Helping students think more critically, communicate ideas more effectively, and work more cooperatively with others are goals widely recognized as indispensable to a proper education. Adventures in Reasoning: Communal Inquiry Through Fantasy Role-Play provides middle school, high school, and even post-secondary teachers with a method to cultivate these crucial skill sets in a way that is engaging, academically rigorous, and also fun. The role-playing approach draws upon the pioneering notion of the community of inquiry as a vehicle for enhancing student learning and development through discussing philosophical concepts and issues. Students create characters that they then use to explore a rich fantasy world filled with practical and conceptual challenges specifically designed to enhance a wide range of cognitive and communication abilities. Drawing together the appeal of fantasy narratives with the rigor of communal inquiry, Adventures in Reasoning provides educators with a rich array of tools through which to engage students’ interests, capture their curiosity, and cultivate crucial cognitive and social skills. Some additional key features of this book include: step-by-step instructions on how to implement fantasy-gaming in the classroom tips on how to assess students’ critical and creative reasoning skills easy to understand rules for fantasy role-playing detailed adventure quests provided that target a wide array of skill sets overview of the pedagogical benefits of introducing philosophy and communal inquiry to middle and high school students lots of advice and suggestions on how to facilitate an effective community of inquiry and how to accommodate different class sizes and student abilities recommendations on how to use fantasy role-playing as a type of service learning in college classrooms

Lost in a fantasy world, Nikki has only logic and science to help her find her way home. Logic to the Rescue is designed to teach kids critical thinking. A combination of fiction and non-fiction, it weaves examples of logical fallacies into a fictional sword-and-sorcery fantasy. Simple examples for testing a hypothesis and setting up experiments in chemistry, physics, and biology are integrated into the plot. The Logic to the Rescue series is a useful addition to a home library for kids ages 10 to 14. The series is designed to kick-start kids' interest in logic, critical thinking, and science through the use of an engrossing story. Mystics and Medicine is the fourth book in the series.

Eight fascinating examples show how understanding of certain topics in advanced mathematics requires nothing more than arithmetic and common sense. Covers mathematical applications behind cell phones, computers, cell growth, and other areas.

The development of mathematical competence -- both by humans as a species over millennia and by individuals over their lifetimes -- is a fascinating aspect of human cognition. This book explores when and why the rudiments of mathematical capability first appeared among human beings, what its fundamental concepts are, and how and why it has grown into the richly branching complex of specialties that it is today. It discusses whether the ‘truths’ of mathematics are discoveries or inventions, and what prompts the emergence of concepts that appear to be descriptive of nothing in human experience. Also covered is the role of esthetics in mathematics: What exactly are mathematicians seeing when they describe a mathematical entity as ‘beautiful’? There is discussion of whether mathematical disability is distinguishable from a general cognitive deficit and whether the potential for mathematical reasoning is best developed through instruction. This volume is unique in the vast range of psychological questions it covers, as revealed in the work habits and products of numerous mathematicians. It provides fascinating reading for researchers and students with an interest in cognition in general and mathematical cognition in particular. Instructors of mathematics will also find the book’s insights illuminating.

This collection of essays examines the key achievements and likely developments in the area of automated reasoning. In keeping with the group ethos, Automated Reasoning is interpreted liberally, spanning underpinning theory, tools for reasoning, argumentation, explanation, computational creativity, and pedagogy. Wider applications including secure and trustworthy software, and health care and emergency management. The book starts with a technically oriented history of the Edinburgh Automated Reasoning Group, written by Alan Bundy, which is followed by chapters from leading researchers associated with the group. Mathematical Reasoning: The History and Impact of the DReaM Group will attract considerable interest from researchers and practitioners of Automated Reasoning, including postgraduates. It should also be of interest to those researching the history of AI.

This book offers a deeper insight into what mathematics is, tapping every child's intuitive ideas of logic and natural enjoyment of games. Simple-looking games and puzzles quickly lead to deeper insights, which will eventually connect with significant formal mathematical ideas as the child grows. This book is addressed to leaders of math circles or enrichment programs, but its activities can fit into regular math classes, homeschooling venues, or situations in which students are learning mathematics on their own. The mathematics contained in the activities can be enjoyed on many levels.