstructed relational matching behavior represents the most convincing evidence yet of analogical reasoning in a nonprimate species, as apes alone have spontaneously exhibited RMTS behavior after only IMTS training. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  13. Testing the Twofold Multidimensionality of Academic Self-Concept: A Study with Chinese Vocational Students

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Lan; Arens, A. Katrin; Watkins, David A.

    2016-01-01

    In order to extend previous research on the twofold multidimensionality of academic self-concept (i.e. its domain-specific structure and separation into competence and affect components), the present study tests its generalisability among vocational students from mainland China. A Chinese version of self-description questionnaire I was…

  14. . MODERN EDUCATION: FROM RATIONALITY TO REASONABLENESS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    O. S. Anisimov

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available The paper deals with the problem of modern education development and criticizes a pragmatic attitude to education. Based on the retrospective historical analysis, the author maintains that educational systems are generally focused on fostering the pragmatic intellect rather than reasoning, which leads to a superficial world perception, and undermines personal analytical potential and capability of strategic problem solving. Concentration on rationality is unlikely to provide a way out of the world crisis. In the author’s view, education demands both the deep and solid comprehension of existential concepts and the reference to the “absolute spirit” of Confucius, Plato, Kant and Hegel. The research is aimed at justifying the civilizational paradigm of education on the basis of Hegelian fundamental ideas of intellectual perception with the emphasis on reasonability instead of rationality. As the most adequate implementation instrument, the author suggests a game simulating technique that combines the benefits of philosophical, scientific and methodological thinking.

  15. The application of automated deductive reasoning to power plant diagnostics

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Filshtein, E.L.; Rzasa, P.W.

    1986-01-01

    A module which incorporates the application of deductive reasoning to diagnostics has been developed. This module is a part of a generic diagnostic expert system prototype developed for power plant operations at Combustion Engineering. This paper is one of a series of papers which will describe the activities of the project. Specifically, this paper describes the deductive reasoning module which determines and classifies root cause malfunctions. The concept of 'perfect instruments' is introduced. These instruments are imaginary instruments which bridge the gap between real world inputs and the generic diagnostic shell. The prototype, its application, and future developments are discussed

  16. Effects of Inquiry-Based Agriscience Instruction on Student Scientific Reasoning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thoron, Andrew C.; Myers, Brian E.

    2012-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of inquiry-based agriscience instruction on student scientific reasoning. Scientific reasoning is defined as the use of the scientific method, inductive, and deductive reasoning to develop and test hypothesis. Developing scientific reasoning skills can provide learners with a connection to the…

  17. Enhancing Eight Grade Students' Scientific Conceptual Change and Scientific Reasoning through a Web-Based Learning Program

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liao, Ya-Wen; She, Hsiao-Ching

    2009-01-01

    This study reports the impacts of the Scientific Concept Construction and Reconstruction (SCCR) digital learning system on eighth grade students' concept construction, conceptual change, and scientific reasoning involving the topic of "atoms". A two-factorial experimental design was carried out to investigate the effects of the approach…

  18. Part-whole reasoning in medical ontologies revisited--introducing SEP triplets into classification-based description logics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schulz, S; Romacker, M; Hahn, U

    1998-01-01

    The development of powerful and comprehensive medical ontologies that support formal reasoning on a large scale is one of the key requirements for clinical computing in the next millennium. Taxonomic medical knowledge, a major portion of these ontologies, is mainly characterized by generalization and part-whole relations between concepts. While reasoning in generalization hierarchies is quite well understood, no fully conclusive mechanism as yet exists for part-whole reasoning. The approach we take emulates part-whole reasoning via classification-based reasoning using SEP triplets, a special data structure for encoding part-whole relations that is fully embedded in the formal framework of standard description logics.

  19. Gender Fair Efficacy of Concept Mapping Tests in Identifying Students' Difficulties in High School Organic Chemistry

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gafoor, Kunnathodi Abdul; Shilna, V.

    2014-01-01

    In view of the perceived difficulty of organic chemistry unit for high schools students, this study examined the usefulness of concept mapping as a testing device to assess students' difficulty in the select areas. Since many tests used for identifying students misconceptions and difficulties in school subjects are observed to favour one or the…

  20. Establishing the competences of clinical reasoning for nursing students in Taiwan: From the nurse educators' perspectives.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huang, Hui-Man; Huang, Chu-Yu; Lee-Hsieh, Jane; Cheng, Su-Fen

    2018-07-01

    Clinical reasoning is an essential core competence for nurses. Maintaining quality of care and safety of patients results from cultivation of student's clinical reasoning competency. However, the concept of clinical reasoning in nursing students is complex and its meaning and process needs further clarification. The objectives were to explore the meaning of clinical reasoning competency in Taiwanese nursing students and to operationalize the concept in order to structure a framework illustrating the process of clinical reasoning. Thirteen seasoned nursing experts who had more than ten years of experience in nursing education or clinical practice participated in the interviews. The interviews were conducted in settings that the participants perceived as convenient, quiet and free of disturbance. Semi-structured interviews were conducted. The interviews were audio-recorded and field notes were taken. The data were analyzed using Waltz et al.'s (2010) method of content analysis. The data revealed four domains and 11 competency indicators. The four domains include: awareness of clinical cues, confirmation of clinical problems, determination and implementation of actions, and evaluation and self-reflection. Each domain comprises of 2-4 indicators of clinical reasoning competency. In addition, this study established a framework for cultivation of clinical reasoning competency in nursing students. The indicators of clinical reasoning competency in nursing students are interwoven, interactive and interdependent to form a dynamic process. The findings of this study may facilitate evaluation of nursing students' clinical reasoning competency and development of instruments to assess clinical reasoning in nursing students. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  1. Teachers' Explanations of a Key Developmental Understanding of Multiplicative Reasoning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rhee, Katherine L.

    2012-01-01

    This qualitative research study explores teachers' understandings of multiplicative reasoning as a key developmental understanding (KDU). A KDU entails knowingly applying the same mathematical concepts within different contexts. A KDU supports an individual to build a connected understanding of mathematics as opposed to only understanding…

  2. [August Weismann's concept of germ plasma as the basic reason for the inadequacy of neo-Darwinism].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Grodnitskiĭ, D L

    2000-01-01

    Neo-Darwinism is a result of synthesis of Darwinian concept of natural selection with Weismannian concept of germ plasma. The concept of germ plasma is based on a hypothesis that phenotypic traits are completely determined by genes. Hence, neo-Darwinism describes evolution as a process of alternation of gene frequencies under the effect of natural selection. This is an inadequate approach to the study of evolution. In the course of evolution, genes change their functions, whereas phenotypic characters change their corresponding genes. As a result, every step of evolutionary transformation changes the structure of phenotype-to-genotype correspondence. Therefore, phenotypic evolution cannot be described in genetic terms, the same as to human languages cannot be translated one into another whenever the meaning of words is constantly changing. Consequently, Weismannian germ-plasma concept adequately describes the relation of characters to genes only during stasis, but is inapplicable to evolution.

  3. Sources of motivation for abstinence: a replication analysis of the reasons for quitting questionnaire.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Downey, L; Rosengren, D B; Donovan, D M

    2001-01-01

    The Reasons for Quitting Questionnaire (RFQ) as modified by McBride and colleagues (C. M. McBride et al., 1994) for use with substance users other than tobacco smokers, was administered to individuals approved for public-sector addiction treatment. Four motivation dimensions, similar to those found by McBride et al., were identified: self-concept issues, health concerns, legal issues, and social influence. A forced two-component solution yielded dimensions interpretable as intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. Self-concept issues provided the highest levels of motivation for abstinence in this sample, with moderate levels provided by health concerns, and the lowest levels provided by legal and social influence components. Intrinsic motivation was higher than extrinsic motivation. Logistic regression models, with adjustment for total motivation, tested the association of successful abstinence during a follow-up period with baseline extrinsic and intrinsic motivation, and with the difference between intrinsic and extrinsic levels. All three associations were significant: intrinsic motivation (positive association), extrinsic motivation (negative association), and the difference score (positive association). The results suggest the usefulness of the 20-item modified RFQ in evaluating motivation for abstinence among treatment seekers exhibiting severe negative consequences of addiction. Testing with samples varying in severity of addiction consequences is recommended.

  4. Operating philosophy for maintaining occupational radiation exposures as low as is reasonable achievable - September 1975 (Rev. 1)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Anon.

    1976-01-01

    Both this guide and Regulatory Guide 8.8, Information Relevant to Maintaining Occupational Radiation Exposure as Low as is Reasonably Achievable (Nuclear Power Reactors), deal with the concept of as low as is reasonably achievable occupational exposures to radiation. This guide describes an operating philosophy that the NRC staff believes all specific licensees should follow to keep occupational exposures to radiation as low as reasonably achievable

  5. Non-cooperative game theory in biology and cooperative reasoning in humans.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kabalak, Alihan; Smirnova, Elena; Jost, Jürgen

    2015-06-01

    The readiness for spontaneous cooperation together with the assumptions that others share this cooperativity has been identified as a fundamental feature that distinguishes humans from other animals, including the great apes. At the same time, cooperativity presents an evolutionary puzzle because non-cooperators do better in a group of cooperators. We develop here an analysis of the process leading to cooperation in terms of rationality concepts, game theory and epistemic logic. We are, however, not attempting to reconstruct the actual evolutionary process. We rather want to provide the logical structure underlying cooperation in order to understand why cooperation is possible and what kind of reasoning and beliefs would lead to cooperative decision-making. Game theory depends on an underlying common belief in non-cooperative rationality of the players, and cooperativity similarly can utilize a common belief in cooperative rationality as its basis. We suggest a weaker concept of rational decision-making in games that encompasses both types of decision-making. We build this up in stages, starting from simple optimization, then using anticipation of the reaction of others, to finally arrive at reflexive and cooperative reasoning. While each stage is more difficult than the preceding, importantly, we also identify a reduction of complexity achieved by the consistent application of higher stage reasoning.

  6. Improving Student Understanding of Lipids Concepts in a Biochemistry Course Using Test-Enhanced Learning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Horn, Savannah; Hernick, Marcy

    2015-01-01

    Test-enhanced learning has successfully been used as a means to enhance learning and promote knowledge retention in students. We have examined whether this approach could be used in a biochemistry course to enhance student learning about lipids-related concepts. Students were provided access to two optional learning modules with questions related…

  7. Assessment of Abductive Reasoning in Strategy

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Guenther, Agnes; Garbuio, Massimo; Eisenbart, Boris

    Strategic tools and frameworks mostly analyse past developments to predict future potentials and rely primarily on deductive/inductive logics. While these logics help decision-makers, they limit the pool of strategic options; resulting strategies often lack novelty. Building on the idea that ‘good......’ and ‘bad’ strategies can be differentiated and that out-of-the-boxthinking creates novel strategies, we analyse differences in strategies’ underlying logics. We develop and test a coding scheme to assess reasoning, in particular abductive reasoning. Furthermore, we introduce the notion of observation set...... and show how analogies, anomalies and paradoxes prompt abductive reasoning and create strategic options....

  8. In the Orchard: Farm Worker Children's Moral and Environmental Reasoning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Severson, Rachel L.; Kahn, Peter H., Jr.

    2010-01-01

    In this study, farm worker children (N = 40) in 2nd and 5th grade were interviewed about (a) their conceptions and judgments of pesticide exposure and (b) their reasoning about the moral standing of nature. First, results showed that all participants negatively judged pesticide exposure based on moral obligatory criteria. Yet, most children…

  9. Sector Tests of a Low-NO(sub x), Lean, Direct- Injection, Multipoint Integrated Module Combustor Concept Conducted

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tacina, Robert R.; Wey, Chang-Lie; Laing, Peter; Mansour, Adel

    2002-01-01

    The low-emissions combustor development described is directed toward advanced high pressure aircraft gas-turbine applications. The emphasis of this research is to reduce nitrogen oxides (NOx) at high-power conditions and to maintain carbon monoxide and unburned hydrocarbons at their current low levels at low power conditions. Low-NOx combustors can be classified into rich-burn and lean-burn concepts. Lean-burn combustors can be further classified into lean-premixed-prevaporized (LPP) and lean direct injection (LDI) concepts. In both concepts, all the combustor air, except for liner cooling flow, enters through the combustor dome so that the combustion occurs at the lowest possible flame temperature. The LPP concept has been shown to have the lowest NOx emissions, but for advanced high-pressure-ratio engines, the possibility of autoignition or flashback precludes its use. LDI differs from LPP in that the fuel is injected directly into the flame zone, and thus, it does not have the potential for autoignition or flashback and should have greater stability. However, since it is not premixed and prevaporized, good atomization is necessary and the fuel must be mixed quickly and uniformly so that flame temperatures are low and NOx formation levels are comparable to those of LPP. The LDI concept described is a multipoint fuel injection/multiburning zone concept. Each of the multiple fuel injectors has an air swirler associated with it to provide quick mixing and a small recirculation zone for burning. The multipoint fuel injection provides quick, uniform mixing and the small multiburning zones provide for reduced burning residence time, resulting in low NOx formation. An integrated-module approach was used for the construction where chemically etched laminates, diffusion bonded together, combine the fuel injectors, air swirlers, and fuel manifold into a single element. The multipoint concept combustor was demonstrated in a 15 sector test. The configuration tested had 36

  10. Visualisation, imagery, and the development of geometrical reasoning

    OpenAIRE

    Jones, Keith; Bills, Chris

    1998-01-01

    This report focuses on some aspects of the nature and role of visualisation and imagery in the teaching and learning of mathematics, particularly as a component in the development of geometrical reasoning. Issues briefly addressed include the relationship between imagery and perception, imagery and memory, the nature of dynamic images, and the interaction between imagery and concept development. The report concludes with a series of questions that may provide a suitable programme for research...

  11. CONFLICTING REASONS

    OpenAIRE

    Parfit, Derek

    2016-01-01

    Sidgwick believed that, when impartial reasons conflict with self-interested reasons, there are no truths about their relative strength. There are such truths, I claim, but these truths are imprecise. Many self-interested reasons are decisively outweighed by conflicting impar-tial moral reasons. But we often have sufficient self-interested reasons to do what would make things go worse, and we sometimes have sufficient self-interested reasons to act wrongly. If we reject Act Consequentialism, ...

  12. Speed of reasoning and its relation to reasoning ability

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Goldhammer, F.; Klein Entink, R.H.

