Skeptical Thinking in the Classroom and its Impact - School of Arts ...

Background
In a day where science and technology has achieved things that no one thought humanity
could possibly attain 500 years ago, superstition and credulity are still prevalent in
today’s society much as they were 500 years ago. Science and technology seem to be
progressing at an ever increasing rate, and every day the human race becomes more
dependent on science and technology while the vast majority of the general public’s
understanding of science is sketchy at best. People bask in the glories that science and
technology bestow upon them, yet mistrust and ridicule scientists as social misfits, nerds,
and quacks. Diseases like smallpox, which have devastated people for centuries, have
been eradicated. More people are fed today even though there are decreasing amounts of
farmland available to farm. Less than 70 years after the first powered flight man had
landed on the moon. In a democratic society the people will be electing representatives
to make political decisions for them. Many of these decisions will be on controversial
topics such as: stem cell research, cloning, abortion, the space program, global warming,
alternative energies, nuclear energy, and the ozone hole, along with problems not named
or as of yet undiscovered. The only way the public can possibly make wise decisions on
matters such as those is if they have a good understanding of science, faith in the
scientific method, the ability to look at the arguments from all sides skeptically, and be
able to discern what arguments hold water. Not many people have the time to become
versed on all the details of every topic under scrutiny. As a result, they must rely on the
information that comes from the media, politicians, special interest groups, corporations,
and religious leaders. Teaching students to think skeptically about claims in general, and
how to evaluate information in an objective way so that they can recognize valid
information from unsubstantiated or misleading information, is the key to making the
best decisions on any topic. I feel that a student that can evaluate information in a
skeptical and logical manner has better tools for life in the 21 st century than a student that
just knows a lot of science facts, formulas, and can get the correct answer to a problem on
a test. As much as I would love for all my students to leave my classroom with a love of
science equal to mine, I am not that naïve. Most will not remember how to find the
resultant force applied to an object pulled at a 40 degree angle from the normal, but if
they learn skeptical/critical thinking skills they will be better scientific thinkers that are
better able to make informed decisions especially when it comes to matters having to do
with science. I have witnessed how skills are not transferred from one lesson to the next
or that the skills learned in one class does not transfer to another class. A common
example of this is that students have no problem solving equations in math class, but can
not solve the same type of problem in science class. I believe that logical/critical
thinking skills used in the classroom are not used or transferred in proportion to real life
situations that may require it.
Research Question:
Do critical thinking skills transfer from science class to real life applications, and can
activities be developed to improve the transfer of critical thinking skills across topics?
I am not sure if there is a single main cause for the lack of critical thinking skills in
students today. There seems to be several stages in the development of critical thinking