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Skeptical Thinking in the Classroom and its Impact on the Transference
of Critical Thinking Skills in the Real World
By: Kenneth O’Rourke
4/12/2008
Submitted for: EDUC 545:631
University of Penn
Abstract
One quality that sets humans apart from all other species of known life is the ability to
think, reason, and communicate. The job of education is to enhance and develop these
skills to the highest degree possible. At the heart of human progress is logical/critical
thought. This research attempts to begin to answer the question: Are current educational
practices adequate in transferring critical thinking skills from science class to real life
applications, and can activities be developed to improve the transfer of critical thinking
skills across topics? This skill is crucial to ensuring that a responsible public is able to
make decisions based on the best information available in a democratic society.
Skepticism and the tools of skepticism can be one of the most effective ways of
accomplishing that task. Students’ critical thinking skills were assessed across multiple
topics to ascertain their use and development of critical thinking skills. Preliminary
results show that critical thinking skills do not transfer well from topic to topic, growth
was demonstrated, and many confounding factors complicate the issue beyond simple
critical thinking.
Pennfield Middle School
North Penn School District
2908 Truman Drive
Hatfield, PA 19440
(215) 631-9065
http://www.sas.upenn.edu/~kennethp/
http://www.npenn.org/55777012592138/site/default.asp
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 21st 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
skills as it pertains to belief and the way information is evaluated. (Margarita Limón ) I
believe that it is a multitude of factors that end up conspiring to make a more credulous
student. Some of these may include:
a) The propagation of unsubstantiated claims.
a. Disguised as science otherwise know as pseudoscience. Many times an
idea or event is termed as fact or as having been confirmed by science and
has little or no connection to science. These types of claims can mislead
people, leaving them with a greater distrust of real science. They are often
presented in a charismatic way with flawed logic and no method of
disproving the claim. People can be fooled because the claim makes them
feel good or taps into a desire for that person. They can be made
innocently or with a desire to help, but often they are made by people that
know they are false to further their agenda.
b. Media outlets that do not check facts or the veracity of claims. Many
programs in the media are only interested in ratings, and the debunking of
fallacious claims is usually a casualty in the ratings race. Extraordinary
claims will get extraordinary ratings; however the evidence is far less than
extraordinary and many times fraudulent.
c. Ascribing supernatural causes to mundane although uncommon
experiences. People can misperceive things and come to wrong
conclusions. When the stories are told in a sincere impassioned manner
other people are much more likely to believe the story as fact.
b) The superstitions of long ago are still part of the thinking today.
a. Superstitions are part of the folklore of the human species. The origins of
most can be traced and explained, but many people still take them
seriously and can relate convincing anecdotal evidence to back up those
claims.
b. Urban legends may also be considered as a type of modern superstition as
many urban legends will tell you not to do something or their will be a
consequence.
c. Old wives tales are also a type of superstition that is often erroneous in
their claims. It is a form of believing a so called fact with no real evidence
of its veracity.
c) Survival traits imbedded in the genetic code that may not be necessary in this day
and age may lead to a more credulous acceptance of the story. (Van Gelder p. 5
“Teaching critical thinking”)
a. There may have been traits that helped humanity survive and evolve to
this point that increases people’s credulity. Perhaps the coming together
under charismatic arguments gave our ancestors a survival advantage that
persists today even though it is no longer essential to our survival. For
example: It may have been advantageous for people to group together, and
emotional arguments are the means by which that happens.
b. The proliferation of many ancient religions may have been a byproduct of
these traits
i. Some religions today put forth extraordinary claims with little hard
evidence and a lot of anecdotal evidence. Belief in religion may be
the seed that makes the leap to other credulous claims more
palatable and believable.
I hope that through this study I will be able to ascertain to what extent critical thinking
skills from the classroom are transferred to the real world, how to identify students that
are deficient in skeptical thinking, and gain insight on how to improve critical thinking
skills in the real world.
Methodology
While there are many ways to address and assess critical thinking in the classroom, one
of the ways that is largely ignored is when it comes to superstition and paranormal
events. As a result, I have crafted these exercises myself. It seems as though I had a very
clear idea of what I was assessing, but had a difficult time designing exercises that could
possibly assess it. Once I created them, I had an even more difficult time assessing them
quantitatively. My basic methodology was to establish a baseline for students’ attitudes,
present students with claims of paranormal activity, have them evaluate the claims, and
give a response as to how much credibility each claim had. Students used written
responses in most cases to ascertain their logical/critical thinking skills.
1) Student feelings about science
a) Students wrote a short one paragraph essay on their feeling about science in
general. They were to write about what they thought it was, if it was good, if they
liked it, if it was hard, etc.
i) I use this every year to get to know my students better and to help me target
students that have a poor attitude about science. That way I see it as a
challenge to get them interested in science and to achieve at a high level.
ii) It helped me establish a baseline for each student as to their attitude towards
science for this project.
2) TOSRA test of scientific related attitudes
a) The Test Of Science Related Attitudes (TOSRA) was developed by Professor
Barry Fraser of Curtin University of Technology in Bentley, Western Australia. It
is aimed to examine the attitudes of students towards science and their "scientific
inclination". It is a 70-item self-report instrument that is designed to obtain
information about a person's attitude toward science. (See index for the test)
i) Assessment
(1) Students took the test in November and it was scored to give the students a
baseline to compare further activities as to their growth in skeptical/critical
thinking skills.
(2) Students were scored as per the TOSRA scoring guide.
3) Hope Diamond Essay
a) Students were given two articles to read and write an essay on the two articles.