    2011-01-01

    The study investigates empirical properties of reasoning speed which is conceived as the fluency of solving reasoning problems. Responses and response times in reasoning tasks are modeled jointly to clarify the covariance structure of reasoning speed and reasoning ability. To determine underlying

  13. Refinement of the concept of uncertainty.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Penrod, J

    2001-04-01

    To analyse the conceptual maturity of uncertainty; to develop an expanded theoretical definition of uncertainty; to advance the concept using methods of concept refinement; and to analyse congruency with the conceptualization of uncertainty presented in the theory of hope, enduring, and suffering. Uncertainty is of concern in nursing as people experience complex life events surrounding health. In an earlier nursing study that linked the concepts of hope, enduring, and suffering into a single theoretical scheme, a state best described as 'uncertainty' arose. This study was undertaken to explore how this conceptualization fit with the scientific literature on uncertainty and to refine the concept. Initially, a concept analysis using advanced methods described by Morse, Hupcey, Mitcham and colleagues was completed. The concept was determined to be partially mature. A theoretical definition was derived and techniques of concept refinement using the literature as data were applied. The refined concept was found to be congruent with the concept of uncertainty that had emerged in the model of hope, enduring and suffering. Further investigation is needed to explore the extent of probabilistic reasoning and the effects of confidence and control on feelings of uncertainty and certainty.

  14. Investigating Students’ Development of Learning Integer Concept and Integer Addition

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nenden Octavarulia Shanty

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available This research aimed at investigating students’ development of learning integer concept and integer addition. The investigation was based on analyzing students’ works in solving the given mathematical problems in each instructional activity designed based on Realistic Mathematics Education (RME levels. Design research was chosen to achieve and to contribute in developing a local instruction theory for teaching and learning of integer concept and integer addition. In design research, the Hypothetical Learning Trajectory (HLT plays important role as a design and research instrument. It was designed in the phase of preliminary design and tested to three students of grade six OASIS International School, Ankara – Turkey. The result of the experiments showed that temperature in the thermometer context could stimulate students’ informal knowledge of integer concept. Furthermore, strategies and tools used by the students in comparing and relating two temperatures were gradually be developed into a more formal mathematics. The representation of line inside thermometer which then called the number line could bring the students to the last activity levels, namely rules for adding integer, and became the model for more formal reasoning. Based on these findings, it can be concluded that students’ learning integer concept and integer addition developed through RME levels.Keywords: integer concept, integer addition, Realistic Mathematics Education DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.22342/jme.7.2.3538.57-72

  15. How and when Does Complex Reasoning Occur? Empirically Driven Development of a Learning Progression Focused on Complex Reasoning about Biodiversity

    Science.gov (United States)

    Songer, Nancy Butler; Kelcey, Ben; Gotwals, Amelia Wenk

    2009-01-01

    In order to compete in a global economy, students are going to need resources and curricula focusing on critical thinking and reasoning in science. Despite awareness for the need for complex reasoning, American students perform poorly relative to peers on international standardized tests measuring complex thinking in science. Research focusing on…

  16. The concept of work ability.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tengland, Per-Anders

    2011-06-01

    The concept of "work ability" is central for many sciences, especially for those related to working life and to rehabilitation. It is one of the important concepts in legislation regulating sickness insurance. How the concept is defined therefore has important normative implications. The concept is, however, often not sufficiently well defined. AIM AND METHOD The objective of this paper is to clarify, through conceptual analysis, what the concept can and should mean, and to propose a useful definition for scientific and practical work. RESULTS Several of the defining characteristics found in the literature are critically scrutinized and discussed, namely health, basic standard competence, occupational competence, occupational virtues, and motivation. These characteristics are related to the work tasks and the work environment. One conclusion is that we need two definitions of work ability, one for specific jobs that require special training or education, and one for jobs that most people can manage given a short period of practice. Having work ability, in the first sense, means having the occupational competence, the health required for the competence, and the occupational virtues that are required for managing the work tasks, assuming that the tasks are reasonable and that the work environment is acceptable. In the second sense, having work ability is having the health, the basic standard competence and the relevant occupational virtues required for managing some kind of job, assuming that the work tasks are reasonable and that the work environment is acceptable. CONCLUSION These definitions give us tools for understanding and discussing the complex, holistic and dynamic aspects of work ability, and they can lay the foundations for the creation of instruments for evaluating work ability, as well as help formulate strategies for rehabilitation.

  17. Ability grouping of gifted students: effects on academic self-concept and boredom.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Preckel, Franzis; Götz, Thomas; Frenzel, Anne

    2010-09-01

    Securing appropriate challenge or preventing boredom is one of the reasons frequently used to justify ability grouping of gifted students, which has been shown to have beneficial effects for achievement. On the other hand, critics stress psychosocial costs, such as detrimental effects on academic self-concept (contrast or big-fish-little-pond effect). The effects of full-time ability grouping in special classrooms for the gifted on students' academic self-concept and their experience of boredom in mathematics classes were investigated. The sample comprised 186 ninth-grade students (106 male) from eight classes at one Austrian high school. Four of these classes were part of a gifted track beginning from school year 9 on (N=93). Students were assessed repeatedly within the first half of the school year, three times via self-report questionnaires and once by applying a standardized IQ-test. Students in gifted classes reported a decrease in maths academic self-concept which was most pronounced early in the academic year. Interventions to counterbalance the negative effect of exposure to a high-ability reference group should therefore be implemented when ability grouping begins. No evidence for the boredom hypothesis was found (higher levels of boredom among gifted students in regular classes). However, students clearly differed in the reasons they stated for experiencing boredom. Boredom attributions changed over time and supported the assumption that gifted classes provide more appropriate levels of challenge.

  18. Tacit knowledge and visual expertise in medical diagnostic reasoning: implications for medical education

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Heiberg Engel, Peter Johan

    2008-01-01

    BACKGROUND: Much education--especially at the university level--has been criticized for having primarily dealt with explicit knowledge, i.e. those aspects of mental activities, which are verbal and conscious. Furthermore, research in medical diagnostic reasoning has been criticized for having...... focused on the specialty of intern medicine, while specialties with other skills, i.e. perceptive skills within pathology and radiology, have been ignored. AIMS: To show that the concept of tacit knowledge is important in medical education-at all levels and in medical diagnostic reasoning. METHODS...... such as "non-analytical reasoning" and "dual process of reasoning." CONCLUSION: It is important that educators are trained in how explicit and implicit knowledge is attained and that tacit knowledge is included in educational programmes of all medical specialties....

  19. Improving Junior High School Students' Spatial Reasoning Ability through Model Eliciting Activities with Cabri 3D

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hartatiana; Darhim; Nurlaelah, Elah

    2018-01-01

    One of students' abilities which can facilitate them to understand geometric concepts is spatial reasoning ability. Spatial reasoning ability can be defined as an ability involving someone's cognitive processing to present and manipulate spatial figures, relationship, and figure formations. This research aims to find out significant difference on…

  20. Knowledge, expectations, and inductive reasoning within conceptual hierarchies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Coley, John D; Hayes, Brett; Lawson, Christopher; Moloney, Michelle

    2004-01-01

    Previous research (e.g. Cognition 64 (1997) 73) suggests that the privileged level for inductive inference in a folk biological conceptual hierarchy does not correspond to the "basic" level (i.e. the level at which concepts are both informative and distinct). To further explore inductive inference within conceptual hierarchies, we examine relations between knowledge of concepts at different hierarchical levels, expectations about conceptual coherence, and inductive inference. In Experiments 1 and 2, 5- and 8-year-olds and adults listed features of living kind (Experiments 1 and 2) and artifact (Experiment 2) concepts at different hierarchical levels (e.g. plant, tree, oak, desert oak), and also rated the strength of generalizations to the same concepts. For living kinds, the level that showed a relative advantage on these two tasks differed; the greatest increase in features listed tended to occur at the life-form level (e.g. tree), whereas the greatest increase in inductive strength tended to occur at the folk-generic level (e.g. oak). Knowledge and induction also showed different developmental trajectories. For artifact concepts, the levels at which the greatest gains in knowledge and induction occurred were more varied, and corresponded more closely across tasks. In Experiment 3, adults reported beliefs about within-category similarity for concepts at different levels of animal, plant and artifact hierarchies, and rated inductive strength as before. For living kind concepts, expectations about category coherence predicted patterns of inductions; knowledge did not. For artifact concepts, both knowledge and expectations predicted patterns of induction. Results suggest that beliefs about conceptual coherence play an important role in guiding inductive inference, that this role may be largely independent of specific knowledge of concepts, and that such beliefs are especially important in reasoning about living kinds.

  1. Contextual factors and clinical reasoning: differences in diagnostic and therapeutic reasoning in board certified versus resident physicians.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McBee, Elexis; Ratcliffe, Temple; Picho, Katherine; Schuwirth, Lambert; Artino, Anthony R; Yepes-Rios, Ana Monica; Masel, Jennifer; van der Vleuten, Cees; Durning, Steven J

    2017-11-15

    The impact of context on the complex process of clinical reasoning is not well understood. Using situated cognition as the theoretical framework and videos to provide the same contextual "stimulus" to all participants, we examined the relationship between specific contextual factors on diagnostic and therapeutic reasoning accuracy in board certified internists versus resident physicians. Each participant viewed three videotaped clinical encounters portraying common diagnoses in internal medicine. We explicitly modified the context to assess its impact on performance (patient and physician contextual factors). Patient contextual factors, including English as a second language and emotional volatility, were portrayed in the videos. Physician participant contextual factors were self-rated sleepiness and burnout.. The accuracy of diagnostic and therapeutic reasoning was compared with covariates using Fisher Exact, Mann-Whitney U tests and Spearman Rho's correlations as appropriate. Fifteen board certified internists and 10 resident physicians participated from 2013 to 2014. Accuracy of diagnostic and therapeutic reasoning did not differ between groups despite residents reporting significantly higher rates of sleepiness (mean rank 20.45 vs 8.03, U = 0.5, p reasoning performance. Further, the processes of diagnostic and therapeutic reasoning, although related, may not be interchangeable. This raises important questions about the impact that contextual factors have on clinical reasoning and provides insight into how clinical reasoning processes in more authentic settings may be explained by situated cognition theory.

  2. Decolonizing bodies and emotions: a dispute with the expropriatory reason

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rebeca Beatriz Cena

    2015-02-01

    Full Text Available The current issue of the Latin American Journal of Studies on Bodies, Emotions and Society (RELACES entitled “Decolonizing bodies and emotions: a dispute with the expropriatory reason” gathers a series of articles framed within those problematizations which, from different approaches (the ways of feeling beauty and body aesthetics; the pain of “victims” of human rights; the different ways to conceive health and “the medicinal”; the conceptions of precarity; the shapes adopted by individual and social fear, and breaks as ways of regulating emotions in present capitalism, analyze the assumptions of the western reason as the reason par excellence.       

  3. Culture, Method, and the Content of Self-Concepts: Testing Trait, Individual-Self-Primacy, and Cultural Psychology Perspectives.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Del Prado, Alicia M; Church, A Timothy; Katigbak, Marcia S; Miramontes, Lilia G; Whitty, Monica; Curtis, Guy J; de Jesús Vargas-Flores, José; Ibáñez-Reyes, Joselina; Ortiz, Fernando A; Reyes, Jose Alberto S

    2007-12-01

    Three theoretical perspectives on cultural universals and differences in the content of self-concepts were tested in individualistic (United States, n = 178; Australia, n = 112) and collectivistic (Mexico, n = 157; Philippines, n = 138) cultures, using three methods of self-concept assessment. Support was found for both trait perspectives and the individual-self-primacy hypothesis. In contrast, support for cultural psychology hypotheses was limited because traits and other personal attributes were not more salient, or social attributes less salient, in individualistic cultures than collectivistic cultures. The salience of some aspects of self-concept depended on the method of assessment, calling into question conclusions based on monomethod studies.

  4. Concept and Functional Structure of a Service Robot

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Luis A. Pineda

    2015-02-01

    Full Text Available In this paper, we present a concept of service robot and a framework for its functional specification and implementation. The present discussion is grounded in Newell's system levels hierarchy which suggests organizing robotics research in three different layers, corresponding to Marr's computational, algorithmic and implementation levels, as follows: (1 the service robot proper, which is the subject of the present paper, (2 perception and action algorithms, and (3 the systems programming level. The concept of a service robot is articulated in practice through the introduction of a conceptual model for particular service robots; this consists of the specification of a set of basic robotic behaviours and a number of mechanisms for assembling such behaviours during the execution of complex tasks. The model involves an explicit representation of the task structure, allowing for deliberative reasoning and task management. The model also permits distinguishing between a robot's competence and performance, along the lines of Chomsky's corresponding distinction. We illustrate how this model can be realized in practice with two composition modes that we call static and dynamic; these are illustrated with the Restaurant Test and the General Purpose Service Robot Test of the RoboCup@Home competition, respectively. The present framework and methodology has been implemented in the robot Golem-II+, which is also described. The paper is concluded with an overall reflection upon the present concept of a service robot and its associated functional specifications, and the potential impact of such a conceptual model in the study, development and application of service robots in general.

  5. Bridging Scientific Reasoning and Conceptual Change through Adaptive Web-Based Learning

    Science.gov (United States)

    She, Hsiao-Ching; Liao, Ya-Wen

    2010-01-01

    This study reports an adaptive digital learning project, Scientific Concept Construction and Reconstruction (SCCR), and examines its effects on 108 8th grade students' scientific reasoning and conceptual change through mixed methods. A one-group pre-, post-, and retention quasi-experimental design was used in the study. All students received tests…

  6. Manufacturing and testing of relevant scale mockup based on monoblock concept

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Di Pietro, E.; Orsini, A.; Sacchetti, M.; Libera, S.; Cardella, A.; Vieider, G.

