The Use of Critical Thinking Skills for Teaching Evolution in an Introductory Historical Geology Course

Abstract

Teaching students to think critically remains a significant goal of science education. In my recent introductory Historical Geology class, I used the evolution-creation controversy as a means to introduce students to the scientific method by having them write a paper that summarized the arguments used by those who took a viewpoint opposite to their own. The original plan was to have a second paper in which students attempt to refute all the arguments in their first paper (and hence argue for their original view), but the quality of papers was so variable that the design was modified so that students were then asked what they learned through the exercise.The results indicate that most students learned about the controversy and focused their views on where they stood. Only four of sixteen students did not change their views, although those students who were more extreme in their views were less likely to change their views significantly. Almost all students explicitly stated that they valued the learning experience and being forced to critically evaluate their own views, even if it was a painful exercise.