Explanatory Argument Research Articles

El Uso de la Gamificación para Mejorar el Idioma Inglés en un Proceso de Enseñanza – Aprendizaje en una Escuela de Chone

The objective of the research was: Analyze how to improve English language learning through gamification at a school in Chone. Updated investigative information was examined that allowed us to identify reasons that limit students learning and that teachers face, which is why the use of recreational activities is considered important to use for a better teaching process, the literary review indicates that songs help students learn faster, enjoy classes, the gamification strategy, which is a technique that uses the game as a mechanism for non-playful contexts, which aims to optimize the stimulation and collaboration of students, to make music learning fun and interactive. The affirmation of the positive of the use of music is because the student becomes emotionally involved and facilitates a notable and explanatory argument for learning. The approach and type of research was quantitative and qualitative, the methodological process was a bibliographic review of specialists on the subject, scientific journals on the Internet, among others, in addition, and the results achieved indicate that 100% of those surveyed consider the use of gamification to be transcendental for the teaching-learning process of English as a second language, which will give students the opportunity to insert themselves into the current interconnected global world, which will be of pedagogical benefit, formative, social and economic.

Explanatory argument extraction of correct answers in resident medical exams

Developing technology to assist medical experts in their everyday decision-making is currently a hot topic in the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI). This is specially true within the framework of Evidence-Based Medicine (EBM), where the aim is to facilitate the extraction of relevant information using natural language as a tool for mediating in human–AI interaction. In this context, AI techniques can be beneficial in finding arguments for past decisions in evolution notes or patient journeys, especially when different doctors are involved in a patient’s care. In those documents the decision-making process towards treating the patient is reported. Thus, applying Natural Language Processing (NLP) techniques has the potential to assist doctors in extracting arguments for a more comprehensive understanding of the decisions made. This work focuses on the explanatory argument identification step by setting up the task in a Question Answering (QA) scenario in which clinicians ask questions to the AI model to assist them in identifying those arguments. In order to explore the capabilities of current AI-based language models, we present a new dataset which, unlike previous work: (i) includes not only explanatory arguments for the correct hypothesis, but also arguments to reason on the incorrectness of other hypotheses; (ii) the explanations are written originally in Spanish by doctors to reason over cases from the Spanish Residency Medical Exams. Furthermore, this new benchmark allows us to set up a novel extractive task by identifying the explanation written by medical doctors that supports the correct answer within an argumentative text. An additional benefit of our approach lies in its ability to evaluate the extractive performance of language models using automatic metrics, which in the Antidote CasiMedicos dataset corresponds to a 74.47 F1 score. Comprehensive experimentation shows that our novel dataset and approach is an effective technique to help practitioners in identifying relevant evidence-based explanations for medical questions.

OFAC, Famine, and the Sanctioning of Afghanistan: A Catastrophic Policy Success

On August 15, 2021, American military forces withdrew from Kabul, and the sanctioning of Afghanistan began. Marred by the usual problems—ineffective, counterproductive, unwieldy—these sanctions revealed three additional puzzles. First, although grounded in targeted sanctions, they transformed into de facto comprehensive sanctions. Secondly, that transformation was instantaneous and unprompted. Thirdly, a near-famine followed within weeks. I make nested analytical, functional, and explanatory arguments. The analytical argument is that targeted sanctions are best understood not as tools of international coercion but primarily as domestic regulations. The functional argument is that the Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) uses tactical and strategic ambiguity to maximize its regulatory reach over financial intuitions, humanitarian aid organizations, and money transfer organizations. The explanatory argument returns to the puzzles. I argue that, without any signal from OFAC, which was the signal, and reflecting OFAC’s regulatory domination, when the Taliban took Kabul, the international financial community, humanitarian aid organizations, and remittance providers all dissociated from Afghanistan with immediate effect and particularly acute consequences on food entitlements.

Why Perceptual Experiences cannot be Probabilistic

Abstract Perceptual Confidence is the thesis that perceptual experiences can be probabilistic. This thesis has been defended and criticised based on a variety of phenomenological, epistemological, and explanatory arguments. One gap in these arguments is that they neglect the question of whether perceptual experiences satisfy the formal conditions that define the notion of probability to which Perceptual Confidence is committed. Here, we focus on this underexplored question and argue that perceptual experiences do not satisfy such conditions. But if they do not, then ascriptions of perceptual confidence are undefined; and so, Perceptual Confidence cannot be true.

