Jan Derry

Lessons from Inferentialism for Statistics Education

This theoretical paper relates recent interest in informal statistical inference (ISI) to the semantic theory termed inferentialism, a significant development in contemporary philosophy, which places inference at the heart of human knowing. This theory assists epistemological reflection on challenges in statistics education encountered when designing for the teaching or learning of ISI. We suggest that inferentialism can serve as a valuable theoretical resource for reform efforts that advocate ISI. To illustrate what it means to privilege an inferentialist approach to teaching statistics, we give examples from two sixth-grade classes (age 11) learning to draw informal statistical inferences while developing key concepts such as center, variation, distribution, and sample without losing sight of problem contexts.

The unity of intellect and will: Vygotsky and Spinoza

Jerome Bruner points out in his prologue to the first volume of the English translation of The Collected Works that Vygotsky flirts with the idea that language creates free will. This article attempts to consider the influence of the Dutch seventeenth‐century philosopher Spinoza on Vygotsky. An account of Spinozas anti‐Cartesian conception of will is given, to which Vygotsky recognizes his indebtedness. We will consider elements of Spinozas philosophy that were important to Vygotskys theory of the development of intellect, and claim that an appreciation of the philosophy informing Vygotskys theory of the development of intellect is necessary if the full implications of his project are to be grasped.

Epistemology and Conceptual Resources for the Development of Learning Technologies.

The issues raised by the design and development of technologies to enhance learning has led to a demand for an appropriate language and form of conceptualisation. However we are insufficiently familiar with the way in which different types of mediated tool use occur, to develop the theoretical models needed for the development of this language and form of conceptualisation. In its absence a somewhat eclectic variety of concepts and research, such as the concept of affordance, are recruited in accounts of learning with new technologies. In looking briefly at the relevant area in philosophy this paper will consider whether or not the use of concepts such as affordance give adequate weight to social practice, meaning and knowledge in the design of educational technology. A fruitful source for work in this field which has not been sufficiently exploited is philosophy, particularly recent work in epistemology.

Can Inferentialism Contribute to Social Epistemology?: Can Inferentialism Contribute to Social Epistemology?

This article argues that Robert Brandoms work can be used to develop ideas in the area of social epistemology. It suggests that this work, precisely because it was influenced by Hegel, can make a significant contribution with philosophical anthropology at its centre. The argument is developed using illustrations from education: the first, from the now classic replication of Piagets ‘three mountains task’ by Margaret Donaldson and her colleagues; the second, from contemporary debates about the questions of knowledge and epistemic access. This leads to a series of questions concerning the relation of concepts to each other and to objects of knowledge and to the social dimension of epistemology as it is involved in the development of human capacities.

Can Inferentialism Contribute to Social Epistemology

This article argues that Robert Brandoms work can be used to develop ideas in the area of social epistemology. It suggests that this work, precisely because it was influenced by Hegel, can make a significant contribution with philosophical anthropology at its centre. The argument is developed using illustrations from education: the first, from the now classic replication of Piagets ‘three mountains task’ by Margaret Donaldson and her colleagues; the second, from contemporary debates about the questions of knowledge and epistemic access. This leads to a series of questions concerning the relation of concepts to each other and to objects of knowledge and to the social dimension of epistemology as it is involved in the development of human capacities.

Learning about Cancer

In this article, we discuss the findings of a study about how patients who have been diagnosed with cancer learn about their disease. This is a form of learning that is not often thought of as learning, within the practices in which it takes place. It involves learners who neither possess specific forms of knowledge, nor are sure about what knowledge there is to possess. In medical practice, this form of learning is often referred to in terms such as “information seeking,” and the implemented practices of providing information do not always seem to take account of current understandings of teaching and learning amongst educational and psychological researchers. Here we report the findings of a U.K. Department of Health project concerned with the acceptability and usefulness of the Internet as a cancer information source. Post-Vygotskian theory is deployed in the interpretation of the data and the development of a model of the learning.