scholarly journals Critical thinking and the methodology of science

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Ellerton
Keyword(s):  
Critical Thinking ◽  
Scientific Knowledge ◽  
Scientific Literacy ◽  
Scientific Methodology ◽  
Scientific Claims ◽  
Methodology Of Science

Scientific literacy concerns understanding the methodology of science at least as much as understanding scientific knowledge. More than this, it also requires an understanding of why the methodology of science delivers (or fails to deliver) epistemic credibility. To justify scientific claims as credible, it is important to understand how the nature of our reasoning is embodied in scientific methodology and how the limits of our reasoning are therefore the limits of our inquiry. This paper makes explicit how aspects of critical thinking, including argumentation and reasoning, underpin the methodology of science in the hope of making the development of scientific literacy in students more actionable.

Critical Thinking as a Multifaceted Phenomenon

2017 ◽  
pp. 1618-1650
Author(s):  
Maria Bednarikova
Keyword(s):  
Critical Thinking ◽  
Interdisciplinary Research ◽  
Propositional Logic ◽  
Critical Analysis ◽  
Learning Processes ◽  
Scientific Methodology ◽  
Research Papers ◽  
Cognitive Sciences ◽  
Cognitive Operations ◽  
Methodology Of Science

The chapter deals with critical thinking (CT) theoretical modeling. CT is explained as a multifaceted phenomenon that should be examined systematically on interdisciplinary platform. The prototype of such a platform is that of cognitive sciences. The basic issues linked to an interdisciplinary research of CT are: relations between CT and language, logical and cognitive operations in the process of critical analysis, methods of CT and their anchoring in the methodology of science, the process of CT in relation to personal dispositions and attitudes, possibilities of development, and evaluation of CT within educational and learning processes. The possibilities of a CT development are specified in the scientific methodology classes where students are guided through propositional logic, towards the analysis of judgments and arguments so they are capable of drafting research papers that have explanatory and argumentative character. The mutual conditionality between the scientific methodology, the procedure of scientific research, and the basic thought operation of CT is stressed.

Critical Thinking as a Multifaceted Phenomenon

2015 ◽  
pp. 292-322
Author(s):  
Maria Bednarikova
Keyword(s):  
Critical Thinking ◽  
Interdisciplinary Research ◽  
Propositional Logic ◽  
Critical Analysis ◽  
Learning Processes ◽  
Scientific Methodology ◽  
Research Papers ◽  
Cognitive Sciences ◽  
Cognitive Operations ◽  
Methodology Of Science

The chapter deals with critical thinking (CT) theoretical modeling. CT is explained as a multifaceted phenomenon that should be examined systematically on interdisciplinary platform. The prototype of such a platform is that of cognitive sciences. The basic issues linked to an interdisciplinary research of CT are: relations between CT and language, logical and cognitive operations in the process of critical analysis, methods of CT and their anchoring in the methodology of science, the process of CT in relation to personal dispositions and attitudes, possibilities of development, and evaluation of CT within educational and learning processes. The possibilities of a CT development are specified in the scientific methodology classes where students are guided through propositional logic, towards the analysis of judgments and arguments so they are capable of drafting research papers that have explanatory and argumentative character. The mutual conditionality between the scientific methodology, the procedure of scientific research, and the basic thought operation of CT is stressed.

scholarly journals Iniciação à docência em Física e as indagações dos estudantes da educação básica - um relato

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 289-300
Author(s):  
Pedro Donizete Colombo Junior ◽  
Daniel Fernando Bovolenta Ovigli ◽  
Sabrina Eleutério Alves
Keyword(s):  
Scientific Knowledge ◽  
Scientific Literacy ◽  
Basic Education ◽  
Pedagogical Practices ◽  
Education Students ◽  
Physics Teaching ◽  
Interest In Science ◽  
The Face ◽  
The One ◽  
Didactic Strategies

