Search

Proportional reasoning is a key topic both at school and in everyday life. However, students are often misled by their preconceptions regarding proportions. Our hypothesis is that these limitations can be mitigated by working on alternative ways of categorizing situations that enable more adequate inferences. Multiple categorization triggers flexibility, which enables reinterpreting a problem statement and adopting a more relevant point of view. The present study aims to show the improvements in proportional reasoning after an intervention focusing on such a multiple categorization. Twenty-eight 4th and 5th grade classes participated in the study during one school year. Schools were classified by the SES of their neighborhood. The experimental group received 12 math lessons focusing on flexibly envisioning a situation involving proportional reasoning from different points of view. At the end of the school year, compared to a control group, the experimental group had better results on the posttest when solving proportion word problems and proposed more diverse solving strategies. The analyses also show that the performance gap linked to the school's SES classification was reduced. This offers promising perspectives regarding multiple categorization as a path to overtake preconceptions and develop cognitive flexibility at school.

While very popular in public discourse about education, critical thinking education is still a work in progress. Two key conditions for successfully addressing critical thinking education are lacking: (a) the availability of a clear, specific, and operational definition, and (b) a deeper understanding of the natural cognitive bases of critical thinking. We, therefore, propose a theoretical framework for critical thinking education, grounded on a cognitive approach. Starting from a restrictive characterization of critical thinking--defined as the capacity of evaluating the epistemic quality of information, and of calibrating one's confidence in relationship to it--we identify specific mechanisms subserving critical thinking that are present in early human development. We refer to these mechanisms as the natural building blocks of critical thinking. On this naturalistic ground, effective educational strategies can be envisaged that both harness the natural building blocks of critical thinking and help overcome its shortcomings.

We propose to assess conceptual knowledge of mathematical notions by having recourse to isomorphic word problems. We assumed that failing to solve isomorphic problems is an indicator of lack of conceptual knowledge. To reach these conclusions, two experiments were conducted among 4th and 5th grade students. In experiment 1, each student had to solve one isomorphic word problem allowing two solving strategies. Results from experiment 1 showed that semantic context promoted a one-sided perspective, constraining the strategies used. The second experiment questioned if the strategy choices by students reflected a lack of procedural knowledge or difficulty in conceptual knowledge. Students solved several problems with the explicit task of proposing two strategies. Results showed that students struggled to identify the conceptual structure of the problems: they changed their strategy depending on semantic contexts, and did not succeed in adopting two encodings for the same problem. This lack of flexibility does not reflect weak procedural knowledge but difficulties in conceptual knowledge. Once conceptual knowledge is characterized as the ability to get over dependence on semantic context, using word problems as assessment tools for conceptual development opens up educational perspectives.

In an era marked by an excessive exposure to information and disinformation, this article explores how the public in France engages with critical thinking on the topics of scientific information and knowledge, as well as associated debates. First, a panel survey was carried out in 2022 by the science education centre Universcience in Paris in collaboration with the survey institute GECE. A total of 3,218 respondents participated in the survey in France. The survey questions focused on three themes: (1) the substantial relationship between respondents' scientific reasoning and critical thinking; (2) sources that respondents used for information, particularly on scientific subjects, to form an understanding of current events; (3) respondent relationships to discourses in the sciences and otherness in reasoning. In this study, critical thinking was defined as the ability to sort and make sense of available information and to question one's opinions. Also, the ability to discern trustworthy sources and information. In this approach, critical thinking is a condition for correctly assessing information on science topics. This is understood to include knowledge about science, its processes of knowledge production, and quality sources of information in the natural sciences. In this study, a Barometer of Critical Thinking was developed, and a survey was carried out. Survey results and the development of the barometer are described. Finally, we discuss how developing scientific literacy (knowledge about scientific facts, methods, practices and sources) is crucial in order to foster critical thinking on scientific information, knowledge, debates, and beyond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a novel coronavirus that caused an ongoing pandemic of a pathology termed Coronavirus Disease 19 (COVID-19). Several studies reported that both COVID-19 and RTEL1 variants are associated with shorter telomere length, but a direct association between the two is not generally acknowledged. Here we demonstrate that up to 8.6% of severe COVID-19 patients bear RTEL1 ultra-rare variants, and show how this subgroup can be recognized. Methods: A cohort of 2246 SARS-CoV-2-positive subjects, collected within the GEN-COVID Multicenter study, was used in this work. Whole exome sequencing analysis was performed using the NovaSeq6000 System, and machine learning methods were used for candidate gene selection of severity. A nested study, comparing severely affected patients bearing or not variants in the selected gene, was used for the characterisation of specific clinical features connected to variants in both acute and post-acute phases. Results: Our GEN-COVID cohort revealed a total of 151 patients carrying at least one RTEL1 ultra-rare variant, which was selected as a specific acute severity feature. From a clinical point of view, these patients showed higher liver function indices, as well as increased CRP and inflammatory markers, such as IL-6. Moreover, compared to control subjects, they present autoimmune disorders more frequently. Finally, their decreased diffusion lung capacity for carbon monoxide after six months of COVID-19 suggests that RTEL1 variants can contribute to the development of SARS-CoV-2-elicited lung fibrosis. Conclusion: RTEL1 ultra-rare variants can be considered as a predictive marker of COVID-19 severity, as well as a marker of pathological evolution in pulmonary fibrosis in the post-COVID phase. This notion can be used for a rapid screening in hospitalized infected people, for vaccine prioritization, and appropriate follow-up assessment for subjects at risk. Trial Registration NCT04549831 (www.clinicaltrial.org) [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Neuroeducation--a recent approach to educational policy--claims that a bridge should be established between education and mind-brain sciences, with the double aim of devising educational methods that work and of understanding why they work. The success of this encounter depends, among other conditions, on getting the science "right"; otherwise, neuroeducation and science-informed policies risk doing more harm than good. On several occasions, the cognitive and brain sciences have been misunderstood, and misused: neuromyths--the misconceptions about the mind and brain functioning--have blossomed, thus raising both theoretical and pragmatic concerns. This article addresses the origin, persistence, and potential side-effects of neuromyths in education. The hypothesis is put forward that the persistence of neuromyths is sustained by specific cultural conditions, such as the circulation of pieces of information about the brain and the appetite for brain news, but has its roots in deeper cognitive intuitions.