    1993-01-01

    The results obtained from small-scale mockups manufactured on the monoblock design concept have proven that the solution appears promising for a conventional divertor operating with heat fluxes in the range 10 to 15 MW/m 2 with a thermal fatigue cycle exceeding 1000 cycles at full power. The divertor mock-up consists of six half meter-long armored tubes obtained by brazing CFC to TZM molybdenum alloy. Two types of CFC were used to investigate the advantages of 3-d CFCs with respect to more conventional and cheaper 2-d CFC. The brazing process utilizes three variants of a process developed in laboratory trials and based on selected combinations of active braze filler/CFC surface conditioning procedures. The supporting structure is based on the sliding support concept intended to assure a compromise between the requested thermal stability of the component and the buildup of secondary stresses deriving from mechanical constraints. The FE thermal and thermal mechanical analysis of the divertor mockup structure is reported and the critical areas of sliding support are highlighted for comparison with experimental results. The main results of NDE and experimental high heat flux tests are reported and discussed

  7. The Idea of a Highest Divine Principle — Founding Reason and Spirituality. A Necessary Concept of a Comparative Philosophy?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Claudia Bickmann

    2012-10-01

    Full Text Available By reference to the Platonic, Aristotelian, and Neo-Platonic philosophical traditions (and then to German Idealism, including Husserl and Heidegger, I will indicate the way in which the concept of reason—on the one side—depends on the horizon of spirituality (by searching for the ultimate ground within us and the striving for the highest good; and inversely—how far the idea of the divine or our spiritual self may be deepened, understood and transmitted by reference to reason and rationality. But whereas philosophical analysis aims at the universal dimensions of spirituality or the divine (as in Plato's idea of the 'highest good', the Aristotelian 'Absolute substance', the 'Oneness of the One' (Plotinus and the Neo-Platonists or the Hegelian 'Absolute spirit',—Comparative Theology may preserve the dimension of spirituality or divinity in its individuality and specifity. Comparative Theology mediates between the universality of the philosophical discourse and the uniqueness of our individual experience (symbolized by a sacred person—such as Jesus, Brahman, Buddha or Mohammed by reflecting and analyzing our religious experiences and practices. Religion may lose its specificity by comparative conceptual analysis within the field of philosophy, but Comparative Theology may enhance the vital dimensions of the very same spiritual experience by placing them in a comparative perspective.

  8. Moral and Property Harm as Consequence of Violation of Reasonable Time of Preliminary Investigation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ibiamin N. Nuriev

    2017-08-01

    Full Text Available The relevance of the article is that it examines the provisions of the criminal procedure law on a reasonable time of preliminary investigation, the consequences of violation of a reasonable period of preliminary investigation. A formula is proposed that makes it possible to make a clearer idea of a reasonable time as a border in the criminal procedural time between conditionally permitted and absolutely unacceptable. In the Author's opinion, the consequences of a violation of a reasonable period is the person's moral and (or property damage. The Author recommends that in the Federal Law of April 30, 2010, No. 68-FZ, replace the concept of “significance of consequences” with the notion of “harm”.

  9. Development of a Ground Test and Analysis Protocol for NASA's NextSTEP Phase 2 Habitation Concepts

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gernhardt, Michael L.; Beaton, Kara H.; Chappell, Steven P.; Bekdash, Omar S.; Abercromby, Andrew F. J.

    2018-01-01

    The NASA Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships (NextSTEP) program is a public-private partnership model that seeks commercial development of deep space exploration capabilities to support human spaceflight missions around and beyond cislunar space. NASA first issued the Phase 1 NextSTEP Broad Agency Announcement to U.S. industries in 2014, which called for innovative cislunar habitation concepts that leveraged commercialization plans for low-Earth orbit. These habitats will be part of the Deep Space Gateway (DSG), the cislunar space station planned by NASA for construction in the 2020s. In 2016, Phase 2 of the NextSTEP program selected five commercial partners to develop ground prototypes. A team of NASA research engineers and subject matter experts (SMEs) have been tasked with developing the ground-test protocol that will serve as the primary means by which these Phase 2 prototypes will be evaluated. Since 2008, this core test team has successfully conducted multiple spaceflight analog mission evaluations utilizing a consistent set of operational tools, methods, and metrics to enable the iterative development, testing, analysis, and validation of evolving exploration architectures, operations concepts, and vehicle designs. The purpose of implementing a similar evaluation process for the Phase 2 Habitation Concepts is to consistently evaluate different commercial partner ground prototypes to provide data-driven, actionable recommendations for Phase 3. This paper describes the process by which the ground test protocol was developed and the objectives, methods, and metrics by which the NextSTEP Phase 2 Habitation Concepts will be rigorously and systematically evaluated. The protocol has been developed using both a top-down and bottom-up approach. Top-down development began with the Human Exploration and Operations Mission Directorate (HEOMD) exploration objectives and ISS Exploration Capability Study Team (IECST) candidate flight objectives. Strategic

  10. The Effect of Naive Ideas on Students' Reasoning about Electricity and Magnetism

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leppavirta, Johanna

    2012-01-01

    Traditional multiple-choice concept inventories measure students' critical conceptual understanding and are designed to reveal students' naive or alternate ideas. The overall scores, however, give little information about the state of students' knowledge and the consistency of reasoning. This study investigates whether students have consistent…

  11. Utilizing a scale model solar system project to visualize important planetary science concepts and develop technology and spatial reasoning skills

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kortenkamp, Stephen J.; Brock, Laci

    2016-10-01

    Scale model solar systems have been used for centuries to help educate young students and the public about the vastness of space and the relative sizes of objects. We have adapted the classic scale model solar system activity into a student-driven project for an undergraduate general education astronomy course at the University of Arizona. Students are challenged to construct and use their three dimensional models to demonstrate an understanding of numerous concepts in planetary science, including: 1) planetary obliquities, eccentricities, inclinations; 2) phases and eclipses; 3) planetary transits; 4) asteroid sizes, numbers, and distributions; 5) giant planet satellite and ring systems; 6) the Pluto system and Kuiper belt; 7) the extent of space travel by humans and robotic spacecraft; 8) the diversity of extrasolar planetary systems. Secondary objectives of the project allow students to develop better spatial reasoning skills and gain familiarity with technology such as Excel formulas, smart-phone photography, and audio/video editing.During our presentation we will distribute a formal description of the project and discuss our expectations of the students as well as present selected highlights from preliminary submissions.

  12. Visualizing complex processes using a cognitive-mapping tool to support the learning of clinical reasoning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wu, Bian; Wang, Minhong; Grotzer, Tina A; Liu, Jun; Johnson, Janice M

    2016-08-22

    Practical experience with clinical cases has played an important role in supporting the learning of clinical reasoning. However, learning through practical experience involves complex processes difficult to be captured by students. This study aimed to examine the effects of a computer-based cognitive-mapping approach that helps students to externalize the reasoning process and the knowledge underlying the reasoning process when they work with clinical cases. A comparison between the cognitive-mapping approach and the verbal-text approach was made by analyzing their effects on learning outcomes. Fifty-two third-year or higher students from two medical schools participated in the study. Students in the experimental group used the computer-base cognitive-mapping approach, while the control group used the verbal-text approach, to make sense of their thinking and actions when they worked with four simulated cases over 4 weeks. For each case, students in both groups reported their reasoning process (involving data capture, hypotheses formulation, and reasoning with justifications) and the underlying knowledge (involving identified concepts and the relationships between the concepts) using the given approach. The learning products (cognitive maps or verbal text) revealed that students in the cognitive-mapping group outperformed those in the verbal-text group in the reasoning process, but not in making sense of the knowledge underlying the reasoning process. No significant differences were found in a knowledge posttest between the two groups. The computer-based cognitive-mapping approach has shown a promising advantage over the verbal-text approach in improving students' reasoning performance. Further studies are needed to examine the effects of the cognitive-mapping approach in improving the construction of subject-matter knowledge on the basis of practical experience.

  13. Understanding of Earth and Space Science Concepts: Strategies for Concept-Building in Elementary Teacher Preparation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bulunuz, Nermin; Jarrett, Olga S.

    2009-01-01

    This research is concerned with preservice teacher understanding of six earth and space science concepts that are often taught in elementary school: the reason for seasons, phases of the moon, why the wind blows, the rock cycle, soil formation, and earthquakes. Specifically, this study examines the effect of readings, hands-on learning stations,…

  14. Development and psychometric testing of a Clinical Reasoning Evaluation Simulation Tool (CREST) for assessing nursing students' abilities to recognize and respond to clinical deterioration.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liaw, Sok Ying; Rashasegaran, Ahtherai; Wong, Lai Fun; Deneen, Christopher Charles; Cooper, Simon; Levett-Jones, Tracy; Goh, Hongli Sam; Ignacio, Jeanette

    2018-03-01

    The development of clinical reasoning skills in recognising and responding to clinical deterioration is essential in pre-registration nursing education. Simulation has been increasingly used by educators to develop this skill. To develop and evaluate the psychometric properties of a Clinical Reasoning Evaluation Simulation Tool (CREST) for measuring clinical reasoning skills in recognising and responding to clinical deterioration in a simulated environment. A scale development with psychometric testing and mixed methods study. Nursing students and academic staff were recruited at a university. A three-phase prospective study was conducted. Phase 1 involved the development and content validation of the CREST; Phase 2 included the psychometric testing of the tool with 15 second-year and 15 third-year nursing students who undertook the simulation-based assessment; Phase 3 involved the usability testing of the tool with nine academic staff through a survey questionnaire and focus group discussion. A 10-item CREST was developed based on a model of clinical reasoning. A content validity of 0.93 was obtained from the validation of 15 international experts. The construct validity was supported as the third-year students demonstrated significantly higher (preasoning scores than the second-year students. The concurrent validity was also supported with significant positive correlations between global rating scores and almost all subscale scores, and the total scores. The predictive validity was supported with an existing tool. The internal consistency was high with a Cronbach's alpha of 0.92. A high inter-rater reliability was demonstrated with an intraclass correlation coefficient of 0.88. The usability of the tool was rated positively by the nurse educators but the need to ease the scoring process was highlighted. A valid and reliable tool was developed to measure the effectiveness of simulation in developing clinical reasoning skills for recognising and responding to

  15. Transforming Medical Assessment: Integrating Uncertainty Into the Evaluation of Clinical Reasoning in Medical Education.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cooke, Suzette; Lemay, Jean-Francois

    2017-06-01

    In an age where practicing physicians have access to an overwhelming volume of clinical information and are faced with increasingly complex medical decisions, the ability to execute sound clinical reasoning is essential to optimal patient care. The authors propose two concepts that are philosophically paramount to the future assessment of clinical reasoning in medicine: assessment in the context of "uncertainty" (when, despite all of the information that is available, there is still significant doubt as to the best diagnosis, investigation, or treatment), and acknowledging that it is entirely possible (and reasonable) to have more than "one correct answer." The purpose of this article is to highlight key elements related to these two core concepts and discuss genuine barriers that currently exist on the pathway to creating such assessments. These include acknowledging situations of uncertainty, creating clear frameworks that define progressive levels of clinical reasoning skills, providing validity evidence to increase the defensibility of such assessments, considering the comparative feasibility with other forms of assessment, and developing strategies to evaluate the impact of these assessment methods on future learning and practice. The authors recommend that concerted efforts be directed toward these key areas to help advance the field of clinical reasoning assessment, improve the clinical care decisions made by current and future physicians, and have positive outcomes for patients. It is anticipated that these and subsequent efforts will aid in reaching the goal of making future assessment in medical education more representative of current-day clinical reasoning and decision making.

  16. Clarifying assumptions to enhance our understanding and assessment of clinical reasoning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Durning, Steven J; Artino, Anthony R; Schuwirth, Lambert; van der Vleuten, Cees

    2013-04-01

    Deciding on a diagnosis and treatment is essential to the practice of medicine. Developing competence in these clinical reasoning processes, commonly referred to as diagnostic and therapeutic reasoning, respectively, is required for physician success. Clinical reasoning has been a topic of research for several decades, and much has been learned. However, there still exists no clear consensus regarding what clinical reasoning entails, let alone how it might best be taught, how it should be assessed, and the research and practice implications therein.In this article, the authors first discuss two contrasting epistemological views of clinical reasoning and related conceptual frameworks. They then outline four different theoretical frameworks held by medical educators that the authors believe guide educators' views on the topic, knowingly or not. Within each theoretical framework, the authors begin with a definition of clinical reasoning (from that viewpoint) and then discuss learning, assessment, and research implications. The authors believe these epistemologies and four theoretical frameworks also apply to other concepts (or "competencies") in medical education.The authors also maintain that clinical reasoning encompasses the mental processes and behaviors that are shared (or evolve) between the patient, physician, and the environment (i.e., practice setting). Clinical reasoning thus incorporates components of all three factors (patient, physician, environment). The authors conclude by outlining practical implications and potential future areas for research.

  17. Math Self-Concept, Grades, and Achievement Test Scores: Long-Term Reciprocal Effects across Five Waves and Three Achievement Tracks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arens, A. Katrin; Marsh, Herbert W.; Pekrun, Reinhard; Lichtenfeld, Stephanie; Murayama, Kou; vom Hofe, Rudolf

    2017-01-01

    This study examines reciprocal effects between self-concept and achievement by considering a long time span covering grades 5 through 9. Extending previous research on the reciprocal effects model (REM), this study tests (1) the assumption of developmental equilibrium as time-invariant cross-lagged paths from self-concept to achievement and from…

  18. Native Language Self-Concept and Reading Self-Concept: Same or Different?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arens, A. Katrin; Yeung, Alexander Seeshing; Hasselhorn, Marcus

    2014-01-01

    In assessing verbal academic self-concept with preadolescents, researchers have used scales for students' self-concepts in reading and in their native language interchangeably. The authors conducted 3 studies with German students to test whether reading and German (i.e., native language) self-concepts can be treated as the same or different…

  19. Rule-Based and Case-Based Reasoning in Housing Prices

    OpenAIRE

    Gabrielle Gayer; Itzhak Gilboa; Offer Lieberman

    2004-01-01

    People reason about real-estate prices both in terms of general rules and in terms of analogies to similar cases. We propose to empirically test which mode of reasoning fits the data better. To this end, we develop the statistical techniques required for the estimation of the case-based model. It is hypothesized that case-based reasoning will have relatively more explanatory power in databases of rental apartments, whereas rule-based reasoning will have a relative advantage in sales data. We ...

  20. A Teachable Agent Game Engaging Primary School Children to Learn Arithmetic Concepts and Reasoning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pareto, Lena

    2014-01-01

    In this paper we will describe a learning environment designed to foster conceptual understanding and reasoning in mathematics among younger school children. The learning environment consists of 48 2-player game variants based on a graphical model of arithmetic where the mathematical content is intrinsically interwoven with the game idea. The…

  1. Data First: Building Scientific Reasoning in AP Chemistry via the Concept Development Study Approach

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nichol, Carolyn A.; Szymczyk, Amber J.; Hutchinson, John S.

    2014-01-01

    This article introduces the "Data First" approach and shows how the observation and analysis of scientific data can be used as a scaffold to build conceptual understanding in chemistry through inductive reasoning. The "Data First" approach emulates the scientific process by changing the order by which we introduce data. Rather…

  2. Construction Of Critical Thinking Skills Test Instrument Related The Concept On Sound Wave

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mabruroh, F.; Suhandi, A.