Atividades extensionistas que visem propiciar a educação em ciências são cada vez mais presentes em discussões educacionais, sejam como forma de pensar novas roupagens para conteúdos programáticos ou para novos vieses metodológicos e de avaliação dos processos educativos. Este trabalho apresenta e discute a atividade “Pílula da ciência: o conhecimento está no ar!”, desenvolvida no âmbito do Programa Institucional de Bolsas de Iniciação à Docência (PIBID/CAPES), junto a uma escola pública de Uberaba/MG, em parceria com o grupo PIBID-Física-UFTM, com ênfase em suas contribuições à formação dos envolvidos, licenciandos em Física. O objetivo da atividade desenvolvida foi promover uma dinâmica que permitisse, por um lado, ouvir as inquietações e indagações dos estudantes da Educação Básica frente às suas dúvidas em relação ao conhecimento científico e, por outro lado, proporcionar novas vivências em sala de aula por parte de pibidianos, professores em formação. Para tanto, estudantes da Educação Básica depositavam questionamentos (aqui denominados pílulas) sobre temas voltados às Ciências da Natureza em uma caixa de dúvidas, para posterior socialização das respostas em sala de aula com os pibidianos. Evidenciamos que ouvir e discutir as percepções dos estudantes frente à visão que estes têm do conhecimento científico é um caminho promissor para despertar seu interesse pela ciência, sendo os primeiros passos para o letramento científico, além de ser uma estratégia para sensibilizar os futuros professores a considerarem estas abordagens em suas futuras práticas pedagógicas. Palavras-chave: Ensino de Física; Iniciação à docência; Estratégias didáticas   Physics teaching initiation and the students´ questions in basic education - a report   Abstract: Extension activities that aim to provide science education are increasingly present in educational discussions, whether as a way of thinking about new approaches for curricular contents or new methodological biases and evaluation. This paper presents and discusses the activity "Pill of science: the knowledge is in the air!" developed under the Institutional Program of Initiation to Teaching Scholarship (PIBID/CAPES), at a public school in Uberaba, Brazil, in partnership with the PIBID-Physics-UFTM group, with an emphasis on their contributions to the training of those involved, undergraduates in Physics. The objective of the activity developed was to promote a dynamic that would allow, on the one hand, to listen to the concerns and questions of Basic Education students in the face of their doubts regarding scientific knowledge and, on the other hand, to provide new experiences in the classroom by teachers in training. To this end, Basic Education students deposited questions (here called "pills") about topics related to the Natural Sciences in a box of doubts, for later socialization in the classroom with the undergraduates in Physics. We show that listening and discussing students' perceptions of their view of scientific knowledge is a promising way to awaken their interest in science, being the first steps towards scientific literacy, in addition to being a strategy to sensitize future teachers to consider these approaches in their future pedagogical practices. Keywords: Physics Teaching; Teaching Initiation; Didactic Strategies

scholarly journals CONVENTIONAL AND CONSENSUAL CONCEPTIONS OF SCIENTIFIC KNOWLEDGE NATURE

2020 ◽  
pp. 7-26
Author(s):  
Сергей Александрович Лебедев ◽  
Сергей Николаевич Коськов
Keyword(s):  
Scientific Knowledge ◽  
Scientific Community ◽  
A Priori ◽  
Scientific Work ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Main Subject ◽  
Pure Experience ◽  
Classical Philosophy ◽  
The One ◽  
Methodology Of Science

