scholarly journals Research in Moral Education: The Contribution of P4C to the Moral Growth of Students

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 119
Author(s):  
Félix García-Moriyón ◽  
Jara González-Lamas ◽  
Juan Botella ◽  
Javier González Vela ◽  
Tomás Miranda-Alonso ◽  
...  

Moral education and moral growth are very important topics, and have been so as much in the fields of moral psychology and moral education as in the policies of governments and international institutions over the past decades. These two topics are also central themes within the educational proposal of Philosophy for Children (P4C), as seen in theoretical reflection and in educational research. It is necessary to start from a more global approach to moral growth, focused on the development of capacities. Such abilities are to be understood as virtues or personality traits that enable us to achieve a full life, that is, to become good people. The transformation of classrooms into communities of philosophical inquiry, following the educational guidelines of P4C, can contribute to the achievement of this objective. Here we present the psychological and methodological underpinnings of an educational research project that we are applying to a small sample that includes two groups—experimental and control—in a typical classroom environment. We are administering tests at the beginning and the end of the application of a moral education model according to the basic principles of Philosophy for Children. The objective is to verify that our research design could be used to evaluate the contribution of this educational model to the students’ moral growth, understood as the consolidation of the students’ moral habits and competences.

Author(s):  
Akram Shatalebi ◽  
Mehrnoosh Hedayati

This study is investigating the impact of “Philosophy for Children” Program on the reduction of the symptoms of psychosomatic disorders in children aged 9 to 11 years in Iran. The sample of the study consists of 45 primary school boy students who were randomly selected using multistage random cluster sampling from among 19 districts of Education. This is a Quasi-experimental method research with experimental and control groups. Research tool in this study was Achenbach questionnaire form YSR (Youth Self-report). At first, using this questionnaire, all third and forth graders in two schools were selected by screening in which 45 ones got a score which showed psychosomatic disorders that all of them were eager to take part in the study. The test group, during a 12 sessions in a week, for 1 hour, participated in community of philosophical inquiry-the method of “Philosophy for Children” Program-with a training coach. After the end of the sessions, Achenbach’s re-test, on both control and test groups, was taken to determine the effect of holding the “Philosophy for Children” Program on psychosomatic disorders. The results of this study showed that the implementation of this program has a significant effect in reducing symptoms of psychosomatic disorder of test group.


2015 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Peterson ◽  
Brendan Bentley

In this paper we are interested in the connections between Philosophy for Children and character education. In sketching these connections we suggest some areas where the relationship is potentially fruitful, particularly in light of research which suggests that in practice schools and teachers often adopt and mix different approaches to values education. We outline some implications of drawing connections between the two fields for moral education. The arguments made in this article are done so in the hope of encouraging further critical reflection on the potential relationship between Philosophy for Children and character education.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Metin Bulus

A recent systematic review of experimental studies conducted in Turkey between 2010 and 2020 reported that small sample sizes had been a significant drawback (Bulus and Koyuncu, 2021). A small chunk of the studies were small-scale true experiments (subjects randomized into the treatment and control groups). The remaining studies consisted of quasi-experiments (subjects in treatment and control groups were matched on pretest or other covariates) and weak experiments (neither randomized nor matched but had the control group). They had an average sample size below 70 for different domains and outcomes. These small sample sizes imply a strong (and perhaps erroneous) assumption about the minimum relevant effect size (MRES) of intervention before an experiment is conducted; that is, a standardized intervention effect of Cohen’s d < 0.50 is not relevant to education policy or practice. Thus, an introduction to sample size determination for pretest-posttest simple experimental designs is warranted. This study describes nuts and bolts of sample size determination, derives expressions for optimal design under differential cost per treatment and control units, provide convenient tables to guide sample size decisions for MRES values between 0.20 ≤ Cohen’s d ≤ 0.50, and describe the relevant software along with illustrations.


2007 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-75 ◽  
Author(s):  
V.E. Tzanakakis ◽  
N.V. Paranychianaki ◽  
A.N. Angelakis

“Land treatment” refers to the application of wastewater to the soil to achieve treatment and to meet irrigation needs of the vegetation. Application of wastewater to the land was the first practice used to protect public health and control environmental pollution. This technology has gone through different stages of development with time but it was not until 1840s when the basic principles of this technology started to establish. The use of land treatment for wastewater treatment declined after the development of conventional treatment plants but a renewed interested occurred after the passage of Clean Water Act and especially, during the last two decades. Currently, its application has been expanded in the management of various types of wastewaters including dairy, meat, industrial effluents as well as and polluted water sources. It is recognized as the ideal technology for rural communities, clusters of homes and small industrial units due to low energy demands and low operation and maintenance costs. Furthermore, in conjunction with biomass production can contribute in the control of climate change. A brief historical overview along with an introduction to the fundamental processes the current trends and the future prospects are provided in this section.