Perceived social support and its relationship with self-regulated learning, goal orientation self-management, and academic achievement

Self-regulated learning is recognized as a core competence for academic success and life-long formation. The social context in which self-regulated learning develops and takes place is attracting growing interest. Using cross-sectional data from secondary education students (n = 561), we aimed to formulate explanatory arguments regarding the effect of social support on metacognitive knowledge, metacognitive and cognitive learning strategies, and academic achievement, considering the potential mediating role of goal orientation self-management. Structural Equation Modelling yielded a conceptually consistent and statistically satisfactory empirical model, explaining a moderate-high percentage of the variance in self-regulated learning and academic achievement. The results showed that perceived support from teachers and family positively predicted metacognitive knowledge, metacognitive and cognitive learning strategies, and mastery self-talk and negatively predicted work-avoidance self-talk. Moreover, mastery self-talk and work-avoidance self-talk directly and indirectly (through metacognitive knowledge) predicted academic achievement. Perceived social support is proposed as a marker of vulnerability/protection and as a resource for facing challenges in the academic context.

Replies

Replies

Explaining Recommendations through Conversations: Dialog Model and the Effects of Interface Type and Degree of Interactivity

Explaining system-generated recommendations based on user reviews can foster users’ understanding and assessment of the recommended items and the recommender system (RS) as a whole. While up to now explanations have mostly been static, shown in a single presentation unit, some interactive explanatory approaches have emerged in explainable artificial intelligence (XAI), making it easier for users to examine system decisions and to explore arguments according to their information needs. However, little is known about how interactive interfaces should be conceptualized and designed to meet the explanatory aims of transparency, effectiveness, and trust in RS. Thus, we investigate the potential of interactive, conversational explanations in review-based RS and propose an explanation approach inspired by dialog models and formal argument structures. In particular, we investigate users’ perception of two different interface types for presenting explanations, a graphical user interface (GUI)-based dialog consisting of a sequence of explanatory steps, and a chatbot-like natural-language interface. Since providing explanations by means of natural language conversation is a novel approach, there is a lack of understanding how users would formulate their questions with a corresponding lack of datasets. We thus propose an intent model for explanatory queries and describe the development of ConvEx-DS, a dataset containing intent annotations of 1,806 user questions in the domain of hotels, that can be used to to train intent detection methods as part of the development of conversational agents for explainable RS. We validate the model by measuring user-perceived helpfulness of answers given based on the implemented intent detection. Finally, we report on a user study investigating users’ evaluation of the two types of interactive explanations proposed (GUI and chatbot), and to test the effect of varying degrees of interactivity that result in greater or lesser access to explanatory information. By using Structural Equation Modeling, we reveal details on the relationships between the perceived quality of an explanation and the explanatory objectives of transparency, trust, and effectiveness. Our results show that providing interactive options for scrutinizing explanatory arguments has a significant positive influence on the evaluation by users (compared to low interactive alternatives). Results also suggest that user characteristics such as decision-making style may have a significant influence on the evaluation of different types of interactive explanation interfaces.

The specific theory of systems a new paradigm

The too general definition established by Bertalanffy L. (1968), has been used as the only system concept from 1968 to date and this led to the publication of many unscientific statements, which have never been verified with reality and which, nevertheless , continue to be accepted and used as a basis for reasoning and explanatory arguments from real situations. Here, a system definition is proposed that effectively replaces that of Bertalanffy and allows to explain in a logical, simple and practical way what systems are and opens the opportunity for new research and the rethinking of many concepts until now accepted in spite of its logical and methodological inconsistencies.

Against the Explanatory Argument for Enactivism

Sensorimotor enactivism is the view that the content and the sensory modality of perceptual experience are determined by implicit knowledge of lawful regularities between bodily movements and patterns of sensory stimulation. A proponent of the explanatory argument for sensorimotor enactivism holds that this view is able to provide an intelligible explanation for why certain material realizers give rise to certain perceptual experiences, while rival accounts cannot close this 'explanatory gap'. However, I argue that the notion of the 'material realizer' of perceptual experience is ambiguous. On a narrow construal, the explanatory gap cannot be bridged, not even by enactivism. On a wide construal, enactivism gets a grip on the explanatory gap, but only to the same extent as established theories of consciousness. Thus, on both horns of the dilemma, the explanatory power of enactivism is not superior to more traditional theories of conscious experience.

Evaluation of a support system for health professionals confined by COVID-19.