    2017-02-01

    This study aimed to construct test instrument of critical thinking skills of high school students related the concept on sound wave. This research using a mixed methods with sequential exploratory design, consists of: 1) a preliminary study; 2) design and review of test instruments. The form of test instruments in essay questions, consist of 18 questions that was divided into 5 indicators and 8 sub-indicators of the critical thinking skills expressed by Ennis, with questions that are qualitative and contextual. Phases of preliminary study include: a) policy studies; b) survey to the school; c) and literature studies. Phases of the design and review of test instruments consist of two steps, namely a draft design of test instruments include: a) analysis of the depth of teaching materials; b) the selection of indicators and sub-indicators of critical thinking skills; c) analysis of indicators and sub-indicators of critical thinking skills; d) implementation of indicators and sub-indicators of critical thinking skills; and e) making the descriptions about the test instrument. In the next phase of the review test instruments, consist of: a) writing about the test instrument; b) validity test by experts; and c) revision of test instruments based on the validator.

  3. Student reasoning while investigating plant material

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Helena Näs

    2008-11-01

    Full Text Available In this project, 10-12 year old students in three classes, investigated plant material to learn more about plants and photosynthesis. The research study was conducted to reveal the students’ scientific reasoning during their work. The eleven different tasks helped students investigate plant anatomy, plant physiology, and the gases involved in photosynthesis and respiration. The study was carried out in three ordinary classrooms. The collected data consisted of audio-taped discussions, students’ notebooks, and field notes. Students’ discussions and written work, during the different plant tasks, were analysed to see how the students’ learning and understanding processes developed. The analysis is descriptive and uses categories from a modified general typology of student’s epistemological reasoning. The study shows students’ level of interest in doing the tasks, their struggle with new words and concepts, and how they develop their knowledge about plant physiology. The study confirms thatstudents, in this age group, develop understanding and show an interest in complicated processes in natural science, e.g. photosynthesis.

  4. Design concept and testing of an in-bundle gamma densitometer for subchannel void fraction measurements in the THTF electrically heated rod bundle

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Felde, D.K.

    1982-04-01

    A design concept is presented for an in-bundle gamma densitometer system for measurement of subchannel average fluid density and void fraction in rod or tube bundles. This report describes (1) the application of the design concept to the Thermal-Hydraulic Test Facility (THTF) electrically heated rod bundle; and (2) results from tests conducted in the THTF

  5. Evaluation of Probabilistic Reasoning Evidence from Seventh-Graders

    Science.gov (United States)

    Erdem, Emrullah; Gürbüz, Ramazan

    2016-01-01

    The purpose of this study was to evaluate probabilistic reasoning of seventh-grade students (N=167) studying at randomly selected three middle schools that served low and middle socioeconomic areas in a city of Turkey. "Probabilistic Reasoning Test (PRT)" was developed and used as a data collection tool. In analyzing the data,…

  6. Supporting Knowledge Transfer through Decomposable Reasoning Artifacts

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Pike, William A.; May, Richard A.; Turner, Alan E.

    2007-01-03

    Technology to support knowledge transfer and cooperative inquiry must offer its users the ability to effectively interpret knowledge structures produced by collaborators. Communicating the reasoning processes that underlie a finding is one method for enhancing interpretation, and can result in more effective evaluation and application of shared knowledge. In knowledge management tools, interpretation is aided by creating knowledge artifacts that can expose their provenance to scrutiny and that can be transformed into diverse representations that suit their consumers’ perspectives and preferences. We outline the information management needs of inquiring communities characterized by hypothesis generation tasks, and propose a model for communication, based in theories of hermeneutics, semiotics, and abduction, in which knowledge structures can be decomposed into the lower-level reasoning artifacts that produced them. We then present a proof-of-concept implementation for an environment to support the capture and communication of analytic products, with emphasis on the domain of intelligence analysis.

  7. The effect of creative problem solving on students’ mathematical adaptive reasoning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Muin, A.; Hanifah, S. H.; Diwidian, F.

    2018-01-01

    This research was conducted to analyse the effect of creative problem solving (CPS) learning model on the students’ mathematical adaptive reasoning. The method used in this study was a quasi-experimental with randomized post-test only control group design. Samples were taken as many as two classes by cluster random sampling technique consisting of experimental class (CPS) as many as 40 students and control class (conventional) as many as 40 students. Based on the result of hypothesis testing with the t-test at the significance level of 5%, it was obtained that significance level of 0.0000 is less than α = 0.05. This shows that the students’ mathematical adaptive reasoning skills who were taught by CPS model were higher than the students’ mathematical adaptive reasoning skills of those who were taught by conventional model. The result of this research showed that the most prominent aspect of adaptive reasoning that could be developed through a CPS was inductive intuitive. Two aspects of adaptive reasoning, which were inductive intuitive and deductive intuitive, were mostly balanced. The different between inductive intuitive and deductive intuitive aspect was not too big. CPS model can develop student mathematical adaptive reasoning skills. CPS model can facilitate development of mathematical adaptive reasoning skills thoroughly.

  8. Connecting long distance: semantic distance in analogical reasoning modulates frontopolar cortex activity.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Green, Adam E; Kraemer, David J M; Fugelsang, Jonathan A; Gray, Jeremy R; Dunbar, Kevin N

    2010-01-01

    Solving problems often requires seeing new connections between concepts or events that seemed unrelated at first. Innovative solutions of this kind depend on analogical reasoning, a relational reasoning process that involves mapping similarities between concepts. Brain-based evidence has implicated the frontal pole of the brain as important for analogical mapping. Separately, cognitive research has identified semantic distance as a key characteristic of the kind of analogical mapping that can support innovation (i.e., identifying similarities across greater semantic distance reveals connections that support more innovative solutions and models). However, the neural substrates of semantically distant analogical mapping are not well understood. Here, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to measure brain activity during an analogical reasoning task, in which we parametrically varied the semantic distance between the items in the analogies. Semantic distance was derived quantitatively from latent semantic analysis. Across 23 participants, activity in an a priori region of interest (ROI) in left frontopolar cortex covaried parametrically with increasing semantic distance, even after removing effects of task difficulty. This ROI was centered on a functional peak that we previously associated with analogical mapping. To our knowledge, these data represent a first empirical characterization of how the brain mediates semantically distant analogical mapping.

  9. Teachers’ professional vision: exploring and clarifying the concept

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tomáš Janík

    2012-06-01

    Full Text Available This theoretical study introduces the concept of professional vision into Czech academic discourse as one of the potential concepts that can be used when contemplating (teacher professionalization. At the beginning the authors mention selected attempts to define characteristics of a profession and introduce their view of the issue of teacher professionality that is built on three dimensions – professional vision, professional knowledge and professional action. They further suggest the relationships among these dimensions in the model of pedagogical reasoning and action (Shulman, 1986 and the ALACT model of reflection (Korthagen, 2011.Professional vision in general and specifically in the teaching profession is discussedand its existing conceptualizations are described. Based on other theoretical and empirical studies connected to this issue, the authors then suggest their own approach to teachers’ professional vision. The relationship between professional vision and reflection on the spiral of pedagogical reasoning and action is elaborated on. In the end,the usability of the concept of professional vision in teacher education is discussed, specifically in the process of development of an e-learning (videoenvironment for(prospective teachers.

  10. Investigating the Correlation Between Pharmacy Student Performance on the Health Science Reasoning Test and a Critical Thinking Assignment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nornoo, Adwoa O; Jackson, Jonathan; Axtell, Samantha

    2017-03-25

    Objective. To determine whether there is a correlation between pharmacy students' scores on the Health Science Reasoning Test (HSRT) and their grade on a package insert assignment designed to assess critical thinking. Methods. The HSRT was administered to first-year pharmacy students during a critical-thinking course in the spring semester. In the same semester, a required package insert assignment was completed in a pharmacokinetics course. To determine whether there was a relationship between HSRT scores and grades on the assignment, a Spearman's rho correlation test was performed. Results. A very weak but significant positive correlation was found between students' grades on the assignment and their overall HSRT score (r=0.19, p critical-thinking skills in pharmacy students.

  11. Reason with me : 'Confabulation' and interpersonal moral reasoning

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Nyholm, S.R.

    2015-01-01

    According to Haidt’s ‘social intuitionist model’, empirical moral psychology supports the following conclusion: intuition comes first, strategic reasoning second. Critics have responded by arguing that intuitions can depend on non-conscious reasons, that not being able to articulate one’s reasons

  12. Development of a Ground Test and Analysis Protocol to Support NASA's NextSTEP Phase 2 Habitation Concepts

    Science.gov (United States)

    Beaton, Kara H.; Chappell, Steven P.; Bekdash, Omar S.; Gernhardt, Michael L.

    2018-01-01

    The NASA Next Space Technologies for Exploration Partnerships (NextSTEP) program is a public-private partnership model that seeks commercial development of deep space exploration capabilities to support extensive human spaceflight missions around and beyond cislunar space. NASA first issued the Phase 1 NextSTEP Broad Agency Announcement to U.S. industries in 2014, which called for innovative cislunar habitation concepts that leveraged commercialization plans for low Earth orbit. These habitats will be part of the Deep Space Gateway (DSG), the cislunar space station planned by NASA for construction in the 2020s. In 2016, Phase 2 of the NextSTEP program selected five commercial partners to develop ground prototypes. A team of NASA research engineers and subject matter experts have been tasked with developing the ground test protocol that will serve as the primary means by which these Phase 2 prototype habitats will be evaluated. Since 2008, this core test team has successfully conducted multiple spaceflight analog mission evaluations utilizing a consistent set of operational products, tools, methods, and metrics to enable the iterative development, testing, analysis, and validation of evolving exploration architectures, operations concepts, and vehicle designs. The purpose of implementing a similar evaluation process for the NextSTEP Phase 2 Habitation Concepts is to consistently evaluate the different commercial partner ground prototypes to provide data-driven, actionable recommendations for Phase 3.

  13. Technical concept for rock mechanics tests, Climax Granite, NTS

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hearst, J.R.

    1979-02-01

    If we are to believe our predictions of the thermomechanical behavior of the material surrounding a nuclear waste repository in granite, we must test the computational methods used in making the predictions. If thermal loadings appropriate to a real repository are used, thermally induced displacements and strains are quite small, and available geotechnical instrumentation is only marginally able to measure these effects to the accuracy desired to make thorough tests of the predictions. We outline a three-step program to address these issues. (1) Conduct experiments in which the thermal loading is large compared to that induced by a real repository. This will permit us to make accurate measurements with available instrumentation. (2) Simultaneously, develop improved instrumentation that will enable us to make accurate measurements of motions induced by thermal loadings appropriate to a real repository. (3) Finally, conduct a second set of experiments, with the improved instrumentation and thermal loading similar to that of a real repository in granite. If we can predict the effects of this thermal loading to a few percent over distances of tens of meters for time periods of a few years, and demonstrate that these predictions are correct, we can have reasonable confidence that, using the same methods, we can predict the behavior over thousands of meters for hundreds of years to an order of magnitude. That accuracy should be satisfactory for those distances and times

  14. To Reason or Not to Reason: Is Autobiographical Reasoning Always Beneficial?

    Science.gov (United States)

    McLean, Kate C.; Mansfield, Cade D.

    2011-01-01

    Autobiographical reasoning has been found to be a critical process in identity development; however, the authors suggest that existing research shows that such reasoning may not always be critical to another important outcome: well-being. The authors describe characteristics of people such as personality and age, contexts such as conversations,…

  15. Utilization of ISS to Develop and Test Operational Concepts and Hardware for Low-Gravity Terrestrial EVA

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gast, Matthew A.

    2010-01-01

    NASA has considerable experience in two areas of Extravehicular Activities (EVA). The first can be defined as microgravity, orbital EVAs. This consists of everything done in low Earth orbit (LEO), from the early, proof of concept EVAs conducted during the Gemini program of the 1960s, to the complex International Space Station (ISS) assembly tasks of the first decade of the 21st century. The second area of expertise is comprised of those EVAs conducted on the lunar surface, under a gravitational force one-sixth that of Earth. This EVA expertise encapsulates two extremes - microgravity and Earthlike gravitation - but is insufficient as humans expand their exploration purview, most notably with respect to spacewalks conducted on very low-gravity bodies, such as near- Earth objects (NEO) and the moons of Mars. The operational and technical challenges of this category of EVA have yet to be significantly examined, and as such, only a small number of operational concepts have been proposed thus far. To ensure mission success, however, EVA techniques must be developed and vetted to allow the selection of operational concepts that can be utilized across an assortment of destinations whose physical characteristics vary. This paper examines the utilization of ISS-based EVAs to test operational concepts and hardware in preparation for a low-gravity terrestrial EVA. While the ISS cannot mimic some of the fundamental challenges of a low-gravity terrestrial EVA - such as rotation rate and surface composition - it may be the most effective test bed available.

  16. University students' conceptions of the electric and magnetic fields and their interrelationships

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kesonen, M H P; Asikainen, M A; Hirvonen, P E

    2011-01-01

    This study focuses on students' conceptions of electric and magnetic fields at university level and of the interrelations between them. A total of 33 students participated in a paper and pencil test after the completion of first-year electricity and second-year electromagnetism courses. The conceptions were investigated in the contexts of a charged particle, a charging capacitor, electromagnetic induction, and an electromagnetic plane wave. The results show that students do not include the vector nature of field quantities in their reasoning. In addition, learning the interactions between electric and magnetic fields is very challenging for university students. Even after completing relevant studies, the students had difficulty in recognizing the symmetry relations between the electric and magnetic fields in all of the areas under study. Consequently, it appears that the concepts of electric and magnetic fields and their interrelations should be emphasized not only in the context of electromagnetism but also in other relevant areas such as electricity and optics. Explicit recommendations are presented in the discussion section at the end of this paper.

  17. Concepts for the magnetic design of the MITICA neutral beam test facility ion accelerator.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chitarin, G; Agostinetti, P; Marconato, N; Marcuzzi, D; Sartori, E; Serianni, G; Sonato, P

    2012-02-01

    The megavolt ITER injector concept advancement neutral injector test facility will be constituted by a RF-driven negative ion source and by an electrostatic Accelerator, designed to produce a negative Ion with a specific energy up to 1 MeV. The beam is then neutralized in order to obtain a focused 17 MW neutral beam. The magnetic configuration inside the accelerator is of crucial importance for the achievement of a good beam efficiency, with the early deflection of the co-extracted and stripped electrons, and also of the required beam optic quality, with the correction of undesired ion beamlet deflections. Several alternative magnetic design concepts have been considered, comparing in detail the magnetic and beam optics simulation results, evidencing the advantages and drawbacks of each solution both from the physics and engineering point of view.

