Reconnecting with the Student Relativist: Philosophical and Empirical Approaches
Abstract
As an extension of my presentation at the 2013 SoTL Commons conference, this session focuses upon student relativism, the stance common amongst undergraduates that truth, morality, and so on differ widely from culture to culture or from person to person.
Student relativism can impede learning in a range of disciplines, though its resemblance to philosophical relativism has earned it a special place in philosophy’s own SoTL literature. After a brief outline of this literature, participants will review teaching approaches that can be used with students in most any field. The presentation will also include an update on our pilot survey project, which captures student opinions on the typical slogans of relativism. As this pilot nears completion, our most recent data (from the Fall 2014 term) suggest important lessons that can help us to understand our students’ deepest ideas about truth, knowledge, and learning.
Location
Room 2010
Recommended Citation
Erion, Gerald J., "Reconnecting with the Student Relativist: Philosophical and Empirical Approaches" (2015). SoTL Commons Conference. 18.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/sotlcommons/SoTL/2015/18
Reconnecting with the Student Relativist: Philosophical and Empirical Approaches
Room 2010
As an extension of my presentation at the 2013 SoTL Commons conference, this session focuses upon student relativism, the stance common amongst undergraduates that truth, morality, and so on differ widely from culture to culture or from person to person.
Student relativism can impede learning in a range of disciplines, though its resemblance to philosophical relativism has earned it a special place in philosophy’s own SoTL literature. After a brief outline of this literature, participants will review teaching approaches that can be used with students in most any field. The presentation will also include an update on our pilot survey project, which captures student opinions on the typical slogans of relativism. As this pilot nears completion, our most recent data (from the Fall 2014 term) suggest important lessons that can help us to understand our students’ deepest ideas about truth, knowledge, and learning.
