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Thinking and the Sense of Life

A Comparative Study of Young People in Germany and Japan- Educational Consequences

by Gerhard Schaefer (Author) Ryoei Yoshioka (Author)
©2015 Monographs 120 Pages

Summary

Do cognitive/metacognitive abilities favour recognition of sense in life or not? Based on a sample of more than one thousand secondary schools students in Japan and Germany, the correlation between intelligence and perception of sense in life has been empirically examined. The study draws the conclusion that there is no clear correlation between cognition and sense. Finding sense in life seems to be independent from the level of thinking and to be independent as well from particular areas of commitment (e.g. science, technology, art and religion). The main factor discovered so far is a cultural/national one: The majority of Japanese students approve of the idea of sense in life whereas the majority of German students do not. The book discusses the different historical background of the two peer groups as a possible explanation and draws conclusions with respect to education.

Table Of Contents

  • Cover
  • Title
  • Copyright
  • About the author
  • About the book
  • Acknowledgments
  • This eBook can be cited
  • Contents
  • List of Figures and Tables
  • 1. Preface
  • 2. Theoretical Considerations
  • 2.1 Sense and the meaning of life
  • 2.2 Is “Sense of life” a matter of thinking?
  • 2.3 The concept of “Sense”
  • 2.3.1 Etymology
  • 2.3.2 Levels of “Sense”
  • 3. Empirical Research
  • 3.1 Test-population
  • 3.2 Test-Design
  • 3.2.1 Pre-remark
  • 3.2.2 Test
  • 3.3 Results of tasks 1 and 2: Sense of life
  • 3.3.1. Task 1: Stepping out or not? Jumping into another role?
  • 3.3.2 Task 2: Sense of life or not?
  • 3.3.3 Correlation between tasks 1 and 2
  • 3.3.4 “No-sense Items” 2.1.1 – 2.1.13
  • 3.3.5 Summary of “no-sense items”
  • 3.3.6 “Yes-sense Items” (sense-supporters)
  • 3.4 Results of task 3: Cognitive abilities
  • 3.4.1 Frequency of lines and selected concepts
  • 3.4.2 Qualitative evaluation of students’ explanations
  • 3.4.3 Quantitative evaluation
  • 3.4.4 Summary of task 3
  • 3.5 Results of task 4
  • 3.5.1 Frequency of lines per person
  • 3.5.2 Explanation of lines
  • 4. Correlation between Tasks
  • 4.1 Groups of students to be examined
  • 4.2 Results of correlation “thinking ↔ sense” (tasks 3/4 with 1/2)
  • 4.2.1 Task 3
  • 4.2.2 Task 4
  • 4.2.3 Genders
  • 4.2.4 Germany/Japan
  • 4.2.5 Specific areas of task 4
  • 5. Postface: Educational Consequences
  • 5.1 Empirical basis of a “sense for all”
  • 5.1.1 Task 1
  • 5.1.2 Task 2
  • 5.1.3 Task 3
  • 5.1.4 Task 4
  • 5.1.5 Conclusions of the empirical data
  • 5.2 Theoretical reflections on a “sense for all”
  • 5.3 Educational Perspective
  • 5.4 Final Conclusion
  • 6. Literature

Details

Pages
120
Year
2015
ISBN (PDF)
9783653046069
ISBN (ePUB)
9783653985801
ISBN (MOBI)
9783653985795
ISBN (Hardcover)
9783631651865
DOI
10.3726/978-3-653-04606-9
Language
English
Publication date
2014 (August)
Keywords
Kognition Metakognition Menschenbild Lebensveränderung
Published
Frankfurt am Main, Berlin, Bern, Bruxelles, New York, Oxford, Wien, 2014. 120 pp., 9 tables, 19 graphs

Biographical notes

Gerhard Schaefer (Author) Ryoei Yoshioka (Author)

Gerhard Schaefer, biology educator, is professor emeritus of the University of Hamburg. He was the chairman of the Commission for Biological Education (CBE) of the International Union of Biological Sciences (IUBS) for many years and has been the chair of the Educational Commission of the German Society for the Advancement of Science and Medicine (GDNÄ) since 1997. His main fields of research are concept-formation and attitude-development. Ryoei Yoshioka is a senior researcher of the National Institute for Educational Policy Research (NIER) of Japan. His main fields of research are science education and database in education.

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122 pages