В статье излагается содержание двух базовых концепций неклассической философии и методологии науки: конвенционалистской и консенсуалистской теории природы научного знания и научной истины. Каждая из них является альтернативой двум основным парадигмам классической философии и методологии науки: эмпиризму (позитивизму) и рационализму. С точки зрения конвенционализма научное знание не есть ни описание чистого опыта, ни его обобщение. Но оно не является также и результатом некой априорной интуиции и чистого разума. Согласно конвенционализму научное знание - это система доказательной информации, исходные принципы которой имеют характер условных, конвенциональных истин. Отсюда следует, что любая истина в науке не категорична, а условна и имеет форму «если, то». Консенсуалистская концепция природы научного знания возникла в философии науки второй половины XX в. Она была, с одной стороны, обобщением конвенционализма, а с другой - его отрицанием. Если в конвенционализме основным субъектом научного познания является отдельный ученый, то в консенсуалистской эпистемологии таким субъектом является социальный субъект - научное сообщество. Научное познание имеет принципиально коллективный характер как в плане его получения в силу разделения научного труда, так и в плане его легитимации и оценки. Последние операции всегда являются результатом консенсуса научного сообщества. The article examines the content of two basic conceptions of non-classical philosophy and methodology of science: the conventionalist and consensual theory of the nature of scientific knowledge. Each of them is an alternative to the two main paradigms of classical philosophy and the methodology of science: empiricism (positivism) and rationalism. From the point of view of conventionalism, scientific knowledge is neither a description of pure experience nor a generalization of it. But it is also not the result of some a priori intuition and pure reason. According to conventionalism, scientific knowledge is a system of evidence-based information, the initial principles of which have the character of conditional, conventional truths. It follows that any truth in science is not categorical, but conditional and has the form «if, then». The consensual concept of the nature of scientific knowledge emerged in the philosophy of science of the second half of the twentieth century. It was, on the one hand, a generalization of conventionalism; on the other, a negation of it. If in conventionalism the main subject of scientific knowledge is an individual scientist, then in consensual epistemology such a subject is a social subject - the scientific community. Scientific knowledge has a fundamentally collective character, both in terms of its acquisition by virtue of the division of scientific work, and in terms of its legitimization and evaluation. The latest operations are always the result of a consensus of the scientific community.

METHODOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS OF THE CONCEPT OF GENERAL THEORY OF LAW J.-L. BERGEL

2021 ◽  
pp. 14-23
Author(s):  
Вадим Леонидович Афанасьевский
Keyword(s):  
General Theory ◽  
Scientific Knowledge ◽  
Legal Discourse ◽  
Scientific Methodology ◽  
Existential Philosophy ◽  
Objective Reality ◽  
Methodological Basis ◽  
The World ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Theory Of Law

Предметом статьи является экспликация методологического базиса разработанной французским правоведом Жаном-Луи Бержелем концепции общей теории права. Автор фиксирует, что методология этой конструкции отличается принципиальной спецификой от классического рационализма научного знания. Бержель для разработки проблем теории права использовал импрессионистский метод, принципиально выходящий за рамки научной методологии. Это приводит к тому, что читатель превращается в соавтора, выстраивая свое представление о предмете теории права. Причем фантазия автора и читателя ничем не ограничена, ибо она уходит от исторических трансформаций развития правовой реальности и традиций теоретического правового дискурса. В статье показано, что предложенная методология привела Бержеля к размытости и непроясненности понятийного аппарата и «терминологическому анархизму». Представив свой анализ его концепции общей теории права, автор статьи приходит к выводу, что основанием методологии Бержеля являются характерные для французской социогуманитарной мысли принципы экзистенциальной философии и постмодернистских штудий. Именно в этом коренится отсутствие целостности в теоретических построениях, наличие эклектизма и туманности употребляемых терминов и понятий. В эту парадигму прекрасно укладывается импрессионистский метод, используемый французским правоведом. Если читатель сам определяет понимание читаемого текста, то смысл уже не определяется объективной реальностью. Он выступает проблемой изолированного индивида, находящегося в произвольно выстроенном им фрагментированном мире, в том числе и мире права The subject of the article is the explication of the methodological basis of the concept of the general theory of law developed by the French jurist Jean-Louis Bergel. The author notes that the methodology of this construction differs in fundamental specificity from the classical rationalism of scientific knowledge. Bergel used the impressionist method to develop problems in the theory of law, which fundamentally went beyond the framework of scientific methodology. This leads to the fact that the reader turns into a co-author, building his own idea of the subject of the theory of law. Moreover, the imagination of the author and the reader is not limited by anything, for it moves away from the historical transformations of the development of legal reality and the traditions of theoretical legal discourse. The article shows that the proposed methodology led Bergel to a vague and unclear conceptual apparatus and «terminological anarchism». Having presented his analysis of his concept of the general theory of law, the author of the article comes to the conclusion that the basis of Bergel's methodology is the principles of existential philosophy and postmodern studies that are characteristic of French socio-humanitarian thought. This is the root of the lack of integrity in theoretical constructions, the presence of eclecticism and the vagueness of the terms and concepts used. The impressionistic method used by the French jurist fits perfectly into this paradigm. If the reader himself determines the understanding of the text being read, then the meaning is no longer determined by objective reality. It acts as a problem of an isolated individual who is in a fragmented world arbitrarily built by him, including the world of law