One article was on the curse of the Hope Diamond and all the trouble that it has
caused through the years. The other article was on debunking the curse of the
Hope Diamond.
b) Students were then required to write a one page essay explaining which article
they felt was more convincing. They were to use examples from the articles to
support their position, and to include their own ideas or life experiences into the
essay.
i) Assessment
(1) Students were assessed by their logical reasoning skills on a scale from -2
to 2, with 2 being high critical thinking skills. Students that found the
curses debunked article more credible scored positively and students that
found the curse article more convincing scored negatively.
(2) I was also looking at the strength of belief or disbelief in the curse
coloring their perception of the articles. Statements like: “I do not believe
in curses to begin with” or “Curses are real” gave me insight as to the
relative impact of the readings.
4) Astrology activity
a) Students were given a sheet of paper to describe how their day went. They were
to include how they were feeling at different times of the day, if anything good or
bad happened.
b) Students were then given their horoscopes for the previous day and asked to
answer questions as to how accurate their horoscope was. They were to rate it
from: Very accurate, more accurate, less accurate, and not at all accurate.
c) Assessment
i) We then did a statistical analysis of the whole class on the accuracy of the
horoscopes.
ii) Students then answered questions regarding astrology
(1) Students then suggested that we do it again tomorrow and check the
accuracy of astrology.
(2) The following day we repeated the activity.
5) Haunted House Activity
a) Students were given a pre-read activity asking how they felt about ghosts and
hauntings.
b) Students were then given an article “How to Haunt a House” by Benjamin
Bradford to read.
c) They were asked questions regarding the article and their opinions about the
haunting in general.
i) Assessment
(1) The students were rated as to whether the article moved them towards a
very critical analysis of ghosts (2), a more critical analysis (1), unchanged
analysis (0), less critical analysis (-1), much less critical analysis (-2)
6) Ending activity
a) Students answered a short questionnaire on the various activities in the project.
They were asked if any of their views on the various topics covered were changed
in any way.
b) Grades were also asked to rank different paranormal and pseudoscientific claims
as to how credible they thought they were.
i) Assessment
(1) I ranked them from -2 to 2 as to how they examine extraordinary claims
made by people or the media. 2 being very critical, -2 being very
credulous.
Findings
TOSRA The TOSRA test uses a Likert response scale that gives the highest positive score of 5 to
Response that are most favorable to science, 3 to a neutral response, and a 1 to the most
negative response. I separated the scores into ranges to get an initial category for the
students. The highest possible score is a 350, while the lowest possible score is a 70. I
separated that possible spread of scores into six ranges:
70- 140 very negative attitude towards science
141- 175 negative attitude towards science
176- 210 neutral with negative leaning attitude
211- 235 neutral with positive leaning attitude
236- 280 positive attitude towards science
281- 350 very positive attitude towards science
There were only three students that fit in the 176- 210 neutral with negative leaning
attitude category. Two students scoring in this range were a surprise to me. Students 10
and 8a are very good students. Student 10 has shown evidence of grade motivation but
not too much intrinsic interest in the subject matter. Student 8a is probably the best
student in the class, and always asks interesting questions that add to the lesson and
expand understanding. Student 8a seems to have a real zest for science class.
Student 6 was the third one scoring in that range. I was not surprised to see that student
there. The student has a positive approach to class, but often will ignore information that
does not fit their previous ideas or model of the topic.
There were eight students that fit into the 211- 235 neutral with positive leaning attitude
category. I expected two students to score higher and one student to score lower based
on classroom performance. Students 5 & 11 get very good grades and seem to have a
good general understanding of science. Student 4a shows no interest in science and even
seems repelled by it at times.
There were nine students that fit in to the 236-280 positive attitudes towards science
category. There was only one surprise in this group. Student 5a has not shown much
interest in science in class, and almost seems resistant to science work academically.
There was 1 student that fit in to the 280- 350 very positive attitude towards science
category. I expected that student to score high, as the student achieves at a high level and
shows a real interest in science.
From the TOSRA test most of my students have a positive attitude towards science, and
the three that scored the lowest scored close to a positive view. This is encouraging to
me as a science teacher.
Hope Diamond Essay
I use a Likert response scale from -2 to 2 in rating student responses.
I scored six students negatively and one student as neutral.
two of the students that scored negatively in this exercise are Hindu (1, 12). From one of
those essays a student says that they are taught to believe in curses as part of their
religion. I believe that religious bias may have a large impact on how skepticism is
applied in an individual. In this case it seems to be hampering those students
development of critical thinking skills.
Two students that scored negatively (10, 4a) had trouble identifying which article had
more reliable facts. Those two students seem to not have read the “Curses Debunked”
article or totally ignored it. There is no mention of it in either of the essays.
The student that scored neutral (6a) straddled the fence and did not come to a definitive
conclusion as to which article was more convincing.
Out of the rest that scored positively, three of them (8, 11, 7a) did an outstanding job
using logical thinking skills to present a well articulated argument.
Astrology Activity
I use a Likert response scale from -2 to 2 in rating the students.
I listed the student s’ Likert scale ratings of how their day went compared to their
horoscope. The data produced a perfect bell curve: Three were very close, seven were
somewhat close, seven were mostly wrong, and three were totally wrong. A class
discussion followed the results of the data. We analyzed what the data meant and
concluded as a class that it is as valid as tossing a coin. In isolated cases (their own
personal horoscope) it could validate, disprove, generally support or refute astrology, but
in a large sample a better picture of the validity of astrology emerges.
Students then completed their questions. Upon grading the students responses
I was shocked to find that five students still clung to the idea that astrology was valid.
Some even found it more convincing.
Two students (6, 4a) were believers to begin with and responded that the activity had no
effect on how the viewed astrology.
Two students (5, 7a) had a weak belief in astrology, but the activity had no effect on how
the viewed astrology.
