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Inductive reasoning is a branch of logic. In a valid inductive argument, the conclusion (consequent) is believed to be true on the basis of its antecedents. For example, when all swans are observed to be white, a student may easily reach the conclusion that all swans are indeed white. A generalization is made based on the evidence gathered. However, when a black swan is observed, the generalization must be thrown out based upon the new data (antecedents). Do you recall that the black swan is native to Australia? Well, it is! Before the great voyages of discovery, the black swan was never observed in Europe and England, and it remained unknown to westerners until Australia was discovered and explored. That swans could be black would have been a false conclusion by anyone other than the indiginous people of the land down under before the exploration of the Australian continent! (Graphic view)
Hilda Taba believed that students make generalizations only after data are organized. She believed that students can be led toward making generalizations through concept development and concept attainment strategies. In A Teacher's Handbook to Elementary Social Studies , Hilda Taba describes generalizing as a higher order of thinking when compared to forming concepts.
Generalizations like concepts, are the end products of a process of an individual's abstracting from a group of items of his experience those elements of characteristics the items share, and expressing his recognition of this commonality in a way that is convincing to others. The two major differences between concepts and generalizations are, first of all, that in generalizations the verbal form of the process is expressed as a sentence rather than a word or phrase as in the case of concepts, and second, that generalizations are here taken as representing a higher level of thinking than concepts in that they are a statement of relationships among two or more of these concepts. (1971, p. 72)
According to Joyce and Weil , Hilda Taba utilized three main assumptions in developing her teaching model (Joyce & Weil, 2000, p. 131).
Taba developed three effective strategies in the inductive model that enable students to form concepts, interpret data and apply principles.
For a visual perspective of deductive and inductive reasoning, refer to the Research Knowledge Base at Cornell University.
NEW TECHNIQUES FROM NEW KNOWLEDGE Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory
Dr. Hannah's Framework of Instructional Processes.
Concept Formation
Interpretation of Data
Application of Principles
The Concept Formation Strategy: Dr. Diane Newby (Central Michigan University)
Questioning: Integrated Curriculum for Achieving Necessary Skills (I*CANs)
Types of Chemical Reactions: SuccessLink
Mark Peaty: A look at what one teacher has done with Taba's model.
A Trip to the Supermarket: An Inductive Thinking Lesson Plan
Given Taba's model, we'll build a database named "Technology over Time." In our next face-to-face, we'll interpret the data and apply some principles.
Read Models of Teaching (pp. 123-141).
Select a database application, learn it, and begin building your database of "Technology over Time." Save the database and bring it to the next f-2-F.
Reflection:
Considering all the databases shown in the face-to-face, how would you say these are useful?
Knowing that real teachers are "...caught up in an inquiry that has no end" (Joyce and Weil, 2000, p. 6), how would you describe the way you would use the inductive model with your students?
Does your use of this model involve some procedural adjustments?
Dave Delongchamp, Cathie Conforti, and Jeff Palmrose provide an excellent example that shows how you might present your work in subsequent courses. For now, enjoy their work using the model Hilda Taba created.
Taba, H., Durkin, M. C., Fraenkel, J. R., & NcNaughton, A. H. (1971). A teacher's handbook to elementary social studies: An inductive approach (2nd ed.). Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
Joyce, B., & Weil, M. (2000). Models of teaching (6th ed.). Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
