NESCent Postdoc Professional Development Series on Effective Teaching and Learning Session 1 – Critical Thinking and the Nature of Science March 24 th, 2006 NESCent - Durham, NC

What We’ll Cover… Critical Thinking –What is it? Definition, History and Assessment –Why teach it? Can it be taught? Should it be taught? –How does one teach Critical Thinking? The Nature of Science, and its relationship to Critical Thinking

Question: What is the highest point on earth? Answer: The peak of Mount Chimborazo, an extinct volcano (20,700 feet or 6,310 meters) How can this be true? I thought the correct answer was Mt. Everest! Hint: Mount Chimborazo is in Ecuador… Now can you explain why it is the “highest point on earth”? Another hint: Think about the shape of the earth… Answer: Due to the bulge of the earth at the equator, Chimborazo’s peak is the point farthest from the center of the earth

Do We Have a Problem? "Many 17-year-olds do not possess the 'higher-order' intellectual skills we should expect of them. Nearly 40 percent cannot draw inferences from written material; only one-fifth can write a persuasive essay; and only one-third can solve a mathematics problem requiring several steps." From the 1983 report “A Nation at Risk” by the National Commission on Excellence in Education

What is Critical Thinking?

“Critical thinking is careful and deliberate determination of whether to accept, reject, or suspend judgment.” Moore and Parker, 1994

What is Critical Thinking? “Critical thinking is deciding rationally what to or what not to believe.” Stephen P. Norris, 1985

What is Critical Thinking? “The purpose of critical thinking is…to achieve understanding, evaluate view points, and solve problems. Since all three areas involve the asking of questions, we can say that critical thinking is the questioning or inquiry we engage in when we seek to understand, evaluate, or resolve.” Victor P. Maiorana, 1992

What is Critical Thinking? “Critical thinking is reasonably and reflectively deciding what to believe or do." Ennis, 1985

What is Critical Thinking? Ultimately, the best definition of Critical Thinking may be your own……

Attributes of a Critical Thinker asks pertinent questions assesses statements and arguments is able to admit a lack of understanding or information has a sense of curiosity is interested in finding new solutions is able to clearly define a set of criteria for analyzing ideas is willing to examine beliefs, assumptions, and opinions and weigh them against facts listens carefully to others and is able to give feedback sees that critical thinking is a lifelong process of self-assessment suspends judgment until all facts have been gathered and considered looks for evidence to support assumption and beliefs is able to adjust opinions when new facts are found looks for proof examines problems closely is able to reject information that is incorrect or irrelevant S. Ferrett, 1997

Relationship Between Critical Thinking and Bloom’s Taxonomy Critical Thinking

A Brief History of Critical Thinking 400 BC – Socrates discussed importance of asking deep, probing questions, seeking evidence and remaining skeptical 1272 – Thomas Aquinas’ Summa Theologica 1605 – Francis Bacon publishes The Advancement of Learning Many advances throughout the Age of Enlightenment 1910 through 1939 – John Dewey ushers in the “modern Critical Thinking” movement, which is refined and expanded right up through present day

Can Critical Thinking be measured or assessed? Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal –Inference –Recognition of Assumptions –Deduction –Interpretation –Evaluation of Arguments

Critical Thinking Why teach it? Can it be taught? Should it be taught? If so, at what level(s)? How can it be taught?

Nature of Science

Let’s do Science What is it? How does it work? Does your culture influence your answer? What’s the next question you would ask? Have you revised your ideas about it?

What makes that Science? What are the fundamental elements of science? –Deals with natural phenomena –Deals with measurable entities Limited by technology –Subject to revision –Public –Guided by theories

What is NOT Science? Includes supernatural forces Does not rely on measurable data Relies on faulty logic Is not testable

How do promoters of ID misuse NOS? Logic flaws –If evolution can’t explain everything, then it must be false –If evolution is false, ID must be correct Concept of “theory” Changing interpretation of facts, or different interpretations of facts Progress of ideas Supernatural forces Extension of natural sciences to philosophy –Origin of life = meaning of life

Resources for teaching CS and NOS Understanding Evolution Teaching Evolution and the Nature of ScienceTeaching Evolution and the Nature of Science