One student (11) was a surprise. The student uses good logical reasoning skills in class,
but ignored the data and saw what they wanted to see in the data; a confirmation of
astrology. The student seemed to be fixed on how accurate the horoscope was for them
on that occasion.
On the next day we quickly examined the accuracy of their horoscopes, and the data
again formed a bell curve.
Five were very close, five were somewhat close, six were mostly wrong, four were totally
wrong.
Although two more were very close, there were two less that were somewhat close.
There was one more totally wrong and one less mostly wrong.
This activity showed me how powerful ideas based on belief really are. I was going on
the assumption that when a person is faced with solid evidence they would have to reject
an erroneous idea. This is not just teaching facts or processes, but changing the way a
person thinks. It seemed as though there was a prism that students viewed the data from
this exercise that bent the results to fit their idea of what would happen.
Haunted House Activity
A Likert response scale from -2 to 2 was used in rating student responses.
A response of 2 gave very good reasoning as to the supposed paranormal evens in the
house, and a -2 for a response that is unreasonable in light of the article.
This activity showed the biggest spread between all of the responses. It did not seem to
change student’s ideas on ghosts. I infer that this is because it was one specific instance
that a haunting was decisively disproved, and that one instance does not disprove all
other reported instances.
Nine students (2, 4, 7, 8, 10, 1a, 3a, 7a, 8a) had a very positive reaction to the article.
Three stated that they had no belief in ghosts to start with. (2, 1a, 8a) The rest stated that
they believe in ghosts, but the house in the article just was not haunted.
One student scored a 1 (3) as the student stated a previous and continuing non belief in
ghosts, but all questions were not answered.
Five students received a neutral score. (5, 12, 4a, 5a, 6a) Their views mostly start with a
belief in ghosts, but use good logic when it applies to this specific instance. Their main
view remains unchanged.
Three students received a score of -1. (6, 11, 2a) They showed little to no movement
from a very solid belief in ghosts, even in this specific case.
One student received a -2. (1) The response shows a total belief in the ghost hunter TV
shows and disregard for any evidence that contradicts that view.
Findings Data Analysis
I assembled the data from the previous activities into a table. The table shows the ratings
and scaled scores for the students in all three activities.
I then combined the scores and came up with a rating scale as to how high they were in
skeptical thinking. The most critical thinkers (highest score) would have a score of 6/3,
and the least critical thinkers would have a lowest possible score of -6/3. A top score of
6/3 is scaled to 200, 5/3 is scaled to 183, 4/3 is scaled to 166, 3/3 is scaled to 150, 2/3 is
scaled to 133, 1/3 is scaled to 117, 0/3 is scaled to 100, -1/3 is scaled to 83, -2/3 is scaled
to 67, -3/3 is scaled to 50, -4/3 is scaled to 33. -5/3 is scaled to 17, -6/6 is scaled to zero.
Range key
vp= very positive
P= positive
np= neutral positive
nn= neutral negative
n= negative
vn= very negative
Student TOSRA score TOSRA range Hope Diamond Horoscope Ghost total scaled total Activities range
1 ab 241 p -2 2 -2 2/3 133 np
2 cd 269 p 2 2 2 6/3 200 vp
3 md 212 np 2 1 1 3/3 150 p
4 md 245 p 2 2 4/2 200 vp
5 bg 228 np -2 -1 0 -3/3 50 neg
6 mg 190 nn -2 -1 -3/2 17 vn
7 ph 244 p -2 1 2 1/3 117 np
8 lh 211 np 2 2 2 6/3 200 vp
9 ak 245 p 2 2 4/2 200 vp
10 al 186 nn -2 2 2 3/3 133 np
11 jo 225 np 2 -2 -1 -1/3 83 nn
12 kp 213 np -2 -1 0 -3/3 50 neg
13 mr 250 p 2 1 3/2 166 p
1a bb 247 p 2 2 2 6/3 200 vp
2a pb 286 vp 2 2 -1 3/3 150 p
3a sd 233 np 2 2 2 6/3 200 vp
4a kh 228 np -1 -2 0 -3/3 50 neg
5a al 268 p 2 2 0 4/2 200 vp
6a im 266 p 0 1 0 1/3 117 np
7a ep 218 np 2 -1 2 3/3 150 p
8a ep 197 nn 2 2 2 6/3 200 vp
An analysis of the TOSRA range and the activities range shows that the TOSRA test
showed a general correlation between the two. 70% of the students that scored very
positive or positive scored in the same range from the overall activities (5 0f the 7
improved and 2 held constant), while 30% scored lower. 50% of the neutral positive
increased, while 50% of the neutral positive decreased. 33% of the neutral negative
stayed the same, while 66% increased.
The correlation was not as strong as I had hoped. The weakness of the correlation of the
data may be an indication of the non-transferring nature of logical/critical thinking skills.
The data also indicates that students that have the most positive attitude towards science
generally are less credulous than students with a poorer attitude towards science. As
scientific attitudes decrease the correlation becomes less evident.
TOSRA vs Activities
0
50
100
150
200
250
300
350
0 50 100 150 200 250
Activities
TOSRA
Series1
Out of the eight students that scored the maximum in the activities six scored above 245
on the TOSRA test, but one student scored under 200. Out of the three students that
scored the lowest on the TOSRA test only one stayed in the negative range.
The activities scaled range gives a better description as to how their skeptical thinking
skills are developed at this point. The data from the different activities shows how
inconsistently skeptical thinking is applied when it comes to different topics. Students 5,
6, 12, & 4a all scored negatively in all of the activities.
Activity Analysis
Student 1 scored highest in the horoscope activity, but scored lowest in the Hope
Diamond and Ghost activities.