How Do Individuals Think About Knowledge and Knowing?

2021 ◽  
pp. 97-121
Author(s):  
Gale M. Sinatra ◽  
Barbara K. Hofer
Keyword(s):  
Scientific Knowledge ◽  
Public Understanding Of Science ◽  
Public Understanding ◽  
Epistemic Cognition ◽  
Scientific Enterprise ◽  
New Information ◽  
Scientific Claims ◽  
Understanding Of Science ◽  
Source Of Information ◽  
Reasoning About Knowledge

In everyday encounters with new information, conflicting ideas, and claims made by others, one has to decide who and what to believe. Can one trust what scientists say? What’s the best source of information? These are questions that involve thinking and reasoning about knowledge, or what psychologists call “epistemic cognition.” In Chapter 5, “How Do Individuals Think About Knowledge and Knowing?,” the authors explain how public misunderstanding of scientific claims can often be linked to misconceptions about the scientific enterprise itself. Drawing on their own research and that of others, the authors explain how individuals’ thinking about knowledge influences their science doubt, resistance, and denial. They explain how educators and communicators can enhance public understanding of science by emphasizing how scientific knowledge is created and evaluated and why it should be valued.

A New Vision of Science

1998 ◽  
pp. 363-367
Author(s):  
Fritz Wallner
Keyword(s):  
Scientific Knowledge ◽  
Relative Validity ◽  
Scientific Claims ◽  
New Vision ◽  
Understanding Of Science ◽  
The Given

Traditional convictions regarding science (such as universalism, necessity and eternal validity) are currently in doubt. Relativism seems to destroy scientific claims to rationality. This paper shows a way to keep the traditional convictions of scientific knowledge while acknowledging relativism. With reference to the practicing scientist, we replace descriptivism with constructivism; we modify relative validity with the claim to understanding; and, we offer methodological strategies for acquiring understanding. These strategies we call strangification, which means taking a scientific proposition system out of its context and putting it in another context. We can thus see the implicit presuppositions of the given proposition system by means of the problems arising out of the application of this procedure. Such a change in the understanding of science holds important consequences.

Why Engaging in the Practices of Science Is Not Enough to Achieve Scientific Literacy

2016 ◽  
Vol 78 (5) ◽  
pp. 370-375 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wendy R. Johnson
Keyword(s):  
Science Education ◽  
Scientific Knowledge ◽  
Scientific Literacy ◽  
Modern Science ◽  
Next Generation Science Standards ◽  
Habits Of Mind ◽  
Science Standards ◽  
Effective Science ◽  
Culture Of Science ◽  
K 12

The National Research Council's Framework for K–12 Science Education and the resulting Next Generation Science Standards call for engaging students in the practices of science to develop scientific literacy. While these documents make the connections between scientific knowledge and practices explicit, very little attention is given to the shared values and commitments of the scientific community that underlie these practices and give them meaning. I argue that effective science education should engage students in the practices of science while also reflecting on the values, commitments, and habits of mind that have led to the practices of modern science and that give them meaning. The concept of methodological naturalism demonstrates the connection between the values and commitments of the culture of science and its practices and provides a useful lens for understanding the benefits and limitations of scientific knowledge.

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