The Moral Reasoning and Scientific Argumentation of Gifted Adolescents

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore the moral reasoning and scientific argumentation of Finnish adolescents who are gifted in science. The pupils (N = 31) participated in the gifted program at the University of Helsinki. The general intellectual ability of these students was measured by the Raven test (SMP), and their moral reasoning was measured by the Defining Issues Test (DIT). In qualitative essays and interviews, the pupils were asked to identify moral dilemmas in science and provide solutions to them. Pupils’ argumentation skills were analyzed with the model developed by Toulmin (1958). Two illustrative cases of students who had either average or high scores in the DIT are presented with qualitative analysis of their argumentation in solving a moral dilemma in archeological studies in graves. The findings show that the students identified different relevant aspects in discussing the same moral dilemma. Furthermore, the principles and values used in solving the dilemma reveal qualitative differences in students’ moral sensitivity.