Student 7 scored highest in the ghost activity, lowest in the Hope Diamond and low
positive in the horoscope activity
Student 11 had one of the best analysis of the Hope Diamond, but scored lowest in the
horoscope and low in the ghost activity.
Student 2a scored the highest in the Hope Diamond and the Horoscope activities, but
scored negatively in the Ghost activity.
These examples show that skepticism is not a monolithic way of thinking, but changes
from person to person and topic to topic. It seems as though there are many factors that
go into an individual’s critical thinking process. Some of the factors that were revealed
by the student responses were:
1) Religion: Religious beliefs that are instilled from birth or a very young age have a
profound effect on the way a student will analyze data. Many students misinterpret,
ignore, or disbelieve contradictory evidence.
a) Misinterpretation
i) Innocent Misinterpretation: Students that are guilty of misinterpretation may
be new to logical investigation and may just need to sharpen their data
analysis skills
ii) Biased misinterpretation: Students that are guilty of biased misinterpretation
have an idea of what they believe the data should be and make the data fit
their invalid interpretation.
b) Ignoring evidence: Students that are guilty of ignoring evidence will put forth
their invalid view without addressing the factual contradictory evidence.
c) Disbelieving contradictory evidence: Students guilty of disbelieving
contradictory evidence cling to their invalid views and believe that the scientific
data is wrong or made up to discredit a point of view.
2) Mass media/Popular Culture:
a) Many of the students, in the ghost activity in particular, say their invalid
assessment of the data presented was fueled by television programs such as Ghost
Hunters on the Sci-Fi channel. These programs hook people with a flashy
presentation, charismatic performers, scientific sounding language, and scientific
sounding equipment. The main problem with the programs is that they do not
faithfully follow the scientific method or the principle of Occam’s razor when
evaluating their so called data.
3) Personal experience:
a) Friends or family’s anecdotal stories of a paranormal experience. Many students
related experiences that family members had with ghosts, fortune tellers, curses,
psychics, and astrology. The students were more likely to believe an impassioned
sincere story from a friend or relative than anything presented by an article or
teacher. Most of these stories came out during class discussions. The way the
students told the stories were very impassioned and sincere. Most of the
discussions regarding a story like that ended with the student saying something to
the effect of: “I don’t care what you say, I believe my Aunt” or “Science can’t
prove that it didn’t happen”
b) Student personal experience: The majority of these stories came out during the
discussions as well. The few students that claim to have experienced an event
related that their experience was very convincing and it would take a lot to
convince them otherwise.
I then combined the scores and came up with a rating scale as to how high they were in
skeptical thinking. The most critical thinkers (highest score) would have a score of 6/3,
and the least critical thinkers would have a lowest possible score of _6/3. A top score of
6/3 is scaled to 200, 5/3 is scaled to 183, 4/3 is scaled to 166, 3/3 is scaled to 150, 2/3 is
scaled to 133, 1/3 is scaled to 117, 0/3 is scaled to 100, -1/3 is scaled to 83, -2/3 is scaled
to 67, -3/3 is scaled to 50, -4/3 is scaled to 33. -5/3 is scaled to 17, -6/6 is scaled to zero.
Ending Activity
The ending activity was a type of survey comprised of a survey of seven
paranormal/pseudoscience disciplines, two essay questions on how their views have
changed regarding the topics covered in the activities and, have the way they view
information in the media changed.
I in turn interpreted the questions and survey, and then scored them using a Likert scale.
A high score of two on the scale showed that the student started with good critical
thinking skills and had a skeptical rating for the items found in the survey, or they
showed significant movement from a more credulous way of thinking to a more critical
way of thinking. Students 1a, 3a, 5a, & 7a in particular indicated a much better attitude
towards using skepticism for paranormal claims
A score of one indicated that the students were more skeptical of the sources in the
media, but still harbored beliefs in some paranormal events or they are more skeptical
about the paranormal in general, but still believe in them to some extent
A score of zero indicated that students claim to be more skeptical, but rate belief in
different paranormal events very high.
Students 5 &13 scored negatively as their answers show movement towards a less critical
evaluation of information.
I compared the data from the ending activity to the scaled activities total & range.
The comparison shows that of the highest scorers in the ending activity also scored high
in the activities total and range, except students 10 & 11. The interesting thing about
those 2 students is that they are 2 of the highest achieving students in the class. In
student 11’s case it shows that she has openness to changing her opinion, even though she
still has a strong predilection towards believing in some paranormal phenomena. Student
10 scored in the neutral positive range for the activities and shows a similar openness to
changing her opinion, even though she still has a strong predilection towards believing in
some paranormal phenomena.
Only student 5 was one of the lowest scorers for the ending activity and the activities
total and range. That student has shown ambivalence towards scientific thought when it
comes to skepticism in paranormal, but has demonstrated a high level of logical thinking
in science class and the TOSRA test. Student 13 also scored low negatively in the ending
activity. The answers given seem contradictory to statements made in other questions in
the activities. The answers were very short and lacked detail, unlike his other answers. I
suspect that the student rushed through the answers without really thinking or did not
read the question thoroughly enough.
All of the students that scored a one for the ending activity scored positively for the
activities range.
The students that scored a zero for the ending activity span the whole range of the
activities range scale.
