ERIC Number: EJ749777
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2006
Pages: 8
Abstractor: ERIC
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0092-1815
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
Socrates and Technology a New Millennium Conversation
Howard, W. Gary
International Journal of Instructional Media, v33 n2 p197 Spr 2006
The Socratic Method has impacted thinkers and instructors from Hegel, who moved through the negation to the negation of the negation, to Marx, who viewed history through dialectical materialism, to C.C. Langdell, who introduced case law as an innovative method to study law as a science, to present-day professors who use this method to compel students to distinguish the ratio decidendi (rule of law) from obiter dicta (incidental comments) and defend their reasoning. This study proposed to apply the Socratic method through contemporary instructional technology. Hypermedia was employed in this study. Hypermedia is a multidimensional electronic information system which utilizes a computer to manage instruction and provide learner control. The following hypotheses were tested: (1) There will be significant learning among all levels of students; and (2) There will be no significant difference in learning between levels of students. A pre-test post-test study employing case method concepts was conducted. Along with it, a modified hierarchy with associative structures hypermedia module was developed. The first hypothesis dealt with whether or not significant learning occurred among the students employing the hypermedia. The second hypothesis related to significant learning with the levels of students. In this study, there was a significant change in performance of critical thinking using the Socratic method, and that hypermedia is a tool that can be applied to the study of classical techniques. (Contains 2 tables.)
Descriptors: Learner Controlled Instruction, Technology Integration, Information Systems, Hypermedia, Case Method (Teaching Technique), Instructional Effectiveness, Hypothesis Testing, Intellectual History, Pretests Posttests, Research Methodology, Learning Modules, Achievement Rating, Critical Thinking, Instructional Program Divisions
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A