  18. Fusion technology development: first wall/blanket system and component testing in existing nuclear facilities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hsu, P.Y.S.; Bohn, T.S.; Deis, G.A.; Judd, J.L.; Longhurst, G.R.; Miller, L.G.; Millsap, D.A.; Scott, A.J.; Wessol, D.E.

    1980-12-01

    A novel concept to produce a reasonable simulation of a fusion first wall/blanket test environment employing an existing nuclear facility, the Engineering Test Reactor at the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory, is presented. Preliminary results show that an asymmetric, nuclear test environment with surface and volumetric heating rates similar to those expected in a fusion first wall/blanket or divertor chamber surface appears feasible. The proposed concept takes advantage of nuclear reactions within the annulus of an existing test space (15 cm in diameter and approximately 100 cm high) to provide an energy flux to the surface of a test module. The principal reaction considered involves 3 He in the annulus as follows: n + 3 He → p + t + 0.75 MeV. Bulk heating in the test module is accomplished by neutron thermalization, gamma heating, and absorption reactions involving 6 Li in the blanket breeding region. The concept can be extended to modified core configurations that will accommodate test modules of different sizes and types. It makes possible development testing of first wall/blanket systems and other fusion components on a scale and in ways not otherwise available until actual high-power fusion reactors are built

  19. High temperature superconductivity: Concept, preparation and testing of high Tc superconductor compounds, and applications

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Harara, Wafik

    1992-06-01

    Many studies have been carried out on high temperature superconductors with transition temperature above that of the liquid nitrogen. In this scientific study the concept and the mechanism of this phenomena are discussed, in addition the examples of preparation and testing of high temperature superconductors compounds are shown. Also the most important applications in industry are explained. (author). 15 refs., 2 tabs., 18 figs

  20. Robotics Test Rig

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schuurmans, P.

    2007-01-01

    The experimental Accelerator Driven System XT-ADS is being developed within the European 6th framework programme EUROTRANS using the MYRRHA DRAFT-2 as starting point. The aim for the XT-ADS is to demonstrate the feasibility of the ADS concept at reasonable power levels and to serve as a high performance, multi-purpose experimental irradiation device. One of the fundamental design options that has been taken is to do all maintenance and in-service inspection and repair duties by remote handling. Outside the XT-ADS vessel in a controlled though radio-active environment, remote handling concepts as those already in use at e.g. the Joint European Torus (JET) can be used. Extrapolation to remote handling inside the lead-bismuth eutectic filled main vessel of the XT-ADS is in principle feasible as was shown in a 2003 study performed by Oxford Technologies ltd for the case of MYRRHA. Nevertheless, it is clear that all critical remote handling components need to be qualified for use in liquid LBE. Thus, as a first step, a proof of principle (POP) experimental test rig is require. The principal goal of this work is to identify the critical technological issues that must be resolved to allow operation of remote handling manipulators inside the LBE filled main vessel of the XT-ADS and to propose a concept design and specification catalogue for a proof of principle test rig that is able to experimentally verify the main aspects of manipulator design

  1. Introductory concepts

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Barnes, W.E.

    1983-01-01

    Physical theories are commonly classified as being either ''classical'' or ''modern''. The reasons for this distinction are both historical and substantive. Limited in the sophistication of their measuring instruments, early scientists proposed theories appropriate for the description of the simplest and most accessible physical phenomena, e.g., the trajectories of the planets. Because of the class of phenomena observed, certain beliefs came to underlie all classical theories with regard to the nature of time, space, matter, etc. For example, the idea was undisputed that an object has at all times both a definite position and velocity. Not until the interior of the atom and the nature of electromagnetic radiation were explored was it discovered that the concepts of classical physics are inadequate to deal with many phenomena. A reassessment of fundamental postulates led to the formulation of modern physics which, it is believed, successfully treats the behavior of all physical systems. To gain an understanding of the rudiments of modern physics, one proceeds as the early scientists did by first mastering the classical concepts that emerge from their intuitive picture of the world. Modifications of these concepts are subsequently introduced which allow a more accurate treatment of physical phenomena, particularly atomic and nuclear systems

  2. Programming Language Concepts - The Lambda Calculus Approach

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Fokkinga, M.M.; Asveld, P.R.J.; Nijholt, Antinus

    1987-01-01

    The Lambda Calculus is a formal system, originally intended as a tool in the foundation of mathematics, but mainly used to study the concepts of algorithm and effective computability. Recently, the Lambda Calculus and related systems acquire attention from Computer Science for another reason too:

  3. Diagnosing alternative conceptions of Fermi energy among undergraduate students

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sharma, Sapna; Ahluwalia, Pardeep Kumar

    2012-01-01

    Physics education researchers have scientifically established the fact that the understanding of new concepts and interpretation of incoming information are strongly influenced by the preexisting knowledge and beliefs of students, called epistemological beliefs. This can lead to a gap between what students actually learn and what the teacher expects them to learn. In a classroom, as a teacher, it is desirable that one tries to bridge this gap at least on the key concepts of a particular field which is being taught. One such key concept which crops up in statistical physics/solid-state physics courses, and around which the behaviour of materials is described, is Fermi energy (ε F ). In this paper, we present the results which emerged about misconceptions on Fermi energy in the process of administering a diagnostic tool called the Statistical Physics Concept Survey developed by the authors. It deals with eight themes of basic importance in learning undergraduate solid-state physics and statistical physics. The question items of the tool were put through well-established sequential processes: definition of themes, Delphi study, interview with students, drafting questions, administration, validity and reliability of the tool. The tool was administered to a group of undergraduate students and postgraduate students, in a pre-test and post-test design. In this paper, we have taken one of the themes i.e. Fermi energy of the diagnostic tool for our analysis and discussion. Students’ responses and reasoning comments given during interview were analysed. This analysis helped us to identify prevailing misconceptions/learning gaps among students on this topic. How spreadsheets can be effectively used to remove the identified misconceptions and help appreciate the finer nuances while visualizing the behaviour of the system around Fermi energy, normally sidestepped both by the teachers and learners, is also presented in this paper. (paper)

  4. Assessment of the Technical Maturity of Generation IV Concepts for Test or Demonstration Reactor Applications, Revision 2

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gougar, Hans David [Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)

    2015-10-01

    The United States Department of Energy (DOE) commissioned a study the suitability of different advanced reactor concepts to support materials irradiations (i.e. a test reactor) or to demonstrate an advanced power plant/fuel cycle concept (demonstration reactor). As part of the study, an assessment of the technical maturity of the individual concepts was undertaken to see which, if any, can support near-term deployment. A Working Group composed of the authors of this document performed the maturity assessment using the Technical Readiness Levels as defined in DOE’s Technology Readiness Guide . One representative design was selected for assessment from of each of the six Generation-IV reactor types: gas-cooled fast reactor (GFR), lead-cooled fast reactor (LFR), molten salt reactor (MSR), supercritical water-cooled reactor (SCWR), sodium-cooled fast reactor (SFR), and very high temperature reactor (VHTR). Background information was obtained from previous detailed evaluations such as the Generation-IV Roadmap but other technical references were also used including consultations with concept proponents and subject matter experts. Outside of Generation IV activity in which the US is a party, non-U.S. experience or data sources were generally not factored into the evaluations as one cannot assume that this data is easily available or of sufficient quality to be used for licensing a US facility. The Working Group established the scope of the assessment (which systems and subsystems needed to be considered), adapted a specific technology readiness scale, and scored each system through discussions designed to achieve internal consistency across concepts. In general, the Working Group sought to determine which of the reactor options have sufficient maturity to serve either the test or demonstration reactor missions.

  5. Improving reasoning skills in secondary history education by working memory training

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Ariës, R.J.; Groot, W.; Maassen van den Brink, H.

    2015-01-01

    Secondary school pupils underachieve in tests in which reasoning abilities are required. Brain-based training of working memory (WM) may improve reasoning abilities. In this study, we use a brain-based training programme based on historical content to enhance reasoning abilities in history courses.

  6. A Test of the Need Hierarchy Concept by a Markov Model of Change in Need Strength.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rauschenberger, John; And Others

    1980-01-01

    In this study of 547 high school graduates, Alderfer's and Maslow's need hierarchy theories were expressed in Markov chain form and were subjected to empirical test. Both models were disconfirmed. Corroborative multiwave correlational analysis also failed to support the need hierarchy concept. (Author/IRT)

  7. Alternative Conceptions: Turning Adversity into Advantage

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ferreira, Annalize; Lemmer, Miriam; Gunstone, Richard

    2017-08-01

    While a vast body of research has identified difficulties in students' understanding about forces and acceleration and their related alternative conceptions, far less research suggests ways to use students' alternative conceptions to enhance conceptual understanding of a specific fundamental concept. This study focused on distinguishing between students' conceptual understanding of the Newtonian concept of gravitational acceleration being the same for all objects and students' alternative conception that heavy objects fall faster. A multiple choice questionnaire was distributed to first year physics students for three consecutive years at a university in South Africa. The results indicate that changing the direction of motion and the physics quantity asked in paired questions revealed practically significant inconsistencies in students' reasoning and conceptions. This research contributes to the body of knowledge in proposing how the alternative conception of mass-related gravitational acceleration can be used in instruction to enhance conceptual understanding of the force-mass-acceleration relationship. Understanding of this relationship not only promotes conceptual understanding of the basic Newtonian concepts of the laws of motion which forms the critical foundation on which more advanced physics courses are built, but also contributes towards students' perception of physics as a set of coherent ideas applicable in all contexts.

  8. On Derek Parfit' s Objectivist Theory of Reasons for Action:Desire-based or Value-based?

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    Zhang Jieting

    2017-01-01

    The issue of the sources of normativity has been a very hot topic in contem-porary Anglo-American ethics. Some scholars believe that the normativity should be interpre-ted as a reason-implying concept and it can be analyzed further as moral reasons. So,to better understand the sources of normativity,we have to explore the sources of the reasons further. Generally,there are two competing views on the sources of reasons:subjectivism and objectiv-ism. Subjectivism argues that the reasons for action are ultimately based on desires or facts a-bout desires. Objectivism argues that the reasons are given by the objects,determined by the value of the relevant facts about desired objects. Parfit proposed an objectivist theory of reasons for action,and he tried to prove that reasons are external,objective,and value-based,through his three arguments,i. e. ,the agony argument,the all or none argument,and the incoherence argument. He finally demonstrated that what can determine reasons for action are facts rather than desires.

  9. Using a Two-Tier Test to Assess Students' Understanding and Alternative Conceptions of Cyber Copyright Laws

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chou, Chien; Chan, Pei-Shan; Wu, Huan-Chueh

    2007-01-01

    The purpose of this study is to explore students' understanding of cyber copyright laws. This study developed a two-tier test with 10 two-level multiple-choice questions. The first tier presented a real-case scenario and asked whether the conduct was acceptable whereas the second-tier provided reasons to justify the conduct. Students in Taiwan…

  10. Using Relational Reasoning Strategies to Help Improve Clinical Reasoning Practice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dumas, Denis; Torre, Dario M; Durning, Steven J

    2018-05-01

    Clinical reasoning-the steps up to and including establishing a diagnosis and/or therapy-is a fundamentally important mental process for physicians. Unfortunately, mounting evidence suggests that errors in clinical reasoning lead to substantial problems for medical professionals and patients alike, including suboptimal care, malpractice claims, and rising health care costs. For this reason, cognitive strategies by which clinical reasoning may be improved-and that many expert clinicians are already using-are highly relevant for all medical professionals, educators, and learners.In this Perspective, the authors introduce one group of cognitive strategies-termed relational reasoning strategies-that have been empirically shown, through limited educational and psychological research, to improve the accuracy of learners' reasoning both within and outside of the medical disciplines. The authors contend that relational reasoning strategies may help clinicians to be metacognitive about their own clinical reasoning; such strategies may also be particularly well suited for explicitly organizing clinical reasoning instruction for learners. Because the particular curricular efforts that may improve the relational reasoning of medical students are not known at this point, the authors describe the nature of previous research on relational reasoning strategies to encourage the future design, implementation, and evaluation of instructional interventions for relational reasoning within the medical education literature. The authors also call for continued research on using relational reasoning strategies and their role in clinical practice and medical education, with the long-term goal of improving diagnostic accuracy.

  11. Common tester platform concept.

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hurst, Michael James

    2008-05-01

    This report summarizes the results of a case study on the doctrine of a common tester platform, a concept of a standardized platform that can be applicable across the broad spectrum of testing requirements throughout the various stages of a weapons program, as well as across the various weapons programs. The common tester concept strives to define an affordable, next-generation design that will meet testing requirements with the flexibility to grow and expand; supporting the initial development stages of a weapons program through to the final production and surveillance stages. This report discusses a concept investing key leveraging technologies and operational concepts combined with prototype tester-development experiences and practical lessons learned gleaned from past weapons programs.

  12. Using Three-Tier Test to Identify the Quantity of Student that Having Misconception on Newton's Laws of Motion Concept

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Emi Sulistri

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available This study aims to identify students quantity who are having the misconception on Newton's laws of motion concept using a Three-tiered Test. The sampling technique used in this study is purposive sampling technique and has been conducted on 56 students at Senior High School. A three-tier "Newton’s Law Of Motion Test" with 10 items is using as instrument to collected date in this study. The results showed that the quantity of students who experienced misconception with the highest category is on the concept of determining the relationship between the mass of objects and the time required for free fall that is equal to 89.3%. While the lowest category is in the concept of explaining the relationship between acceleration, mass and force with the time required for the object to fall freely that is equal to 26.8%.

  13. Exploring Logical Reasoning and Mathematical Proof in Grade 6 Elementary School Students

    Science.gov (United States)

    Flegas, Konstantinos; Charalampos, Lemonidis

    2013-01-01

    Research and classroom experience reveal that the construction of mathematical proofs is difficult for all students. While many contemporary mathematics curricula recognize the importance of teaching reasoning and proof, in Greece these concepts are introduced at the secondary education level. In this study, we will attempt to investigate a group…

  14. Whose statistical reasoning is facilitated by a causal structure intervention?

    Science.gov (United States)

    McNair, Simon; Feeney, Aidan

    2015-02-01

    People often struggle when making Bayesian probabilistic estimates on the basis of competing sources of statistical evidence. Recently, Krynski and Tenenbaum (Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 136, 430-450, 2007) proposed that a causal Bayesian framework accounts for peoples' errors in Bayesian reasoning and showed that, by clarifying the causal relations among the pieces of evidence, judgments on a classic statistical reasoning problem could be significantly improved. We aimed to understand whose statistical reasoning is facilitated by the causal structure intervention. In Experiment 1, although we observed causal facilitation effects overall, the effect was confined to participants high in numeracy. We did not find an overall facilitation effect in Experiment 2 but did replicate the earlier interaction between numerical ability and the presence or absence of causal content. This effect held when we controlled for general cognitive ability and thinking disposition. Our results suggest that clarifying causal structure facilitates Bayesian judgments, but only for participants with sufficient understanding of basic concepts in probability and statistics.