Student scaled total Activities
range Ending activity
1 ab 133 Np 0
2 cd 200 Vp 2
3 md 150 P 1
4 md 200 Vp 0
5 bg 50 Neg -1
6 mg 17 Vn 0
7 ph 117 Np 0
8 lh 200 Vp 1
9 ak 200 Vp 1
10 al 133 Np 2
11 jo 83 Nn 2
12 kp 50 Neg 0
13 mr 166 P -1
1a bb 200 Vp 3
2a pb 150 P 1
3a sd 200 Vp 2+
4a kh 50 Neg 1
5a al 200 Vp 2+
6a im 117 Np 1
7a ep 150 P 2+
8a ep 200 Vp 2
Conclusions:
1) Evidence seems to indicate that Critical thinking skills are not transferred to real life
activities effectively.
2) My research has indicated that students can increase their critical thinking skills.
Research into critical thinking is mainly concerned with the general thinking processes of
students, and does not see preconceived beliefs as a factor. (Black, S. Teaching Students
to Think Critically) My research shows that students have critical thinking skills, but
many do not apply them uniformly. Research conforms with some available researchal in
showing that the way critical thinking skills are taught in schools falls short in the three
areas of: Noncritical thinking techniques are inadvertently anti-critical, Students'
concepts have already been shaped by noncritical thinking, and Students need to learn to
think in terms of central concepts across the curriculum. (Nosich,Gerald M. “Problems
with Two Standard Models for Teaching Critical Thinking”) My research reinforces Mr.
Nosica’s research in that students’ concepts had already been formed by non-critical
thinking. My research activities have shown me those students with very good critical
thinking skill in answering questions in class will not always apply those skills when it
comes to a real life decision like the validity of a superstition.
The activities that were used in my research indicate a general correlation between
science students with a positive attitude towards science and the transference of critical
thinking skills to real life situations, but that correlation breaks down as their attitude
towards science falls. That general correlation also breaks down when individual
students are examined. From activity to activity each individual student different varying
degrees of transference occurs creating a weaker than desirable correlation. Even where
the strongest correlation exists there are some stark differences in logical thought when
different activities are compared. This comparison of the responses of differing activities
between different students reveals the complexity of the problem of critical thinking
skills in schools. It shows that students can adapt their skills in getting correct answers in
school, but do not necessarily incorporate critical thinking skills to their lives. A question
that arises from this observation is: Do the students really learn critical thinking skills or
do they learn how to give the teacher an acceptable answer to get a passing grade? This
is most evident when one of the highest achieving students with an average scientific
attitude has no real critical thinking compass to guide them, such as student 5. The
student has learned how to answer higher order questions in my science class with well
reasoned logical answers, but abandons all of those skills when a grade is not involved or
their personal opinion is involved. This was a student that I expected to be near the top
of the class for skeptical thinking based on the class work to date, but is one of the lowest
skeptical thinkers in the class from the activities contained in this study. My assessment
for class assignments show a much different student in regards to critical thinking. On
the other hand student 5a shows little initiative in class and gives short or incomplete
answers to higher order questions in class, but scored the highest when it came to the
activities presented in this study. I have shown two of the starkest differences as
examples, but many students show that same kind of abandonment of critical thinking
when it comes to specific situations, and some students seem to have a good critical
thinking skills when school assessments do not show it. These findings are preliminary,
and need to be improved. Further tests are required to firmly establish my conclusions.
My findings also reveal that the lack of skeptical thinking is not necessarily a school
instituted problem, but something a student brings to school from their experience with
their family, friends, media, and religion. Many of which has a strong hold on the way a
students approaches problems and the rewards (intrinsic and extrinsic) they get from a
particular solution to a particular problem. These influences, although diverse, can
possibly be mitigated or eliminated by a more effective critical thinking curriculum that
stresses logical thinking, coupled with a strong scientific understanding of nature.
Further testing of this hypothesis needs to be established to get a more definitive answer
to that question.
The most difficult aspect of this project was trying to develop activities to assess a
student’s actual skeptical thinking skills. I wanted to know how the students thought for
themselves not for a teacher, grade, or any other reason other than their own thinking
process. I feel I was somewhat successful in developing activities that assess that goal,
but need refinement to improve their effectiveness. One thing that I would change is the
addition of a survey in the beginning of the project to further establish a baseline as to the
students’ belief in paranormal events, and the skeptical evaluation of information. An
introductory survey would give a much better measure of the growth of each individual
student as well as a better correlation in skeptical thinking for the group. The
assignments in general give a good indication as to where each student stands for each
topic addressed. Some more activities need to be developed to test not only other
paranormal phenomena, but should also include pseudoscientific phenomena as well.
The Hope Diamond activity is very effective at assessing a student’s belief in curses, and
also in how the student’s decide which argument is credible. The discussion that
followed brought up valid points but I feel that it was ineffective in establishing a
concrete way to evaluate material. A closing activity that leads or instructs students as to
how to evaluate sources of information would be beneficial. Care must also be taken as
to not cross the line into attacking any student’s religious beliefs. A Hindu student
revealed that belief in curses was part of his religious education. This type of care must
be taken into account when a religious belief may cross over into an activity such as
demonic possession and other supernatural religious beliefs.
The astrology activity achieved ideal statistical data, but again the post activities were not
sufficient to dislodge belief in Astrology. Improvements need to be made that will
reinforce critical analysis of the data. Some students refuse to accept any hard evidence
that astrology is no more accurate than chance alone. This problem may go deeper into
some psychological reasons for hanging onto a belief or idea. I have discussed this
project with my students after my data was collected and a discussion on astrology
ensued. The students wanted to compare the previous day’s horoscope with the way their
day actually went. Two interesting things happened. I was unable to locate any
astrology website that had the previous day’s horoscope available. This indicates that
checking the accuracy of horoscopes is not in their best interest. The second interesting
thing that happened was that horoscopes from Two different astrology websites for
Gemini on that day were contradictory. One told of a foreboding bad day, and the other
one said to get out and enjoy the great day ahead. This seemed to have a greater effect
than the statistical data from the actual activity.