ABSTRACTOBJECTIVE To evaluate the implementation of a telephone system in a department of Primary Care in Barcelona, Spain, supporting health professionals confined by COVID-19.METHODS We conducted an observational, descriptive, cross-sectional study with confined professionals, between March 11 and May 31, 2020. We emailed a questionnaire with 18 closed-ended questions and one open-ended question and performed a descriptive analysis of the closed-ended answers and an analysis of the thematic content of the open-ended question.RESULTS Thirty-nine hundred and ninety-eight professionals evaluated the system overall with a score of 6.54 on a scale of 1 to 10. The evaluation of the format of calls made in the support system had higher scores, while the psychological support unit and the coordination of the different groups had lower scores. The content analysis of the open-ended question provides explanatory arguments for the quantitative results.CONCLUSIONS The study allowed a valid and reliable evaluation of the implementation of a support system for confined professionals, in addition to recognizing areas for improvement.

Pre-Service Teachers’ Perceptions of, and Experiences with, Technology-Enhanced Transformative Learning towards Education for Sustainable Development

Teacher education for sustainable development (ESD) is faced with continuing unsustainability trends, which require deep and enduring social transformation. Transformative learning is a possible solution to facilitating reflection on the cognitive and socio-emotional processes underpinning students’ learning towards sustainability. The purpose of this paper is to investigate students’ perceptions of, and experiences with, technology-enhanced self-directed learning and design thinking as possible moderators of transformative learning in order to advance the concept and practice of teacher ESD. These perceptions and experiences are represented by 225 pedagogical and non-pedagogical students from the University of Ljubljana, asked to respond anonymously to three online questionnaires in May and June 2021. Findings indicate that strengthening the transformative aspect of ESD in pre-service teachers requires the consideration of critical reflection, self-awareness, risk propensity, holistic view and openness to diversity, and social support. Moreover, self-directed learning was found to be a moderator for transformative learning among pre-service science teachers, while design thinking was evenly developed among transformative learning for both low- and high-ability students, no matter the study programme. The conditioning factors and explanatory arguments for these results are also discussed.

Impact of Learning in the COVID-19 Era on Academic Outcomes of Undergraduate Psychology Students

The COVID-19 pandemic, and the containment measures adopted by the different governments, led to a boom in online education as a necessary response to the crisis posed against the education system worldwide. This study compares the academic performance of students between face-to-face and online modalities in relation to the exceptional situation between the months of March and June 2020. The academic performance in both modalities of a series of subjects taught in the Psychology Degree at the European University of the Atlantic (Santander, Spain) was taken into account. The results show that student performance during the final exam in the online modality is significantly lower than in the face-to-face modality. However, grades from the continuous evaluation activities are significantly higher online, which somehow compensates the overall grade of the course, with no significant difference in the online mode with respect to the face-to-face mode, even though overall performance is higher in the latter. The conditioning factors and explanatory arguments for these results are also discussed.

“Conspiracy theory”: The case for being critically receptive

“Conspiracy theory”: The case for being critically receptive

The Limits of Self-Effacement: A Reply to Wittwer

This article is concerned with the interconnection between three arguments: the Moral Explanatory Dispensability Argument (Moral EDA), the Epistemic Explanatory Dispensability Argument (Epistemic EDA), and the Companions in Guilt Argument (CGA). Silvan Wittwer has recently argued that the Epistemic EDA is self-effacing, whereas the Moral EDA is not. This difference between them is then leveraged by Wittwer to establish that there is a significant disparity between these arguments and that this disparity undermines attempts to use the CGA as a means of refuting the Moral EDA. After explaining the connections between these arguments, I provide three different responses to Wittwer’s analysis. First, I develop a plausible case in favor of the conclusion that the Moral EDA is also self-effacing. Second, I defend the Epistemic EDA from the charge of self-effacement and respond to Wittwer’s assertion that my preferred method of escaping his argument is dialectically inappropriate. Finally, I explain how some arguments recently articulated by Richard Rowland and Ramon Das support my objections to Wittwer’s self-effacement argument.

Putting I-Thoughts to Work

A traditional view holds that the self-concept is essentially indexical. In a highly influential article, Ruth Millikan famously held that the self-concept should be understood as a Millian name with a sui generis functional role. This article presents a novel explanatory argument against the Millian view and in favor of the indexical view. The argument starts from a characterization of the self-concept as a device of information integration. It then shows that the indexical view yields a better explanation of the integration function than the Millian view. The resulting account can rebut Millikan’s objections and it has broader implications for the debate on the essential indexical.