  15. Sharing Data between Mobile Devices, Connected Vehicles and Infrastructure Task 8 : D2X Hub Proof-of-Concept Test Evaluation Report.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2017-10-25

    The Task 8 D2X Hub Proof-of-Concept Test Evaluation Report provides results of the experimental data analysis performed in accordance with the experimental plan for the proof-of-concept version of the prototype system. The data set analyzed includes ...

  16. A New Look to a Classic Issue: Reasoning and Academic Achievement at Secondary School.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gómez-Veiga, Isabel; Vila Chaves, José O; Duque, Gonzalo; García Madruga, Juan A

    2018-01-01

    Higher-order thinking abilities such as abstract reasoning and meaningful school learning occur sequentially. The fulfillment of these tasks demands that people activate and use all of their working memory resources in a controlled and supervised way. The aims of this work were: (a) to study the interplay between two new reasoning measures, one mathematical (Cognitive Reflection Test) and the other verbal (Deductive Reasoning Test), and a third classical visuo-spatial reasoning measure (Raven Progressive Matrices Test); and (b) to investigate the relationship between these measures and academic achievement. Fifty-one 4th grade secondary school students participated in the experiment and completed the three reasoning tests. Academic achievement measures were the final numerical scores in seven basic subjects. The results demonstrated that cognitive reflection, visual, and verbal reasoning are intimately related and predicts academic achievement. This work confirms that abstract reasoning constitutes the most important higher-order cognitive ability that underlies academic achievement. It also reveals the importance of dual processes, verbal deduction and metacognition in ordinary teaching and learning at school.

  17. A New Look to a Classic Issue: Reasoning and Academic Achievement at Secondary School

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gómez-Veiga, Isabel; Vila Chaves, José O.; Duque, Gonzalo; García Madruga, Juan A.

    2018-01-01

    Higher-order thinking abilities such as abstract reasoning and meaningful school learning occur sequentially. The fulfillment of these tasks demands that people activate and use all of their working memory resources in a controlled and supervised way. The aims of this work were: (a) to study the interplay between two new reasoning measures, one mathematical (Cognitive Reflection Test) and the other verbal (Deductive Reasoning Test), and a third classical visuo-spatial reasoning measure (Raven Progressive Matrices Test); and (b) to investigate the relationship between these measures and academic achievement. Fifty-one 4th grade secondary school students participated in the experiment and completed the three reasoning tests. Academic achievement measures were the final numerical scores in seven basic subjects. The results demonstrated that cognitive reflection, visual, and verbal reasoning are intimately related and predicts academic achievement. This work confirms that abstract reasoning constitutes the most important higher-order cognitive ability that underlies academic achievement. It also reveals the importance of dual processes, verbal deduction and metacognition in ordinary teaching and learning at school. PMID:29643823

  18. A New Look to a Classic Issue: Reasoning and Academic Achievement at Secondary School

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Isabel Gómez-Veiga

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available Higher-order thinking abilities such as abstract reasoning and meaningful school learning occur sequentially. The fulfillment of these tasks demands that people activate and use all of their working memory resources in a controlled and supervised way. The aims of this work were: (a to study the interplay between two new reasoning measures, one mathematical (Cognitive Reflection Test and the other verbal (Deductive Reasoning Test, and a third classical visuo-spatial reasoning measure (Raven Progressive Matrices Test; and (b to investigate the relationship between these measures and academic achievement. Fifty-one 4th grade secondary school students participated in the experiment and completed the three reasoning tests. Academic achievement measures were the final numerical scores in seven basic subjects. The results demonstrated that cognitive reflection, visual, and verbal reasoning are intimately related and predicts academic achievement. This work confirms that abstract reasoning constitutes the most important higher-order cognitive ability that underlies academic achievement. It also reveals the importance of dual processes, verbal deduction and metacognition in ordinary teaching and learning at school.

  19. Cognitive Success: Instrumental Justifications of Normative Systems of Reasoning

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gerhard eSchurz

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available In the first part of the paper (sec. 1-4, I argue that Elqayam and Evan's (2011 distinction between normative and instrumental conceptions of cognitive rationality corresponds to deontological versus teleological accounts in meta-ethics. I suggest that Elqayam and Evans' distinction be replaced by the distinction between a-priori intuition-based versus a-posteriori success-based accounts of cognitive rationality. The value of cognitive success lies in its instrumental rationality for almost-all practical purposes. In the second part (sec. 5-7, I point out that the Elqayam and Evans's distinction between normative and instrumental rationality is coupled with a second distinction: between logically general versus locally adaptive accounts of rationality. I argue that these are two independent distinctions should be treated as independent dimensions. I also demonstrate that logically general systems of reasoning can be instrumentally justified. However, such systems can only be cognitively successful if they are paired with successful inductive reasoning, which is the area where the program of adaptive (ecological rationality emerged, because there are no generally optimal inductive reasoning methods. I argue that the practical necessity of reasoning under changing environments constitutes a dilemma for ecological rationality, which I attempt to solve a dual account of rationality.

  20. Cognitive success: instrumental justifications of normative systems of reasoning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schurz, Gerhard

    2014-01-01

    In the first part of the paper (sec. 1–4), I argue that Elqayam and Evan's (2011) distinction between normative and instrumental conceptions of cognitive rationality corresponds to deontological vs. teleological accounts in meta-ethics. I suggest that Elqayam and Evans' distinction be replaced by the distinction between a-priori intuition-based vs. a-posteriori success-based accounts of cognitive rationality. The value of cognitive success lies in its instrumental rationality for almost-all practical purposes. In the second part (sec. 5–7), I point out that the Elqayam and Evans's distinction between normative and instrumental rationality is coupled with a second distinction: between logically general vs. locally adaptive accounts of rationality. I argue that these are two independent distinctions that should be treated as independent dimensions. I also demonstrate that logically general systems of reasoning can be instrumentally justified. However, such systems can only be cognitively successful if they are paired with successful inductive reasoning, which is the area where the program of adaptive (ecological) rationality emerged, because there are no generally optimal inductive reasoning methods. I argue that the practical necessity of reasoning under changing environments constitutes a dilemma for ecological rationality, which I attempt to solve within a dual account of rationality. PMID:25071624

  1. Cognitive success: instrumental justifications of normative systems of reasoning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schurz, Gerhard

    2014-01-01

    In the first part of the paper (sec. 1-4), I argue that Elqayam and Evan's (2011) distinction between normative and instrumental conceptions of cognitive rationality corresponds to deontological vs. teleological accounts in meta-ethics. I suggest that Elqayam and Evans' distinction be replaced by the distinction between a-priori intuition-based vs. a-posteriori success-based accounts of cognitive rationality. The value of cognitive success lies in its instrumental rationality for almost-all practical purposes. In the second part (sec. 5-7), I point out that the Elqayam and Evans's distinction between normative and instrumental rationality is coupled with a second distinction: between logically general vs. locally adaptive accounts of rationality. I argue that these are two independent distinctions that should be treated as independent dimensions. I also demonstrate that logically general systems of reasoning can be instrumentally justified. However, such systems can only be cognitively successful if they are paired with successful inductive reasoning, which is the area where the program of adaptive (ecological) rationality emerged, because there are no generally optimal inductive reasoning methods. I argue that the practical necessity of reasoning under changing environments constitutes a dilemma for ecological rationality, which I attempt to solve within a dual account of rationality.

  2. Explaining focal points: Cognitive hierarchy theory versus team reasoning

    OpenAIRE

    Bardsley, Nicholas; Mehta, Judith; Starmer, Chris; Sugden, Robert

    2008-01-01

    This paper reports experimental tests of two alternative explanations of how players use focal points to select equilibria in one-shot coordination games. Cognitive hierarchy theory explains coordination as the result of common beliefs about players’ pre-reflective inclinations towards the relevant strategies; the theory of team reasoning explains it as the result of the players’ using a non-standard form of reasoning. We report two experiments. One finds strong support for team reasoning; th...

  3. Measuring Social Studies Concept Attainment: Boys and Girls. Report from the Project on A Structure of Concept Attainment Abilities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Harris, Margaret L.; Tabachnick, B. Robert

    This paper describes test development efforts for measuring achievement of selected concepts in social studies. It includes descriptive item and test statistics for the tests developed. Twelve items were developed for each of 30 concepts. Subject specialists categorized the concepts into three major areas: Geographic Region, Man and Society, and…

  4. Relationships among sexual self-concept and sexual risk cognition toward sexual self-efficacy in adolescents: cause-and-effect model testing.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hsu, Hsiu-Yueh; Yu, Hsing-Yi; Lou, Jiunn-Horng; Eng, Cheng-Joo

    2015-04-01

    Sexual self-efficacy plays an important role in adolescents' sexual health. The aim of this study was to test a cause-and-effect model of sexual self-concept and sexual risk cognition toward sexual self-efficacy in adolescents. The study was a cross-sectional survey. Using a random sampling method, a total of 713 junior nursing students were invited to participate in the study, and 465 valid surveys were returned, resulting in a return rate of 65.2%. The data was collected using an anonymous mailed questionnaire. Structural equation modeling was used to test the relationships among sexual self-concept, sexual risk cognition, and sexual self-efficacy, as well as the mediating role of sexual risk cognition. The results revealed that the postulated model fits the data well. Sexual self-concept significantly predicted sexual risk cognition and sexual self-efficacy. Sexual risk cognition significantly predicted sexual self-efficacy and had a mediating effect on the relationship between sexual self-concept and sexual self-efficacy. Based on social cognitive theory and a structural equation model technique, this study confirmed the mediating role of sexual risk cognition in the relationship between sexual self-concept and sexual self-efficacy. Also, sexual self-concept's direct and indirect effects explaining adolescents' sexual self-efficacy were found in this study. © 2014 The Authors. Japan Journal of Nursing Science © 2014 Japan Academy of Nursing Science.

  5. Nursing expertise: a course of ambiguity and evolution in a concept.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hutchinson, Marie; Higson, Mary; Cleary, Michelle; Jackson, Debra

    2016-12-01

    In this article, we clarify and describe the nature of nursing expertise and provide a framework to guide its identification and further development. To have utility and rigour, concept-driven research and theories of practice require underlying concepts that are robust, valid and reliable. Advancing understanding of a concept requires careful attention to explicating its knowledge, metaphors and conceptual meaning. Examining the concepts and metaphors of nursing expertise, and how they have been interpreted into the nursing discourse, we aimed to synthesise definitions and similarities between concepts and elicit the defining characteristics and properties of nursing expertise. In clarifying the concept, we sought to move beyond the ambiguity that currently surrounds expertise in nursing and unravel it to make explicit the characteristics of nursing expertise from published peer-reviewed studies and structured literature synthesis. Findings indicate a lack of clarity surrounding the use of the term expertise. Traditional reliance upon intuition as a way of explaining expert performance is slowly evolving. Emerging from the analysis is a picture of expertise as the relationship between networks of contextual reasoning, understanding and practice. Striking absences in the discourse include limited explication of ethical reasoning and theorising a broader interpretation of expertise reflective of contemporary forms of nursing. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  6. A Descriptive Study Examining the Impact of Digital Writing Environments on Communication and Mathematical Reasoning for Students with Learning Disabilities

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huscroft-D'Angelo, Jacqueline; Higgins, Kristina N.; Crawford, Lindy L.

    2014-01-01

    Proficiency in mathematics, including mathematical reasoning skills, requires students to communicate their mathematical thinking. Mathematical reasoning involves making sense of mathematical concepts in a logical way to form conclusions or judgments, and is often underdeveloped in students with learning disabilities. Technology-based environments…

  7. Developmental Predictors of Fraction Concepts and Procedures

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jordan, Nancy C.; Hansen, Nicole; Fuchs, Lynn S.; Siegler, Robert S.; Gersten, Russell; Micklos, Deborah

    2013-01-01

    Developmental predictors of children's fraction concepts and procedures at the end of fourth grade were investigated in a 2-year longitudinal study. Participants were 357 children who started the study in third grade. Attentive behavior, language, nonverbal reasoning, number line estimation, calculation fluency, and reading fluency each…

  8. Correlation, necessity, and sufficiency: Common errors in the scientific reasoning of undergraduate students for interpreting experiments.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Coleman, Aaron B; Lam, Diane P; Soowal, Lara N

    2015-01-01

    Gaining an understanding of how science works is central to an undergraduate education in biology and biochemistry. The reasoning required to design or interpret experiments that ask specific questions does not come naturally, and is an essential part of the science process skills that must be learned for an understanding of how scientists conduct research. Gaps in these reasoning skills make it difficult for students to become proficient in reading primary scientific literature. In this study, we assessed the ability of students in an upper-division biochemistry laboratory class to use the concepts of correlation, necessity, and sufficiency in interpreting experiments presented in a format and context that is similar to what they would encounter when reading a journal article. The students were assessed before and after completion of a laboratory module where necessary vs. sufficient reasoning was used to design and interpret experiments. The assessment identified two types of errors that were commonly committed by students when interpreting experimental data. When presented with an experiment that only establishes a correlation between a potential intermediate and a known effect, students frequently interpreted the intermediate as being sufficient (causative) for the effect. Also, when presented with an experiment that tests only necessity for an intermediate, they frequently made unsupported conclusions about sufficiency, and vice versa. Completion of the laboratory module and instruction in necessary vs. sufficient reasoning showed some promise for addressing these common errors. © 2015 The International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

  9. Clinical Reasoning Education at US Medical Schools: Results from a National Survey of Internal Medicine Clerkship Directors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rencic, Joseph; Trowbridge, Robert L; Fagan, Mark; Szauter, Karen; Durning, Steven