The Haunted House activity’s main strength was to see if students could put their
personal beliefs about ghosts aside, and evaluate the information objectively. Most
students were able to do that. The discussion that followed seemed the most passionate
from the believers out of all the activities. Many of them watch the Ghost Hunters
television program. I tried to reason with them that it was on the Sci-Fi network, which
means science fiction, and fiction is not real. One of the things that make some of these
paradigms difficult for the people to make a clear decision based on facts is that many are
insulated from disproof. When haunting and the like are debunked there are always
hundreds more that have not been debunked and more cases arise everyday. That
coupled with the pseudoscience of ghost hunting that ensnares people in a guise that it is
hard science, while not employing the integral method, adds to the proliferation of an
unsubstantiated claim. A viewing and careful debunking of one of the Ghost Hunter
programs as a class activity may be a more effective test for the ghost activity.
The ending activity can be broadened to include more questions that probe students’
opinions better. That coupled with an effective introduction will give a better assessment
on how student thinking has evolved.
I think that the main hindrance to a more effective research project was my inexperience
as a researcher. Input from peers and colleagues would have improved the project
immensely. Brainstorming activities and assessments with others would have yielded
better results. A broadening of subject matter to include conspiracy theories may have
been a better choice. Starting by honing the students’ critical thinking skills as to reliable
sources and how to distinguish fallacious arguments from valid ones using conspiracy
theories could start the students on a better critical thinking path. Introducing
pseudoscientific claims like free energy to be evaluated would have made a good second
step. Finishing the project with the paranormal would have given the research a broader
palette of phenomena to see student distribution of what topics were most prevalently
credulous and would show student growth in critical thinking in a much clearer light.
After I have finished here at the University of Penn I plan to find other researchers to join
with to study the subject further. If the goal of education is to produce true critical
thinkers, then research into the propensity of people to be credulous and effective
practices that help students not fall into credulity are needed to guide students into being
better critical thinkers in their lives.
Literature review
Most of my attitudes on skepticism were shaped by the writings of Carl Sagan. The main
inspiration for my passion in the issue stems from his book: “The Demon Haunted
World: Science as a candle in the dark” Copyright 1996, Ballantine Books, New York
Title:
Contemporary Approaches to Critical Thinking and the World Wide Web
Author(s):
Buffington, Melanie L.
Source:
Art Education, v60 n1 p18-23 Jan 2007. 6 pp. (Peer Reviewed Journal)
ISSN:
0004-3125
:
Internet, Thinking Skills, Critical Thinking, Academic Achievement, Web Based
Instruction, Art Teachers, Educational Strategies, Art Education, Elementary
Secondary Education
Teaching critical thinking skills is often endorsed as a means to help students
develop their abilities to navigate the complex world in which people live and, in
addition, as a way to help students succeed in school. Over the past few years, this
author explored the idea of teaching critical thinking using the World Wide Web
(WWW). She began in-depth research on the topic to understand what critical
thinking entails and the potential for art educators to use the WWW to help their
students develop critical thinking skills. This article begins with a review of the
history of critical thinking and some current ideas on the topic. Then, the author
explains her working description of critical thinking and how critical thinking is
currently articulated in discussions of the WWW in schools. She concludes with
ideas for teachers related to developing critical thinking in art classrooms using
the WWW. (Contains 1 figure and 3 endnotes.)
:
ERIC:
37:
English:
6
Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
National Art Education Association. 1916 Association Drive, Reston, VA 20191.
Tel: 703-860-8000; Fax: 703-860-2960; Web site: http://www.NAEA-Reston.org
http://www.naea-reston.org/index.html
JUL2007
2007
EJ766956 ERIC
Title:
The Domain Generality--Specificity of Epistemological Beliefs: A Theoretical
Problem, a Methodological Problem or Both?
Author(s):
Limon, Margarita
Source:
International Journal of Educational Research, v45 n1-2 p7-27 2006. 21 pp. (Peer
Reviewed Journal)
ISSN:
0883-0355
Epistemology, Learning Theories, Beliefs, Debate, Context Effect, Inquiry,
Intellectual Disciplines, Research Problems, Research Methodology, Concept
Formation, Interdisciplinary Approach, Thematic Approach
Research on epistemological beliefs has clearly increased in the last decade. Even
though the construct is clearer and relevant data are being collected, there are
important theoretical and methodological issues that need further
clarification. One of them is the debate about the domain generality-specificity of
epistemological beliefs. I argue that there are both theoretical and methodological
difficulties that hinder a more fruitful approach of the domain generality-
specificity debate. Differences in goals and scope of the diverse
conceptualizations about epistemological beliefs and how they devise the role of
content-domain and context are a major source of difficulties. Methodological
problems such as whether such epistemological beliefs can be measured "in
isolation"--free of content and context influence--or the impossibility of collecting
direct measures of epistemological beliefs may influence how the domain
generality-specificity question is approached. Some suggestions about how these
difficulties may be overcome are developed. The relevance of exploring
epistemological beliefs across domains and across contexts is emphasized.:
Author:
English:
21:
Journal Articles; Opinion Papers
Elsevier. 6277 Sea Harbor Drive, Orlando, FL 32887-4800. Tel: 877-839-7126;
Tel: 407-345-4020; Fax: 407-363-1354; e-mail: [email protected]; Web site:
http://proxy.library.upenn.edu:5546
http://proxy.library.upenn.edu:5570/10.1016/j.ijer.2006.08.002
DEC2006
2006
EJ746405
ERIC
Title:
Teaching Students to Think Critically
Author(s):
Black, Susan
Source:
Education Digest: Essential Readings Condensed for Quick Review, v70 n6 p42-
47 Feb 2005. 6 pp.
ISSN:
0013-127X
:
Critical Thinking, Thinking Skills, Faculty Development, Teaching Methods,
Teacher Expectations of Students, Teacher Student Relationship, Classroom
Environment
In this article, the author stresses that teachers need to teach their students to think
critically and to reason their way. One prerequisite for teaching critical thinking is
a classroom climate of high expectations, teacher warmth and encouragement, and
pleasant physical surroundings. Schools should see to it that students become
progressively more disciplined in their reasoning, and more self-critical and self-
directed in the process and products of their thinking as they advance through the
grades. She also states that the students need opportunities to analyze their own
thinking according to standards of clarity, accuracy, relevance, logic, and fairness.
