Sternberg-Wagner thinking styles: a research tool in social science didactics

Abstract

Due to its nature, the teaching of social sciences and the way of thinking of teachers and students maintain a complex, if not delicate relationship. Personal viewpoints and affinities on issues like gender, how things must be done or arranged in class could have a strong influence on the development of a subject. To understand this in a given context, we propose Sternberg-Wagner test analysis and data mining as class tool to identify student behavior patterns and its influence on selected variables (scores, gender, choice of small group for class tasks). As the study shows, significant differences have been detected between sexes as to the form they prefer to do a task, and the way they conceive it. Knowing this can help to better class planning, insofar identifies strengths and weaknesses that otherwise might not have been detected.