    2017-11-01

    Recent reports, including the Institute of Medicine's Improving Diagnosis in Health Care, highlight the pervasiveness and underappreciated harm of diagnostic error, and recommend enhancing health care professional education in diagnostic reasoning. However, little is known about clinical reasoning curricula at US medical schools. To describe clinical reasoning curricula at US medical schools and to determine the attitudes of internal medicine clerkship directors toward teaching of clinical reasoning. Cross-sectional multicenter study. US institutional members of the Clerkship Directors in Internal Medicine (CDIM). Examined responses to a survey that was emailed in May 2015 to CDIM institutional representatives, who reported on their medical school's clinical reasoning curriculum. The response rate was 74% (91/123). Most respondents reported that a structured curriculum in clinical reasoning should be taught in all phases of medical education, including the preclinical years (64/85; 75%), clinical clerkships (76/87; 87%), and the fourth year (75/88; 85%), and that more curricular time should be devoted to the topic. Respondents indicated that most students enter the clerkship with only poor (25/85; 29%) to fair (47/85; 55%) knowledge of key clinical reasoning concepts. Most institutions (52/91; 57%) surveyed lacked sessions dedicated to these topics. Lack of curricular time (59/67, 88%) and faculty expertise in teaching these concepts (53/76, 69%) were identified as barriers. Internal medicine clerkship directors believe that clinical reasoning should be taught throughout the 4 years of medical school, with the greatest emphasis in the clinical years. However, only a minority reported having teaching sessions devoted to clinical reasoning, citing a lack of curricular time and faculty expertise as the largest barriers. Our findings suggest that additional institutional and national resources should be dedicated to developing clinical reasoning curricula to improve

  10. Prospective elementary and secondary school mathematics teachers’ statistical reasoning

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rabia KARATOPRAK

    2015-04-01

    Full Text Available This study investigated prospective elementary (PEMTs and secondary (PSMTs school mathematics teachers’ statistical reasoning. The study began with the adaptation of the Statistical Reasoning Assessment (Garfield, 2003 test. Then, the test was administered to 82 PEMTs and 91 PSMTs in a metropolitan city of Turkey. Results showed that both groups were equally successful in understanding independence, and understanding importance of large samples. However, results from selecting appropriate measures of center together with the misconceptions assessing the same subscales showed that both groups selected mode rather than mean as an appropriate average. This suggested their lack of attention to the categorical and interval/ratio variables while examining data. Similarly, both groups were successful in interpreting and computing probability; however, they had equiprobability bias, law of small numbers and representativeness misconceptions. The results imply a change in some questions in the Statistical Reasoning Assessment test and that teacher training programs should include statistics courses focusing on studying characteristics of samples.

  11. Frişã, brownfield or paraginã – dilemmas and reasonings for a comprehensive concept

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Viorel CHIRIȚĂ

    2009-01-01

    Full Text Available The article originates in an empiric research blocked at the level of theory. The present work deals with two types of arguments: semantic and case-based, questioning the adoption of a neologism: the concept of “frişa1”. Although the domain aimed at is geography,the new term could be transferred towards all research domains that have in common the phenomenon represented by abandoned fields and buildings, that is urbanism and planning, sociology, economy, ecology, culture, defense, etc. Methodologically speaking, there had been three stages. After the semantic analysis of the main terms in French, English and Romanian, we identified the theoretical grounds of the phenomenon they designate. In order to have a proper view upon the present day perception of the phenomenon we looked for information both in the research field and in that of economy, politics and local administration. Our personal survey can be added to these sources and one can say that they all allowed the selection of case study examples that can support the authors’ intention.The source of confusion that inevitably appears in the context of the present article is due to the difficulty in choosing a truly solid concept that could the best choice among all the other Romanian subject-versions. We need to adopt a unifying concept to define all these phenomena presented only as a succession of examples. Although they are apparently different manifestations, they are ultimately focusing upon the same thing: a material understructure that is not used and thus becomes degraded. We may speak about the simultaneity of these phenomena and therefore we could establish a certain typology, which is another stage in our preoccupations with this new, yet not exclusively unifying concept.

  12. Validation of Alternative In Vitro Methods to Animal Testing: Concepts, Challenges, Processes and Tools.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Griesinger, Claudius; Desprez, Bertrand; Coecke, Sandra; Casey, Warren; Zuang, Valérie

    This chapter explores the concepts, processes, tools and challenges relating to the validation of alternative methods for toxicity and safety testing. In general terms, validation is the process of assessing the appropriateness and usefulness of a tool for its intended purpose. Validation is routinely used in various contexts in science, technology, the manufacturing and services sectors. It serves to assess the fitness-for-purpose of devices, systems, software up to entire methodologies. In the area of toxicity testing, validation plays an indispensable role: "alternative approaches" are increasingly replacing animal models as predictive tools and it needs to be demonstrated that these novel methods are fit for purpose. Alternative approaches include in vitro test methods, non-testing approaches such as predictive computer models up to entire testing and assessment strategies composed of method suites, data sources and decision-aiding tools. Data generated with alternative approaches are ultimately used for decision-making on public health and the protection of the environment. It is therefore essential that the underlying methods and methodologies are thoroughly characterised, assessed and transparently documented through validation studies involving impartial actors. Importantly, validation serves as a filter to ensure that only test methods able to produce data that help to address legislative requirements (e.g. EU's REACH legislation) are accepted as official testing tools and, owing to the globalisation of markets, recognised on international level (e.g. through inclusion in OECD test guidelines). Since validation creates a credible and transparent evidence base on test methods, it provides a quality stamp, supporting companies developing and marketing alternative methods and creating considerable business opportunities. Validation of alternative methods is conducted through scientific studies assessing two key hypotheses, reliability and relevance of the

  13. The Cognitive-Miser Response Model: Testing for Intuitive and Deliberate Reasoning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bockenholt, Ulf

    2012-01-01

    In a number of psychological studies, answers to reasoning vignettes have been shown to result from both intuitive and deliberate response processes. This paper utilizes a psychometric model to separate these two response tendencies. An experimental application shows that the proposed model facilitates the analysis of dual-process item responses…

  14. Logical Reasoning in Middle Childhood: A Study of Piagetian Concrete Operations Stage.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hooper, Frank H.; And Others

    This 4-year longitudinal study of logical reasoning found complex interrelationships among different cognitive processes of children ages 6 to 15. Piaget's stage theory is discussed in the introduction, with a focus on the concrete operational stage in middle childhood. In the study, a representative array of logical concept tasks and short-term…

  15. Patient survey to identify reasons for non-adherence and elicitation of quality of life concepts associated with immunosuppressant therapy in kidney transplant recipients

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Muduma G

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Gorden Muduma,1 Francis C Shupo,2 Sophie Dam,3 Natalia A Hawken,3 Samuel Aballéa,3 Isaac Odeyemi,1 Mondher Toumi4 1Astellas Pharma Europe Ltd, Chertsey, 2Creativ-Ceutical Ltd, London, UK; 3Creativ-Ceutical Ltd, Paris, 4Public Health (EA 3279, Faculty of Medicine, Aix-Marseille University, Marseille, France Background: Renal transplantation (RT is considered the treatment of choice for end-stage renal disease compared to dialysis, offering better health-related quality of life (HRQoL and higher survival rates. However, immunosuppressants are essential for the long-term survival of kidney grafts and patients’ non-adherence to their medication leads to poor outcomes. Immunosuppressants can also significantly alter patients’ HRQoL because of their side effects and the complex chronic medication regimen they represent. Purpose: To elicit key concepts related to adherence to immunosuppressant therapy (IT and reasons for non-adherence in terms of patient reported outcomes, side effects, and the impact of the medication on HRQoL in RT population, including patient preference of once daily over twice-daily immunosuppressive regimen. Results were used to develop an IT-specific conceptual framework and provide suggestions for improving patients’ adherence to IT. Materials and methods: Interviews were conducted with three clinical experts to determine key concepts related to RT and immunosuppressants. Thirty-seven participants in four focus groups were asked to cite important concepts related to adherence and impact of IT on HRQoL and to rate them. Qualitative analysis was conducted to code participants’ responses. Results: Non-adherence among participants where admitted was unintentional. The reason for this included forgetfulness, interference with lifestyle, being asleep at the time the medication should be taken, change in routine, and impact of side effects. Overall, participants reported that the evening dose was more problematic to remember

  16. Conceptual design of multi-purpose accelerator-driven transmutation test facility

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Hirota, Koichi; Hida, Kenzo; Yokobori, Hitoshi; Kamishima, Yoshio

    1999-01-01

    The Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute (JAERI) has been developing a concept of accelerator-driven transmutation system using a high-power proton linac. To demonstrate the technical feasibility of this concept, accelerator-driven spallation experiments will be necessary. We believe our proposal of a multi-purpose test facility is a promising concept to clarify its feasibility from the basic neutronics and engineering standpoint. The main feature of our initial proposal is using an inclined beam injection. It enables to simplify the head of the test vessel as well as to facilitate easy replacing of the beam window and the testing device containing the test specimen, and also this system will minimize the complexity of the vessel head and surrounding structures. Next proposal is using an ordinary overhead beam injection system and is modified to be simple structural concept of the test vessel from inclined beam injection. At the first step, the basic neutronics experiments will be performed. At this step, the test device and the cooling device are simpler ones, due to only small heat will be generated. Then we plan using a gas cooling. At the following steps, the test device and the vessel internal structures will be remodeled or remade to adjust to the test purposes, if necessary. At these steps, target material tests and thermal hydraulic tests using some liquid metal coolants will be done. In this case, the natural circulation cooling will be done. To verify the transmutation technology, a larger heat will be generated, so a forced coolant circulation system will be installed in the test vessel. This system consists of a heat exchanger and a circulation pump. The vessel internal structure will be remade. Doing such step-wise remaking, initial construction cost of the proposed test facility will be expected to be reasonable. (author)

  17. Individual Differences in Moral Development: Does Intelligence Really Affect Children's Moral Reasoning and Moral Emotions?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Beißert, Hanna M; Hasselhorn, Marcus

    2016-01-01

    This study investigates the relationship between intelligence and individual differences in children's moral development across a range of different moral transgressions. Taking up prior research that showed morality and intelligence to be related in adolescents and adults, the current study wants to test if these findings can be extended to younger children. The study was designed to address some of the shortcomings in prior research by examining young children aged between 6 years; 4 months and 8 years; 10 months, using a broad concept of moral development including emotional aspects and applying an approach that is closely connected to children's daily lives. Participants ( N = 129) completed a standardized intelligence test and were presented four moral transgression stories to assess moral development. Results demonstrated that findings from prior research with adolescents or adults cannot simply be extended to younger participants. No significant correlations of moral development and intelligence were found for any of the presented stories. This provides first evidence that - at least in middle childhood - moral developmental status seems to be independent from children's general intelligence assessed by figural inductive reasoning tests.

  18. Analogical reasoning and the nature of context: a research note.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Richardson, K; Webster, D S

    1996-03-01

    Recent theorising about children's reasoning has tended to move towards a 'contextualist' view of cognition and away from the idea of an overall, context-free, mechanism, varying in efficiency, which is the presupposition underlying traditional standardised reasoning tests. An earlier study suggesting improved reasoning performance among children on socio-cognitively meaningful versions of Raven's Matrices tended to support this shift. The main purpose of the study reported here was to observe whether a similar improvement would be found with contextually-based analogical reasoning problems as well. Ten analogy items from a standardised test were administered to 11-year-olds together with 10 structurally-equivalent knowledge-based items. The results reflected improved performance on the latter, overall, and additional analyses led to further suggestions about the nature of the 'contextual advantage' and the origins of item difficulty.

  19. Children's Conceptions of Bullying and Repeated Conventional Transgressions: Moral, Conventional, Structuring and Personal-Choice Reasoning

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thornberg, Robert; Thornberg, Ulrika Birberg; Alamaa, Rebecca; Daud, Noor

    2016-01-01

    This study examined 307 elementary school children's judgements and reasoning about bullying and other repeated transgressions when school rules regulating these transgressions have been removed in hypothetical school situations. As expected, children judged bullying (repeated moral transgressions) as wrong independently of rules and as more wrong…

  20. Improving Reasoning Skills in Secondary History Education by Working Memory Training

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ariës, Roel Jacobus; Groot, Wim; van den Brink, Henriette Maassen

    2015-01-01

    Secondary school pupils underachieve in tests in which reasoning abilities are required. Brain-based training of working memory (WM) may improve reasoning abilities. In this study, we use a brain-based training programme based on historical content to enhance reasoning abilities in history courses. In the first experiment, a combined intervention…

  1. Behavior of metallic uranium-fissium fuel in TREAT transient overpower tests

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bauer, T.H.; Klickman, A.E.; Lo, R.K.; Rhodes, E.A.; Robinson, W.R.; Stanford, G.S.; Wright, A.E.

    1986-01-01

    TREAT tests M2, M3, and M4 were performed to obtain information on two key behavior characteristics of fuel under transient overpower accident conditions in metal-fueled fast reactors: the prefailure axial self-extrusion (elongation beyond thermal expansion) of fuel within intact cladding and the margin to cladding breach. Uranium-5 wt% fissium Experimental Breeder Reactor-II driver fuel pins were used for the tests since they were available as suitable stand-ins for the uranium-plutonium-zirconium ternary fuel, which is the reference fuel of the integral fast reactor (IFR) concept. The ternary fuel will be used in subsequent TREAT tests. Preliminary results from tests M2 and M3 were presented earlier. The present report includes significant advances in analysis as well as additional data from test M4. Test results and analysis have led to the development and validation of pin cladding failure and fuel extrusion models for metallic fuel, within reasonable uncertainties for the uranium-fissium alloy. Concepts involved are straightforward and readily extendable to ternary alloys and behavior in full-size reactors

  2. Abnormal Moral Reasoning in Complete and Partial Callosotomy Patients

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miller, Michael B.; Sinnott-Armstrong, Walter; Young, Liane; King, Danielle; Paggi, Aldo; Fabri, Mara; Polonara, Gabriele; Gazzaniga, Michael S.

    2010-01-01

    Recent neuroimaging studies suggest lateralized cerebral mechanisms in the right temporal parietal junction are involved in complex social and moral reasoning, such as ascribing beliefs to others. Based on this evidence, we tested 3 anterior-resected and 3 complete callosotomy patients along with 22 normal subjects on a reasoning task that…

  3. Space Station propulsion - Advanced development testing of the water electrolysis concept at MSFC

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jones, Lee W.; Bagdigian, Deborah R.