Preeclampsia is a severe pregnancy-related inflammatory disease without an effective treatment. The pathophysiology remains partly unknown. However, an increased inflammatory response and oxidative stress are part of the maternal systemic reaction. Recent data have suggested that dysbiosis of the gut microbiome plays a role in preeclampsia as well as other inflammatory diseases. However, dysbiosis in preeclampsia has not been studied in a Scandinavian population. Furthermore, although the fungal flora may also have anti-inflammatory properties, it has never been studied in preeclampsia. We included 25 preeclamptic and 29 healthy third-trimester women for the ITS and 16S sequencing of fungal and bacterial microbiota, respectively. Calprotectin was measured to assess systemic and intestinal inflammatory responses. The fungal diversity differed with BMI and gestational length, suggesting a link between fungi and the immune changes seen in pregnancy. An LEfSe analysis showed 18 significantly differentially abundant bacterial taxa in PE, including enriched Bacteroidetes and depleted Verrucomicrobia and Syntergistota at the phylum level and depleted Akkermansia at the genus level, suggesting a role in the pathophysiology of PE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The paper briefly discusses historical and contemporary reasons for fostering the enterprise of establishing education as an applied science, grounded on theoretical and empirical research in the sciences of the mind, brain, and behavior. The bulk of the paper discusses potential risks that threaten the enterprise, and proposes three levels of contribution that cognitive science can bring into: education policymaking, educational research, and educational practice. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Education is in need of reform, and the development of the sciences of mind and brain are candidates to contribute to the renovation of the way people are instructed and of the tools that mediate learning. Knowledge- and evidence-based approaches to education put forward the fact that educational systems are inadequate to provide an answer to the challenges of the 21st century and claim that education should be guided by scientific principles rather than by intuition and professional wisdom only (or, worst, by tradition). This is because sciences that are capable of shedding light into learning process have dramatically advanced during the last half-century and, still more meaningfully, during the last 20 years. The time has come for a new science of learning to rise, which is structured around cognitive and neuroscience, investigates topics that stem from educational problems, and rests on rigorous forms of in-laboratory and in-vivo evaluation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Epistemologia is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The article presents an interview with Humberto R. Maturana, and Francisco J. Varela who are Chilean biologists and philosophers and together they developed the concept of autopoiesis. When asked about the responsibility of a teacher on an inespable relationship between the goals and means of educational efforts, Maturana said that there must be no contradiction between goals and means. Varela was asked about the essence of the mind, he said that the brain is an organized system.

In line with Kline's taxonomy, highlighting teaching as an array of behaviors with different cognitive underpinnings, we advocate the expansion of a specific line of research on mind, brain, and teaching. This research program is devoted to the understanding of the neurocognitive mechanisms and the evolutionary determinants of teaching skills, with the ultimate goal of helping teachers improve teaching quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]