Program Profile

Program Profile

The International Doctoral School “Scientific Reasoning and Argumentation” (REASON) is an interdisciplinary project in the Learning Sciences, incorporating research from educational psychology, developmental psychology, biology education, mathematics education, medical education, education sciences, computer science, and social work. REASON aims to advance scientific knowledge on the development and promotion of scientific reasoning and argumentation skills from preschool age to adulthood.

Research Areas

The REASON research areas include, but are not limited to, the following:

(1) The interplay between domain-specific and domain-general skills in scientific reasoning and argumentation
(2) The role of epistemic emotions in scientific reasoning and argumentation
(3) The role of social context and social interaction in scientific reasoning and argumentation
(4) The development of scientific reasoning and argumentation
(5) Fostering scientific reasoning and argumentation skills
(6) Scientific reasoning and argumentation in evidence-based practice
(7) The role of technology in scientific reasoning and argumentation
(8) Measuring scientific reasoning and argumentation (including competence-oriented and large scale assessment)

For additional information please visit the research section of our webpage.

Goals

Within the international doctoral school REASON, PhD candidates are working on research questions related to the topic "Competences in scientific reasoning and argumentation". REASON follows both research-related and structural goals.

The research goals refer to (a) an analysis and (b) the facilitation of scientific reasoning and argumentation. With respect to the analysis of scientific reasoning and argumentation, REASON aims to advance the scientific understanding of scientific reasoning and argumentation, finally resulting in a theory-led development of competence models. Concerning the facilitation of scientific reasoning and argumentation, REASON aims to develop effective interventions to facilitate the acquisition of competences related to scientific reasoning and argumentation in primary, secondary, and tertiary education. Exemplary interventions focus on teacher professionalization and on technology-enhanced learning.

The structural goals refer to the realization of innovative elements in the support of PhD research. This is exemplified by realizing structured and interdisciplinary supervision of PhD projects, a structured and research-oriented curriculum and opportunities for research stays abroad.