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Book Chapter

A structural equation model to measure logical competences

  • Silvia Bacci
  • Bruno Bertaccini
  • Riccardo Bruni
  • Federico Crescenzi
  • Beatrice Donati

Logical abilities are a ubiquitous ingredient in all those contexts that take into account soft skills, argumentative skills or critical thinking. However, the relationship between logical models and the enhancement of these abilities is rarely explicitly considered. Two aspects of the issue are particularly critical in our opinion, namely: (i) the lack of statistically relevant data concerning these competences; (ii) the absence of reliable indices that might be used to detect and measure the possession of abilities underlying the aforementioned skills. This paper addresses both aspects of this topic by presenting the results of a research that we conducted between October and December 2020 on students enrolled in various degree courses at the University of Florence. The dataset has been collected by a three-stage initiative. We started from an entrance examination to assess the students' initial abilities. This test included ten questions, each regarding a specific aspect of logical reasoning. Then, students underwent a short training course to strengthen their knowledge of logic. At the end of the short course, students underwent a final examination to evaluate the effectiveness of the training. To verify the effectiveness of the training program we used students’ characteristics into a Structural Equation Model comparing the distribution of abilities before and after the training.

  • Keywords:
  • SEM,
  • Logical abilities,
  • Training course effectiveness,
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Silvia Bacci

University of Florence, Italy - ORCID: 0000-0001-8097-3870

Bruno Bertaccini

University of Florence, Italy - ORCID: 0000-0002-5816-2964

Riccardo Bruni

University of Florence, Italy - ORCID: 0000-0003-2695-0058

Federico Crescenzi

University of Florence, Italy - ORCID: 0000-0002-0701-4398

Beatrice Donati

University of Florence, Italy - ORCID: 0000-0002-4707-8476

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  3. Bertaccini, B., Bruni, R., Crescenzi, F., and Donati, B. (2021). Measuring logical competences and soft skills when enrolling in a university degree course. In Bertaccini, B., Fabbris, L., and Petrucci, A., editors, ASA 2021 Statistics and Information Systems for Policy Evaluation: Book of short papers of the opening conference, volume 127. Firenze University Press.
  4. Bollen, K. A. (1989). Structural equations with latent variables, volume 210. John Wiley & Sons.
  5. DeMars, C. (2010). Item response theory. Oxford University Press.
  6. Duncan, O. D. (2014). Introduction to structural equation models. Elsevier.
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  • Publication Year: 2021
  • Pages: 37-41
  • Content License: CC BY 4.0
  • © 2021 Author(s)

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  • Publication Year: 2021
  • Content License: CC BY 4.0
  • © 2021 Author(s)

Chapter Information

Chapter Title

A structural equation model to measure logical competences

Authors

Silvia Bacci, Bruno Bertaccini, Riccardo Bruni, Federico Crescenzi, Beatrice Donati

Language

English

DOI

10.36253/978-88-5518-461-8.08

Peer Reviewed

Publication Year

2021

Copyright Information

© 2021 Author(s)

Content License

CC BY 4.0

Metadata License

CC0 1.0

Bibliographic Information

Book Title

ASA 2021 Statistics and Information Systems for Policy Evaluation

Book Subtitle

BOOK OF SHORT PAPERS of the on-site conference

Editors

Bruno Bertaccini, Luigi Fabbris, Alessandra Petrucci

Peer Reviewed

Publication Year

2021

Copyright Information

© 2021 Author(s)

Content License

CC BY 4.0

Metadata License

CC0 1.0

Publisher Name

Firenze University Press

DOI

10.36253/978-88-5518-461-8

eISBN (pdf)

978-88-5518-461-8

eISBN (xml)

978-88-5518-462-5

Series Title

Proceedings e report

Series ISSN

2704-601X

Series E-ISSN

2704-5846

220

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