Moreover, she notes that teachers should give necessary information and thinking
tools to solve problems that focus more on affective and cognitive features of
learning; and for students to become good critical thinkers, teachers must be good
thinkers themselves. Furthermore, she discusses some of the possible things that a
teacher should do in order to develop the students' thinking skills.
ERIC:
Englis:
Journal Articles; Opinion Papers; Reports - Descriptive
Prakken Publications, 832 Phoenix Dr., P.O. Box 8623, Ann Arbor, MI 48108.
Tel: 734-975-2800; Fax: 734-975-2787; Web site: http://www.eddigest.com/.
http://www.eddigest.com/html/contentsmain.html
SEP2006
2006
EJ741259 ERIC
Academic Search Premier
Title:
Teaching Critical Thinking: Some Lessons from Cognitive Science
Author(s):
van Gelder, Tim
Source:
College Teaching, v53 n1 p41 Win 2005. 6 pp. (Peer Reviewed Journal)
ISSN:
8756-7555
Cognitive Psychology, Critical Thinking, Teaching Methods, Beliefs, Thinking
Skills, Skill Development, Transfer of Training, Guidelines, Higher Education
This article draws six key lessons from cognitive science for teachers of critical
thinking. The lessons are: acquiring expertise in critical thinking is hard; practice
in critical-thinking skills themselves enhances skills; the transfer of skills must be
practiced; some theoretical knowledge is required; diagramming arguments
("argument mapping") promotes skill; and students are prone to belief
preservation. The article provides some guidelines for teaching practice in light of
these lessons.
Author:
22:
English:
6
Teachers
Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Heldref Publications, Helen Dwight Reid Educational Foundation, 1319
Eighteenth Street, NW, Washington, DC 20036-1802. Web site:
http://www.heldref.org.
DEC2005
2005
EJ708705 ERIC
Academic Search Premier
Title:
Problems with Two Standard Models for Teaching Critical Thinking
Author(s):
Nosich, Gerald M.
Source:
New Directions for Community Colleges, v2005 n130 p59-67 Sum 2005. 9 pp.
(Peer Reviewed Journal)
ISSN:
0194-3081
:
Intellectual Disciplines, Critical Thinking, Teaching Methods, Role, Community
Colleges, Higher Education, Two Year Colleges
Two common models of teaching critical thinking in a discipline fail to do justice
to the essential role critical thinking plays in all learning or to its role in the
discipline as a whole. This chapter describes a model that emphasizes a more
central role for critical thinking in shaping all course activity and in focusing on
the most fundamental and powerful discipline-based concepts.
:
2:
English:
9
Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Subscription Department, 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ
07030-5774. Tel: 800-825-7550; Tel: 201-748-6645; Fax: 201-748-6021; e-mail:
[email protected]; Web site:
http://proxy.library.upenn.edu:5556/browse/?type=JOURNAL
http://proxy.library.upenn.edu:5570/10.1002/cc.196
MAY2007
2007
EJ761035 ERIC
Academic Search Premier
Title:
If X, Then Y: Teaching Critical Thinking Skills.
Author(s):
Powell, Gwynn M.
Source:
Camping Magazine, v73 n1 p22-23 Jan-Feb 2000.
ISSN:
0740-4131
:
Camping, Counselor Training, Critical Thinking, Decision Making, Job Skills,
Skill Development, Staff Development, Thinking Skills
Offers advice to camp professionals on teaching critical thinking skills to staff.
Lists components of teaching critical thinking and the characteristics and skills of
a critical thinker. Describes staff orientation activities that emphasize critical
thinking: role playing in an "if, then" format; discussing developmental stages and
needs; interpreting parent responses; modeling decision making; and using
training videos. (CDS)
Theme issue title: "Staff Development.":
English:
Guides - Non-Classroom; Information Analyses; Journal Articles:
CIJJUL2000
2000
EJ600012 ERIC
MasterFILE Premier
Title:
Common Misconceptions of Critical Thinking.
Author(s):
Bailin, Sharon; Case, Roland; Coombs, Jerrold R.; Daniels, Leroi B.
Source:
Journal of Curriculum Studies, v31 n3 p269-83 May-June 1999.
ISSN:
0022-0272
:
Cognitive Processes, Critical Thinking, Decision Making, Educational Practices,
Higher Education, Methods, Misconceptions, Problem Solving, Skill
Development, Thinking Skills
:
Analyzes three widely-held conceptions of critical thinking: as one or more skills,
as mental processes, and as sets of procedures. Considers each a misconception
and offers alternative proposals for teaching critical thinking. (CMK)
English:
Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive:
CIJSEP2001:
2001
EJ623970 ERIC
Academic Search Premier
Title:
Conceptualizing Critical Thinking.
Author(s):
Bailin, Sharon; Case, Roland; Coombs, Jerrold R.; Daniels, Leroi B.
Source:
Journal of Curriculum Studies, v31 n3 p285-302 May-June 1999.