    1989-01-01

    The successful demonstration at Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC) that the water electrolysis concept is sufficiently mature to warrant adopting it as the baseline propulsion design for Space Station Freedom is described. In particular, the test results demonstrated that oxygen/hydrogen thruster, using gaseous propellants, can deliver more than two million lbf-seconds of total impulse at mixture ratios of 3:1 to 8:1 without significant degradation. The results alao demonstrated succcessful end-to-end operation of an integrated water electrolysis propulsion system.

  4. Testing the theory of reasoned action in explaining sexual behavior among African American young teen girls.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Doswell, Willa M; Braxter, Betty J; Cha, Eunseok; Kim, Kevin H

    2011-12-01

    This study tested the Theory of Reasoned Action to examine the prediction of early sexual behavior among African American young teen girls. Baseline data from a longitudinal randomized clinical trial were used. Between 2001 and 2005, 198 middle-school girls aged 11 to 14 years were recruited. As girls aged, they held more permissive attitudes toward engaging in early sexual behavior and had a higher intention to engage in early sexual behavior. Intention was a significant predictor to explain sexual behavior among the girls. There is a need to develop strategies that promote intention related to delay and prevention of early sexual behavior. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  5. The effect of short-term workshop on improving clinical reasoning skill of medical students.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yousefichaijan, Parsa; Jafari, Farshad; Kahbazi, Manijeh; Rafiei, Mohammad; Pakniyat, AbdolGhader

    2016-01-01

    Clinical reasoning process leads clinician to get purposeful steps from signs and symptoms toward diagnosis and treatment. This research intends to investigate the effect of teaching clinical reasoning on problem-solving skills of medical students. This research is a semi-experimental study. Nineteen Medical student of the pediatric ward as case group participated in a two-day workshop for training clinical reasoning. Before the workshop, they filled out Diagnostic Thinking Inventory (DTI) questionnaires. Fifteen days after the workshop the DTI questionnaire completed and "key feature" (KF) test and "clinical reasoning problem" (CRP) test was held. 23 Medical student as the control group, without passing the clinical reasoning workshop DTI questionnaire completed, and KF test and CRP test was held. The average score of the DTI questionnaire in the control group was 162.04 and in the case group before the workshop was 153.26 and after the workshop was 181.68. Compare the average score of the DTI questionnaire before and after the workshop there is a significant difference. The difference between average KF test scores in the control and the case group was not significant but between average CRP test scores was significant. Clinical reasoning workshop is effectiveness in promoting problem-solving skills of students.

  6. Combined approach to reduced duration integrated leakage rate testing

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Galanti, P.J.

    1987-01-01

    Even though primary reactor containment allowable leakage rates are expressed in weight percent per day of contained air, engineers have been attempting to define acceptable methods to test in < 24 h as long as these tests have been performed. The reasons to reduce testing duration are obvious, because time not generating electricity is time not generating revenue for the utilities. The latest proposed revision to 10CFR50 Appendix J, concerning integrated leakage rate testing (ILRTs), was supplemented with a draft regulatory guide proposing yet another method. This paper proposes a method that includes elements of currently accepted concepts for short duration testing with a standard statistical check for criteria acceptance. Following presentation of the method, several cases are presented showing the results of these combined criteria

  7. Facilities for technology testing of ITER divertor concepts, models, and prototypes in a plasma environment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cohen, S.A.

    1991-12-01

    The exhaust of power and fusion-reaction products from ITER plasma are critical physics and technology issues from performance, safety, and reliability perspectives. Because of inadequate pulse length, fluence, flux, scrape-off layer plasma temperature and density, and other parameters, the present generation of tokamaks, linear plasma devices, or energetic beam facilities are unable to perform adequate technology testing of divertor components, though they are essential contributors to many physics issues such as edge-plasma transport and disruption effects and control. This Technical Requirements Documents presents a description of the capabilities and parameters divertor test facilities should have to perform accelerated life testing on predominantly technological divertor issues such as basic divertor concepts, heat load limits, thermal fatigue, tritium inventory and erosion/redeposition. The cost effectiveness of such divertor technology testing is also discussed

  8. [The concept of "understanding" (Verstehen) in Karl Jaspers].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Villareal, Helena; Aragona, Massimiliano

    2014-01-01

    This article explores the relationship between empathy and psychopathology. It deals with the concept of "understanding" in Jaspers' General Psychopathology, 100 years after the publication of its first edition. The Jaspersian proposal has the person and his/her experience as its primary object of study, just as in Ortegas' vital reason. Jaspers' understanding is not rational but empathetic, based on the co-presence of emotional content and detailed descriptions. Jaspers' methodology is essentially pluralistic, considering both explanation and understanding, necessary for psychopathology. Despite certain limits, the concept of understanding is the backbone of the psychopathological reasoning, and has proven useful over a century of clinical practice. However, it needs a review covering the recent epistemological and clinical findings. "To be understandable" is a relational property that emerges from a semiotic process. Therefore, an effective psychology should encompass an inter-subjective process, and get away from strict rationalism.

  9. Refiguring the Public, Political, and Personal in Current Danish Exclusionary Reasoning

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hervik, Peter

    2018-01-01

    Hervik uses the new concept of “fractal logic” as a way to explain how scaling takes place in Danish exclusionary reasoning, in news articles, web commentaries, blogs, and Facebook about Muslims. Through two incidents in Denmark, an amusement park controversy and a missing handshake panic, he shows...... how participants and other commentators move from small-scale particularity to a generalizable pattern that is understood to. This leads to the argument that the reproduction of a specific fractal logic called “the nation in danger” and works as an exclusionary reasoning that reinforces the political...... subjectivity of Danish neonationalism. In addition, the argument opens up for a refiguring of the public–private in both psychological and political anthropology....

  10. Proportional Reasoning Ability and Concepts of Scale: Surface Area to Volume Relationships in Science

    Science.gov (United States)

    Taylor, Amy; Jones, Gail

    2009-01-01

    The "National Science Education Standards" emphasise teaching unifying concepts and processes such as basic functions of living organisms, the living environment, and scale. Scale influences science processes and phenomena across the domains. One of the big ideas of scale is that of surface area to volume. This study explored whether or not there…

  11. Amenable to reason: Aristotle's rhetoric and the moral psychology of practical ethics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    London, A J

    2000-12-01

    An Aristotelian conception of practical ethics can be derived from the account of practical reasoning that Aristotle articulates in is Rhetoric and this has important implications for the way we understand the nature and limits of practical ethics. an important feature of this conception of practical ethics is its responsiveness to the complex ways in which agents form and maintain moral commitments, and this has important implications for the debate concerning methods of ethics in applied ethics. In particular, this feature enables us to understand casuistry, narrative, and principlism as mutually supportive modes of moral inquiry, rather than divergent and mutually exclusive methods of ethics. As a result, an Aristotelian conception of practical ethics clears the conceptual common ground upon which practical ethicists can forge a stable and realistic self-understanding.

  12. Students' Reasoning about p-Values

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aquilonius, Birgit C.; Brenner, Mary E.

    2015-01-01

    Results from a study of 16 community college students are presented. The research question concerned how students reasoned about p-values. Students' approach to p-values in hypothesis testing was procedural. Students viewed p-values as something that one compares to alpha values in order to arrive at an answer and did not attach much meaning to…

  13. The relation between math self-concept, test and math anxiety, achievement motivation and math achievement in 12 to 14-year-old typically developing adolescents

    OpenAIRE

    Timmerman, H.L.; Toll, S.W.M.; van Luit, J.E.H.

    2017-01-01

    :This study examines the relation between math self-concept, test and math anxiety, achievement motivation, and math achievement in typically developing 12 to 14-year-old adolescents (N = 108) from a school for secondary education in the Netherlands. Data was obtained using a math speed test, achievement motivation test, and the math experience questionnaire. A significant positive correlation was found between math self-concept and math achievement in all four math domains (measurement, rela...

  14. Selecting Attributes for Sport Forecasting using Formal Concept Analysis

    OpenAIRE

    Aranda-Corral, Gonzalo A.; Borrego-Díaz, Joaquín; Galán-Páez, Juan

    2011-01-01

    In order to address complex systems, apply pattern recongnition on their evolution could play an key role to understand their dynamics. Global patterns are required to detect emergent concepts and trends, some of them with qualitative nature. Formal Concept Analysis (FCA) is a theory whose goal is to discover and to extract Knowledge from qualitative data. It provides tools for reasoning with implication basis (and association rules). Implications and association rules are usefull to reasonin...

  15. Morphometry of Left Frontal and Temporal Poles Predicts Analogical Reasoning Abilities.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Aichelburg, Clarisse; Urbanski, Marika; Thiebaut de Schotten, Michel; Humbert, Frederic; Levy, Richard; Volle, Emmanuelle

    2016-03-01

    Analogical reasoning is critical for making inferences and adapting to novelty. It can be studied experimentally using tasks that require creating similarities between situations or concepts, i.e., when their constituent elements share a similar organization or structure. Brain correlates of analogical reasoning have mostly been explored using functional imaging that has highlighted the involvement of the left rostrolateral prefrontal cortex (rlPFC) in healthy subjects. However, whether inter-individual variability in analogical reasoning ability in a healthy adult population is related to differences in brain architecture is unknown. We investigated this question by employing linear regression models of performance in analogy tasks and voxel-based morphometry in 54 healthy subjects. Our results revealed that the ability to reason by analogy was associated with structural variability in the left rlPFC and the anterior part of the inferolateral temporal cortex. Tractography of diffusion-weighted images suggested that these 2 regions have a different set of connections but may exchange information via the arcuate fasciculus. These results suggest that enhanced integrative and semantic abilities supported by structural variation in these areas (or their connectivity) may lead to more efficient analogical reasoning. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  16. Asset Analysis and Operational Concepts for Separation Assurance Flight Testing at Dryden Flight Research Center

    Science.gov (United States)

    Costa, Guillermo J.; Arteaga, Ricardo A.

    2011-01-01

    A preliminary survey of existing separation assurance and collision avoidance advancements, technologies, and efforts has been conducted in order to develop a concept of operations for flight testing autonomous separation assurance at Dryden Flight Research Center. This effort was part of the Unmanned Aerial Systems in the National Airspace System project. The survey focused primarily on separation assurance projects validated through flight testing (including lessons learned), however current forays into the field were also examined. Comparisons between current Dryden flight and range assets were conducted using House of Quality matrices in order to allow project management to make determinations regarding asset utilization for future flight tests. This was conducted in order to establish a body of knowledge of the current collision avoidance landscape, and thus focus Dryden s efforts more effectively towards the providing of assets and test ranges for future flight testing within this research field.

  17. Attainment of students’ conception in magnetic fields by using of direct observation and symbolic language ability

    Science.gov (United States)

    Desy Fatmaryanti, Siska; Suparmi; Sarwanto; Ashadi

    2017-11-01

    This study focuses on description attainment of students’ conception in the magnetic field. The conception was based by using of direct observation and symbolic language ability. The method used is descriptive quantitative research. The subject of study was about 86 students from 3 senior high school at Purworejo. The learning process was done by guided inquiry model. During the learning, students were required to actively investigate the concept of a magnetic field around a straight wire electrical current Data retrieval was performed using an instrument in the form of a multiple choice test reasoned and observation during the learning process. There was four indicator of direct observation ability and four indicators of symbolic language ability to grouping category of students conception. The results of average score showed that students conception about the magnitude more better than the direction of magnetic fields in view of symbolic language. From the observation, we found that students could draw the magnetic fields line not from a text book but their direct observation results. They used various way to get a good accuracy of observation results. Explicit recommendations are presented in the discussion section at the end of this paper.

  18. Direct-to-consumer DNA testing: the fallout for individuals and their families unexpectedly learning of their donor conception origins.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Crawshaw, Marilyn

    2017-07-11

    Increasing numbers of donor-conceived individuals (and/or parents) are seeking individuals genetically related through donor conception. One route is through 'direct-to-consumer' (DTC) DNA testing, prompting calls for fertility services to alert donors and prospective parents to the increasing unsustainability of anonymity and secrecy. The complexity of interpreting DNA results in this context has also been discussed, including their lack of absolute certainty, as has the need for professional and peer support. This commentary highlights a different 'threat', from individuals learning of their donor-conception origins through the use of such tests by themselves or relatives for such purposes as genealogy or health checks. It illustrates the personal complexities faced by three older women and their families on learning not only of their genetic relationship to each other but also to 15 more donor-related siblings. DTC DNA services are a growing feature of modern life. This commentary raises ethical questions about their responsibilities towards those inadvertently learning of donor conception origins and the responsibilities of fertility services to inform prospective parents and donors of this new phenomenon. Considerations of how and when parents should tell their children of their donor-conception origins here instead become how and when children should inform their parents.

  19. Inferential reasoning by exclusion in children (Homo sapiens).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hill, Andrew; Collier-Baker, Emma; Suddendorf, Thomas

    2012-08-01

    The cups task is the most widely adopted forced-choice paradigm for comparative studies of inferential reasoning by exclusion. In this task, subjects are presented with two cups, one of which has been surreptitiously baited. When the empty cup is shaken or its interior shown, it is possible to infer by exclusion that the alternative cup contains the reward. The present study extends the existing body of comparative work to include human children (Homo sapiens). Like chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) that were tested with the same equipment and near-identical procedures, children aged three to five made apparent inferences using both visual and auditory information, although the youngest children showed the least-developed ability in the auditory modality. However, unlike chimpanzees, children of all ages used causally irrelevant information in a control test designed to examine the possibility that their apparent auditory inferences were the product of contingency learning (the duplicate cups test). Nevertheless, the children's ability to reason by exclusion was corroborated by their performance on a novel verbal disjunctive syllogism test, and we found preliminary evidence consistent with the suggestion that children used their causal-logical understanding to reason by exclusion in the cups task, but subsequently treated the duplicate cups information as symbolic or communicative, rather than causal. Implications for future comparative research are discussed. 2012 APA, all rights reserved

  20. Student reasoning about electrostatic and gravitational potential energy: An exploratory study with interdisciplinary consequences

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Beth A. Lindsey

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper describes an investigation into student reasoning about potential energy in the context of introductory electrostatics. Similar incorrect reasoning patterns emerged both in written questions administered after relevant instruction and in one-on-one interviews. These reasoning patterns are also prevalent in responses to questions posed about gravitational potential energy in the context of universal gravitation in introductory mechanics. This finding is relevant for interdisciplinary research, because many courses in multiple disciplines first introduce the concept of electric potential energy in analogy to gravitational potential energy. The results suggest that in introductory courses students do not gain an understanding of potential energy that is sufficiently robust to apply in more advanced physics courses or in disciplines other than physics, in which students must frequently reason with energy in the context of interactions between atoms and molecules.