tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25541994.post9154889553575447027..comments2024-03-26T14:44:37.985-04:00Comments on D-Ed Reckoning: More on critical thinking skills and content knowledgeKDeRosahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06853211164976890091noreply@blogger.comBlogger7125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25541994.post-50176414527749956462009-01-22T13:13:00.000-05:002009-01-22T13:13:00.000-05:00Amen, Tracy. For further proof of that, see commen...<I>Amen, Tracy. For further proof of that, see comments made on this very site re standardized tests and IRT.</I><BR/><BR/>Dick, I think we are hopelessly split on IRT, because I believe the mathematics in the text you provided over your assertions. However, if you wish to reopen this debate, please tell me the answers to the last two questions I asked you, in other words, what exactly do you believe about IRT, so I can ask a psychometrician, and how large a number of students would it take you to be convinced that a standardised achievement test with a large number of students can result in subjects piling up at the top.Tracy Whttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08999246551652981965noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25541994.post-88080561875771751052009-01-22T12:29:00.000-05:002009-01-22T12:29:00.000-05:00Amen, Tracy. For further proof of that, see comme...Amen, Tracy. For further proof of that, see comments made on this very site re standardized tests and IRT. If you haven't constructed several and administered several thousand, it's easy to get lost in the fog that surrounds these matters.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25541994.post-50207174375073045062009-01-22T09:44:00.000-05:002009-01-22T09:44:00.000-05:00I'm with this - part of the way I make my living i...I'm with this - part of the way I make my living is by translating between electrical engineers and economists. People can be very smart in their own area, but just make wrong arguments outside that because they don't have the background knowledge.Tracy Whttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08999246551652981965noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25541994.post-48907158785250191572009-01-22T09:36:00.000-05:002009-01-22T09:36:00.000-05:00The notion that "critical thinking skills" exist i...The notion that "critical thinking skills" exist is part of the romantic tradition. I stumbled across a link on the Reading Reform Foundation msg bd to a talk by E. D. Hirsch, the most vocal proponent of "content knowledge," on "The Roots of the Education Wars."<BR/><BR/>www.catholiceducation.org/articles/education/ed0174.html<BR/><BR/>The piece is very relevant to this thread and to other dialog that goes on here. It's worth a read.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25541994.post-52889836559994775432009-01-22T07:57:00.000-05:002009-01-22T07:57:00.000-05:00I don't see missing premise.let's take the easier ...I don't see missing premise.<BR/><BR/>let's take the easier one and use a more well known synonym:<BR/><BR/>When John walked out onto the street, he blinked rapidly. Where do you think John has been?<BR/><BR/>I might infer he was in a movie theater or some other place dark and the street was brightly lit causing John the blink.<BR/><BR/>The problem requires more than recollection to solve.<BR/><BR/>Not knowing the definition of a work does not make a missing premise.KDeRosahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06853211164976890091noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25541994.post-36348126043512303062009-01-22T06:59:00.000-05:002009-01-22T06:59:00.000-05:00> For example, consider the inference item: &qu...> For example, consider the inference item: "As the location of the subatomic particle becomes more precise, what would you infer about its momentum?" Or consider this example: "When John walked out onto the street, he nictitated rapidly." Where do you think John has been?<BR/><BR/>These are not inference items, they are memory items.<BR/><BR/>In each case, a key premise is missing, and the primary task for the reader is to recall the missing premise.<BR/><BR/>Knowledge of inference will provide a clude as to the nature of the premise, but will not provide the premise itself; this is a straightforward task of recollection.<BR/><BR/>Actual exercises of inference do not illicitly combine elements of direct recollection. <BR/><BR/>Since these are not infrence items, the author's contention, that "exposing students, especially low-performing ones, to inference items is not sufficient" has not been proven.Stephen Downeshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06140591903467372209noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-25541994.post-78812426826043832482009-01-21T19:51:00.000-05:002009-01-21T19:51:00.000-05:00This reader's reaction is "spot on"--as far as the...This reader's reaction is "spot on"--as far as the spot goes. <BR/><BR/>Before a student has been taught to read, the background info has to be communicated using spoken language. That's slow going. Best to defer serious work on this stuff until after a kid can read. <BR/><BR/>Then are are complex instructional design decisions re student choice, what to get into kid's memory and what to reserve for Internet memory retrieval. <BR/><BR/>I see from amazon.com that Doug and colleagues are coming out with a 5th ed. Hopefully, it will bring DI into the Internet age.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com