View in EDS HTML Full Text PDF Full Text

Attacking a Straw Man? A theoretical alternative and an exploratory empirical approach on how to "inoculate" students against astrology.

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Title: Attacking a Straw Man? A theoretical alternative and an exploratory empirical approach on how to "inoculate" students against astrology.
Authors: Edelsztein, Valeria1,2 (AUTHOR) valecaroedel@yahoo.com, Méndez, Pablo Ramos3 (AUTHOR), Cormick, Claudio1,4 (AUTHOR)
Source: Science & Education. Oct2025, Vol. 34 Issue 5, p3751-3784. 34p.
Subject Terms: *Student engagement, *Science education, Astrology, Falsification, Critical thinking studies, Worldview
Abstract: Belief in astrology is a worryingly popular phenomenon, particularly among the young. In order to provide students with epistemic "antibodies" against this discourse, we identified some of the characteristics of astrological discourse. By focusing on a sample of representative astrological texts and on a survey concerning personal beliefs, we found out that, contrary to what canonical approaches claim, astrological discourse neither poses (or is received) as scientific nor is exclusively committed to false hypotheses. On the contrary, while presenting itself as a type of knowledge "alternative" or "complementary" to science, it is characterized by a large number of statements which are either unfalsifiable or trivially true—which entails that they cannot count as valuable factual knowledge. Having encountered these traits, we devised a didactic intervention in two stages: one centred on the distinction between falsifiable and unfalsifiable statements and the other on trivially true statements and the risks of accepting them as informative. Both stages yielded promising results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Copyright of Science & Education is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
Database: Education Research Complete
Full text is not displayed to guests.
FullText Links:
  – Type: pdflink
Text:
  Availability: 1
Header DbId: ehh
DbLabel: Education Research Complete
An: 188905347
AccessLevel: 6
PubType: Academic Journal
PubTypeId: academicJournal
PreciseRelevancyScore: 0
IllustrationInfo
Items – Name: Title
  Label: Title
  Group: Ti
  Data: Attacking a Straw Man? A theoretical alternative and an exploratory empirical approach on how to "inoculate" students against astrology.
– Name: Author
  Label: Authors
  Group: Au
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Edelsztein%2C+Valeria%22">Edelsztein, Valeria</searchLink><relatesTo>1,2</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<i> valecaroedel@yahoo.com</i><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Méndez%2C+Pablo+Ramos%22">Méndez, Pablo Ramos</searchLink><relatesTo>3</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Cormick%2C+Claudio%22">Cormick, Claudio</searchLink><relatesTo>1,4</relatesTo> (AUTHOR)
– Name: TitleSource
  Label: Source
  Group: Src
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Science+%26+Education%22">Science & Education</searchLink>. Oct2025, Vol. 34 Issue 5, p3751-3784. 34p.
– Name: Subject
  Label: Subject Terms
  Group: Su
  Data: *<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Student+engagement%22">Student engagement</searchLink><br />*<searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Science+education%22">Science education</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Astrology%22">Astrology</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Falsification%22">Falsification</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Critical+thinking+studies%22">Critical thinking studies</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Worldview%22">Worldview</searchLink>
– Name: Abstract
  Label: Abstract
  Group: Ab
  Data: Belief in astrology is a worryingly popular phenomenon, particularly among the young. In order to provide students with epistemic "antibodies" against this discourse, we identified some of the characteristics of astrological discourse. By focusing on a sample of representative astrological texts and on a survey concerning personal beliefs, we found out that, contrary to what canonical approaches claim, astrological discourse neither poses (or is received) as scientific nor is exclusively committed to false hypotheses. On the contrary, while presenting itself as a type of knowledge "alternative" or "complementary" to science, it is characterized by a large number of statements which are either unfalsifiable or trivially true—which entails that they cannot count as valuable factual knowledge. Having encountered these traits, we devised a didactic intervention in two stages: one centred on the distinction between falsifiable and unfalsifiable statements and the other on trivially true statements and the risks of accepting them as informative. Both stages yielded promising results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
– Name: AbstractSuppliedCopyright
  Label:
  Group: Ab
  Data: <i>Copyright of Science & Education is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
PLink https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=ehh&AN=188905347
RecordInfo BibRecord:
  BibEntity:
    Identifiers:
      – Type: doi
        Value: 10.1007/s11191-024-00609-w
    Languages:
      – Code: eng
        Text: English
    PhysicalDescription:
      Pagination:
        PageCount: 34
        StartPage: 3751
    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: Student engagement
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Science education
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Astrology
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Falsification
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Critical thinking studies
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Worldview
        Type: general
    Titles:
      – TitleFull: Attacking a Straw Man? A theoretical alternative and an exploratory empirical approach on how to "inoculate" students against astrology.
        Type: main
  BibRelationships:
    HasContributorRelationships:
      – PersonEntity:
          Name:
            NameFull: Edelsztein, Valeria
      – PersonEntity:
          Name:
            NameFull: Méndez, Pablo Ramos
      – PersonEntity:
          Name:
            NameFull: Cormick, Claudio
    IsPartOfRelationships:
      – BibEntity:
          Dates:
            – D: 01
              M: 10
              Text: Oct2025
              Type: published
              Y: 2025
          Identifiers:
            – Type: issn-print
              Value: 09267220
          Numbering:
            – Type: volume
              Value: 34
            – Type: issue
              Value: 5
          Titles:
            – TitleFull: Science & Education
              Type: main
ResultId 1