Reasoning

 Meaning of Reasoning

                             Reasoning is the highest activity stage of thinking. It plays a significant role in one’s adjustment to one’s environment. It controls not only one’s cognitive activities but may also influence the total behavior and person by proper development of reasoning ability. It is essentially or cognitive ability and is like thinking in many aspects.

1.       Like thinking, it has a definite purpose or goal.

2.       It also involves problem-solving behavior.

3.       Like thinking there is mental exploration instead of motor exploration

4.       I t involves mental exploration of the reason or cause of an event or happening.

5.       Like thinking, reasoning is a highly symbolic function.

Definition of Reasoning

1.       Garrett- Reasoning is step wise thinking with a purpose or goals in mind.

2.       Gates- Reasoning is the term applied to highly purposeful controlled selective thinking.

3.       Skinner- Reasoning is the word used to describe the mental recognition of cause and effect relationship.

Steps in Reasoning

                    Reasoning involves the use of critical thinking. There are six basic steps used in Reasoning

1.       Knowledge:  The child should be able to identify what is being said, the topic, the issue and also the main points.

2.       Comprehension: Comprehension is a detail description of the topic or issue and also the main points. Comprehension is understanding the materials read, heard or seen. It is from this , we understand that a student is able to make new knowledge.

3.       Application:  Application means to apply the knowledge that is understood by the child in real life situation.

4.       Analysis:  Analysis involves breaking what the child have heard, seen or read into its component parts . It is done in order to make it clear how the ideas are connected to each other.

5.       Synthesis: Synthesis involves the ability to put together the parts while the child analyses with other information to create something original.

6.       Evaluation:  It is when an understanding child understood what he has said or writes and what reasons he has given to support it.

Types of Reasoning

                  Reasoning may be classified into two broad types -

a)      Inductive Reasoning

b)      Deductive Reasoning

 

a)      Inductive Reasoning: In this type of reasoning we proceed from particular facts to a general conclusion. Experimentations and observation form the basis of this reasoning on the basis of the facts observed and experienced under similar condition; we try to discover universal relations or generalizations. For e.g. the following, reasoning is the inductive reasoning.

 

Ram is Mortal

Karim is Mortal; - Decision making

Mohan is Mortal; - Reasoning is correct

Edward is Mortal; - Conclusion is correct.

 

Therefore, all men are mortal.

 

b)      Deductive Reasoning:  In inductive reasoning we stand completely agreeing with some already discovered or pre-established generalized fact or principle and try to apply it to particular cases. For e.g. the following reasoning is deductive reasoning

 

All men are mortal,

I am a man

Therefore, I am mortal

 

In this way, in deductive reasoning we try to apply the universal truth or generalized principle in solving particulars problems.

 

Developing Reasoning or Training in Reasoning

                                        Reasoning power in children can be develop by providing opportunities to them to think and reason and to make appropriate choices. Various ways of developing reasoning power consists of the following:

 

1.       Developing Reasoning and thinking power during childhood

                         Childhood period is the best period for developing thinking and reasoning in children It is during this period that children try to know and discover about the things around them.

2.       Providing context

                        A teacher can develop reasoning and thinking in children by providing a context. For e.g. if the teacher writes a topic on the board then it provides opportunities to the children to think and reason.

3.       Questioning

                   Asking questions to the children encourages them to think independently For.eg. Asking open ended questions like why? Or how? Provides opportunities to think. They think and find out the reasons leading to thinking and reasoning

4.       Providing opportunities for reasoning  in the curricular areas

                Children can be provided opportunities for reasoning within their subject areas. This leads to the development of thinking and reasoning.

5.       Promoting Critical thinking

                    Students should be given tasks or assignments to promote critical thinking. The assignments should focus on such issues and topics which will force them to make choices.

6.       Brainstorming activities

                              Brainstorming is a lateral thinking process in which many ideas are generated for finding a solution to a single problem. Here the quantity of ideas is more important than quality. The participants are set free and encouraged to incorporate unlimited ideas, new and different approaches and ideas from their previous experiences. Thus these activities provide them with an opportunity to come up with a number of ideas as all ideas are welcomed in this process and no idea is considered wrong.