ISSN:
0022-0272
:
Concept Formation, Critical Thinking, Educational Practices, Educational
Theories, Elementary Secondary Education, Heuristics, Higher Education,
Knowledge Level, Psychological Characteristics, Standards
:
Provides a conception of critical thinking and the critical thinker, who is
characterized by five intellectual resources: background knowledge, operational
knowledge of good thinking, knowledge of critical concepts, effective heuristics,
and habits of mind. Explains, with examples, each intellectual resource. Discusses
the task of teaching critical thinking. (CMK)
:
English:
Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive:
CIJSEP2001:
2001
EJ623971 ERIC
Academic Search Premier
Title:
Critical Thinking: Teaching Students To Seek the Logic of Things, Part II.
Author(s):
Paul, Richard; Elder, Linda
Source:
Journal of Developmental Education, v23 n2 p34-35,40 Win 1999.
ISSN:
0894-3907
:
Critical Thinking, History Instruction, Instructional Design, Instructional
Innovation, Learning Strategies, Logical Thinking, Student Development,
Teaching Methods, Thinking Skills
:
Advocates teaching critical thinking through showing students the logic of a
subject. Uses one example of instruction in history that allows students to think
their way through the logic of the subject rather than memorize bits and pieces of
someone else's thought (never grasping its logic). (VWC)
:
English:
Journal Articles; Opinion Papers:
CIJJUN2000:
2000
EJ597643 ERIC
Academic Search Premier
Title:
Teaching Critical Thinking for Transfer across Domains: Dispositions, Skills,
Structure Training, and Metacognitive Monitoring.
Author(s):
Halpern, Diane F.
Source:
American Psychologist, v53 n4 p449-55 Apr 1998.
ISSN:
0003-066X:
Cognitive Psychology, College Students, Critical Thinking, Higher Education,
Metacognition, Personality Traits, Teaching Methods, Teaching Models,
Thinking Skills
:
Presents four-part empirical model for teaching and learning critical thinking.
Model consists of dispositional or attitudinal component, instruction in and
practice with critical-thinking skills, structure-training activities designed to
facilitate transfer across contexts, and metacognitive component used to direct
and assess thinking. Contains 24 references. (MMU)
English:
Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive:
CIJOCT1999:
1999
EJ582977 ERIC
Title:
Teaching Critical Thinking for Transfer across Domains: Dispositions, Skills,
Structure Training, and Metacognitive Monitoring.Find More Like This
Author(s):
Halpern, Diane F.
Source:
American Psychologist, v53 n4 p449-55 Apr 1998.
ISSN:
0003-066X
Cognitive Psychology, College Students, Critical Thinking, Higher Education,
Metacognition, Personality Traits, Teaching Methods, Teaching Models,
Thinking Skills
Presents four-part empirical model for teaching and learning critical thinking.
Model consists of dispositional or attitudinal component, instruction in and
practice with critical-thinking skills, structure-training activities designed to
facilitate transfer across contexts, and metacognitive component used to direct
and assess thinking. Contains 24 references. (MMU)
Title:
Focus on Teaching: Critical Thinking.
Author(s):
Dyrud, Marilyn A.; Worley, Rebecca B.
Source:
Business Communication Quarterly, v61 n3 p62-63 Sep 1998.
ISSN:
1080-5699
Assignments, Business Communication, Class Activities, Critical Thinking,
Higher Education, Thinking SkillsI
Blooms Taxonomy
Discusses Bloom's Taxonomy of Cognitive Skills and presents a table that
outlines and defines its six skill levels. Introduces articles in this journal
describing assignments for business communications which involve the these
higher-order thinking skills. (SR)
See CS 757 429-433 for related articles.
English
Journal Articles; Opinion Papers; Reports - General
CIJJAN2000
2000
EJ587507 ERIC
Business Source Premier
Title:
Effectively Teaching Critical Thinking Skills to High School Students.
Author(s):
Brown, Elizabeth A.
Source:
18 pp.
Publication
Date:
1997:
Class Activities, Critical Thinking, Debate, High School Students, High Schools,
Instructional Effectiveness, Problem Solving, Student Development, Thinking
Skills
Today's highly technical information society is marked by constant change. To be
competent, functional, and prepared to deal with the future, students need to be
able to analyze, question, and evaluate information critically. Therefore, the
educational community has renewed interest in teaching critical thinking.
Unfortunately, educational practices often concentrate on rote knowledge of facts
while neglecting problem solving skills. This paper addresses the effectiveness of
classroom debate as a tool to teach problem solving skills. The strategies given
enable high school teachers to prepare their students for classroom debate.
Contains 18 references. (Author/BT)
English:
18:
Guides - Classroom - Teacher:
Full Text from ERIC
Available online
RIESEP1999
1999
ED429850 ERIC
Title:
Teaching Critical Thinking: A Metacognitive Approach.
Author(s):
Wilen, William W.; Phillips, John Arul
Source:
Social Education, v59 n3 p135-38 Mar 1995.
ISSN:
0037-7724:
Cognitive Processes, Comprehension, Critical Thinking, Curriculum
Development, Decision Making, Educational Objectives, Elementary Secondary
Education, Interpretive Skills, Learning Processes, Learning Strategies,
Metacognition, Social Studies, Teaching Methods, Thinking Skills:
Asserts that a primary goal of social studies is to prepare students to make
informed decisions on public and political issues. Maintains that the most
effective approach to teaching critical thinking is through infusion--teaching
thinking skills in the context of subject matter. (CFR)
Theme issue topic: "Teaching Students to Think.":
English:
Teachers; Practitioners:
Reports - Descriptive; Journal Articles
CIJAUG1995
1995
EJ502217 ERIC
