title: Redesigning a General Education Science Course to Promote Critical Thinking.
abstract: Recent studies question the effectiveness of a traditional university curriculum in helping students improve their critical thinking and scientific literacy. We developed an introductory, general education (gen ed) science course to overcome both deficiencies. The course, titled Foundations of Science, differs from most gen ed science offerings in that it is interdisciplinary; emphasizes the nature of science along with, rather than primarily, the findings of science; incorporates case studies, such as the vaccine-autism controversy; teaches the basics of argumentation and logical fallacies; contrasts science with pseudoscience; and addresses psychological factors that might otherwise lead students to reject scientific ideas they find uncomfortable. Using a pretest versus posttest design, we show that students who completed the experimental course significantly improved their critical-thinking skills and were more willing to engage scientific theories the general public finds controversial (e.g., evolution), while students who completed a traditional gen ed science course did not. Our results demonstrate that a gen ed science course emphasizing the process and application of science rather than just scientific facts can lead to improved critical thinking and scientific literacy.
authors.affiliation: *Department of Biological Sciences, Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, TX 77340 rowemat1@msu.edu marcusg@shsu.edu.
authors.forename: Matthew P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Rowe
authors.affiliation: Department of Geography & Geology, Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, TX 77340 rowemat1@msu.edu marcusg@shsu.edu.
authors.forename: B Marcus
authors.initials: BM
authors.lastname: Gillespie
authors.affiliation: Center for Assessment & Improvement of Learning, Tennessee Tech University, Cookeville, TN 38505.
authors.forename: Kevin R
authors.initials: KR
authors.lastname: Harris
authors.affiliation: College of Sciences, Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, TX 77340.
authors.forename: Steven D
authors.initials: SD
authors.lastname: Koether
authors.affiliation: Department of Computer Science, Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, TX 77340.
authors.forename: Li-Jen Y
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Shannon
authors.affiliation: *Department of Biological Sciences, Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, TX 77340.
authors.forename: Lori A
authors.initials: LA
authors.lastname: Rose
mesh_terms: D003071:Cognition; D003479:Curriculum; D004493:Education / Q000379:methods*; D004521:Educational Measurement; D005178:Faculty; D006801:Humans; D008128:Logic; D015397:Program Evaluation; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012586:Science / Q000193:education*; D013334:Students; D013781:Texas; D013850:Thinking; D014495:Universities