2018 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Laura D'Olimpio ◽  
Andrew Peterson

Following neo-Aristotelians Alasdair MacIntyre and Martha Nussbaum, we claim that humans are story-telling animals who learn from the stories of diverse others. Moral agents use rational emotions, such as compassion, which is our focus here, to imaginatively reconstruct others’ thoughts, feelings and goals. In turn, this imaginative reconstruction plays a crucial role in deliberating and discerning how to act. A body of literature has developed in support of the role narrative artworks (i.e. novels and films) can play in allowing us the opportunity to engage imaginatively and sympathetically with diverse characters and scenarios in a safe protected space that is created by the fictional world. By practising what Nussbaum calls a ‘loving attitude’, her version of ethical attention, we can form virtuous habits that lead to phronesis (practical wisdom). In this paper, and taking compassion as an illustrative focus, we examine the ways that students’ moral education might usefully develop from engaging with narrative artworks through Philosophy for Children (P4C), where philosophy is a praxis, conducted in a classroom setting using a Community of Inquiry (CoI). We argue that narrative artworks provide useful stimulus material to engage students, generate student questions, and motivate philosophical dialogue and the formation of good habits, which, in turn, supports the argument for philosophy to be taught in schools.


Stroke ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 45 (suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Maarten G Lansberg ◽  
Robin Lemmens ◽  
Soren Christensen ◽  
Nishant K Mishra ◽  
Gregory W Albers

Background: Recent trials have shown no benefit of endovascular therapy. This may, in part, be explained by inaccurate estimates of the treatment effect used in the sample size calculations of these trials. A predictive model which includes variables that modify the expected treatment effect might yield more accurate estimates, and could be valuable in the design of future acute stroke trials. Methods: We conducted a literature review to obtain estimates of parameters that are associated with good functional outcome (GFO) following recanalization. We developed a model to estimate the treatment effect in endovascular stroke trials and applied this model to two recently published endovascular stroke trials. Results: We estimated a 40% absolute difference in the proportion of GFO (mRS 0-2 at 90 days) associated with reperfusion in patients with ICA or M1 occlusions who have a substantial ischemic penumbra at baseline. To estimate the effect size in trials, this value was multiplied by: 1) the proportion of patients undergoing endovascular therapy in the active treatment arm; 2) the proportion of patients with occlusions of the ICA or MCA-M1; 3) the proportion of patients with a substantial penumbra and a DWI lesion <50mL; and 4) the absolute difference in the proportion of patients with reperfusion, defined as TICI 2B-3, between the endovascular treatment and control arms. Based on literature review we assumed a reperfusion rate of 20% in the control arms of IMS III and MR Rescue, a 50% prevalence of patients with substantial penumbra and DWI lesions<50 mL in IMS III, and a 75% prevalence in the penumbral arms of MR Rescue. Based on these model inputs, a 2.2% increase in GFO with endovascular therapy was expected in IMS III, which closely matches the observed 2.1% increase. For MR Rescue, the model predicted a 1.5% increase in GFO with endovascular therapy. Considering the small sample size, this equates to 0.5 additional patients with GFO which closely matches the observed result of 3 fewer patients with GFO. Conclusion: A simple model shows promise for estimating the treatment effect of endovascular stroke trials. It may be useful for the design of future trials and could lead to different inclusion criteria or larger sample sizes compared to the recently conducted studies.


Author(s):  
Yuanjin Zhang ◽  
Daniel Laskowitz ◽  
Dongsheng Fan

Objective: Asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA) is an endogenous inhibitor of nitric oxide synthase which has been shown to be involved in the pathogens of atherosclerosis. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is apleiotropic growth factor involved in neurovascular remodeling in the cerebral ischemia disease. ADMA has been validated to be a risk marker of stroke and transient ischemic attack (TIA). VEGF has been demonstrated associated with risk of stroke. This pilot study aimed to verify the correlation between serum ADMA, VEGF levels and ABCD2 score which has been validated to predict short term risk of stroke following transient ischemic attack (TIA). Methods: TIA was defined as a transient episode of neurologic dysfunction caused by focal brain, spinal cord or retinal ischemia, without acute infarction even the focal transient neurologic symptoms last less than one hour. We enrolled 40 TIAs and 40 healthy controls in Peking University Third Hospital Neurology wards and clinics since May to July 2013. The TIA diagnosis and ABCD2 score evaluation is conducted by the same neurology physician. The mean age of TIAs and controls was 61.9±12.9yrs and 63.4±10.9yrs respectively (P=0.544). Blood samples were drawn within 24 hours after the TIA diagnosis clarified. ADMA and VEGF levels were measured by ELISA. Result: The ADMA levels in TIAs and control group are 0.52±0.06mmol/L and 0.23±0.04mmol/L (t=24.14, P<0.01). The VEGF levels in TIAs and control group are 272.01±26.36mmol/L and 148.87±21.05mmol/L (t=24.65, P<0.01). In the non-stroke history TIAs (23 cases) sub-group the spearman correlation coefficient between ADMA and ABCD2 score is 0.6(P=0.002). Conclusion: ADMA and VEGF are absolutely increased in TIAs. There is no correlation between ADMA, VEGF, age, sex, blood pressure, glucose and ABCD2 in this small sample size population. But ADMA is probably associated with risk of TIA with no-stroke history. Thus, these findings reveal a possibly new challenging potential of the ADMA and VEGF role in the pathogenesis of TIA.


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