Putting I-Thoughts to Work

A traditional view holds that the self-concept is essentially indexical. In a highly influential article, Ruth Millikan famously held that the self-concept should be understood as a Millian name with a sui generis functional role. This article presents a novel explanatory argument against the Millian view and in favor of the indexical view. The argument starts from a characterization of the self-concept as a device of information integration. It then shows that the indexical view yields a better explanation of the integration function than the Millian view. The resulting account can rebut Millikan’s objections and it has broader implications for the debate on the essential indexical.

Gratitude to Beautiful Objects: On Nietzsche's Claim That the Beautiful “Promises Happiness”

ABSTRACT Nietzsche suggests that part of what it is to experience something as beautiful is to experience it as beneficial in the highest degree. He defends this claim by suggesting that it alone captures the experience of beauty typical of artists. I argue that this is best understood as pointing to an explanatory argument: Nietzsche takes his view to make sense of an effect beautiful objects have on artists. This effect is, I suggest, gratitude. Beautiful objects inspire feelings of gratitude within artists, moving them to create works of art celebrating those objects as a form of thanksgiving. Insofar as gratitude is typically generated by objects viewed as beneficial, Nietzsche's view of beauty is well-positioned to explain this effect.

Imbricación y disolución de la masa en el público, sus consecuencias: la inestabilidad política de los sistemas liberales

Un rápido vistazo a las actuales coyunturas políticas en los sistemas políticos liberales que con tanto éxito estuvieron organizando hasta la última crisis económica del 2008 a las sociedades occidentales desde la conclusión de la II Guerra Mundial, permite comprobar el estado más o menos caótico en el que se encuentran muchos de ellos. Lo que en otros tiempos fue con contadas excepciones un remanso político bipartidista de alternancias entre dos fuerzas políticas mayoritarias y hegemónicas, hoy es un galimatías de fuerzas políticas atomizadas y dispersas en todo el espectro político. Sin quitar su responsabilidad a la crisis, existen determinadas causas relacionadas con los cambios en la composición social de la Opinión Pública y la irrupción de las nuevas Tecnologías de la Información y la Comunicación que explican la gran inestabilidad que se ha apoderado de los sistemas políticos occidentales. La presente investigación cualitativa desarrolla una pertinente argumentación explicativa que revela la forma en la que los cambios institucionales han venido afectando a la tradicional esfera social pública, desde la que todavía se legitiman los gobiernos de los sistemas liberales durante los procesos políticos.

Exploring Prospective Teachers’ Ability to Generate and Analyze Evidence-based Explanatory Arguments

In this paper, using written responses of 37 PSTs preparing to teach grades 1-8 mathematics, we examined explanations they constructed to support their problem solutions and explanations they provided in support of their critiques of student-generated explanations. We also examined features of explanations on which PSTs drew in their critiques of mathematical explanations of students. Our results draw attention to the importance of helping PSTs develop competencies in constructing and critiquing mathematical explanations concurrently. Although explanations PSTs generated for their critiques of student explanations were weaker compared to the explanations PSTs formulated for their own problem solutions, PSTs proficient in generating mathematical explanations were also more proficient in analyzing and critiquing mathematical explanations. We identified seven criteria PSTs used while analyzing and critiquing student-explanations. These criteria reveal what PSTs might value, or pay attention to, as they critique student-explanations. We share implications for mathematics teacher educators to consider and suggest directions for further research.

Reply to Wilson Mendonça’s “Supervenience arguments against robust moral realism”

In his “Supervenience arguments against robust moral realism”, Wilson Mendonca sets out to defend robust moral realism (the thesis that moral properties are not identical to natural properties) against the Explanatory Argument based on Supervenience. According to this argument, robust realism is unable to account for specific supervenience facts; given that the identification of moral and natural properties allows one to account for such facts, robust realism has an explanatory disadvantage vis-a-vis reductive realism. Mendonca’s answer consists in holding (i) that reductive realism has trouble accounting for the asymmetric character of specific supervenience facts and (ii) that the notion of reduction by analysis, which allows one to properly explain specific supervenience facts, supports only a weak form of reductionism that is compatible with robust realism. I argue that these claims are false and that, therefore, Mendonca fails to show that the Explanatory Argument is not a threat to robust realism. Keywords: robust moral realism, supervenience, moral reductivism, reduction by identity, reduction by analysis.