A comparison of the critical‐thinking abilities of science and non‐science majors

George, Kenneth D.

doi:10.1002/sce.3730510103

Cited by 5 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 2 publications

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“…This finding would indicate that, having been less 'deflected' from the logical tasks in Part I of Test B-pupils' experience had thus acquired a greater transfer value for the ensuing tasks in Part II. This would run counter to the opinion expressed by George (1967) to the effect, that critical-thinking processes possess 'non-specific transfer value'. Greater student motivation, for example 'willingness to respond', if brought about by the use of 'real-life' situations, would not, therefore, guarantee greater success in students' critical analyses of the logical structure of a situation.…”

Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 62%

A Comparison of the ‘Prompting Effect’ of Out‐of‐School with that of In‐School Contexts on Certain Aspects of Critical Thinking

Dreyfus

Jungwirth

1980

European Journal of Science Education

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Summaries EnglishThe teaching of science closely linked to everyday situations has been strongly recommended in order to achieve stronger motivation, and, in particular for the less intellectually gifted, easier cognitive development. The development of criticalthinking habits has long been regarded as a task for which science education is particularly suited. Such habits have been said to possess inherent non-specific transfer value. This opinion rests on the assumption that the logical structures of contextually different situations are perceived as equivalent by pupils. This contention was queried in this study by means of two tests, which permitted: (1) the diagnosis of pupils' recognition of logical fallacies in everyday, as compared with that in logically equivalent biological situations; and (2) a comparison of pupils' 'disposals of unsound proposals' who had first encountered such proposals in everyday situations, with pupils' having encountered them in biological situations. The effect exerted by these previously encountered situations was termed 'prompting effect'.It was found that pupils did not recognize the logical fallacies any better when they were presented in everyday situations, and that pupils from non-selective schools actually performed significantly worse. The 'prompting effect' of everyday situations turned out to be significantly weaker than that of logically equivalent situations.The authors conclude that everyday contextual factors exert a kind of 'deflecting effect' (away from the logical task) causing pupils to pay more attention to the topical content of the offered conclusions rather than to the logical structure of the situation.These findings throw some doubt on the validity of recommending that teachers rely on the non-specific transfer value of intellectual skills (from one contextual area to another). DeutschDass der naturwissenschaftliche Unterricht in engstem Zusammenhang mit tagtäg-lichen Situationen vor sich gehen sollte, um stärkere Motivation zu erzielen, und, insbesondere bei weniger intellektuellen Schülern, die kognitive Entwicklung zu erleichtern, wurde seit je wärmstens empfohlen. Die Entwicklung analytischer Denkgewohnheiten wird als eine Aufgabe angesehen, für die der naturwissenschaftliche Unterricht besonders geeignet ist Dergleiche Gewohnheiten sollen inhärenten nicht-spezifischen Übertragungswert besitzen. Diese Miffassung stützt sich auf die Annahme, dass Schüler äquivalente logische Strukturen, vom 0140-5284/80/0203 0301 $02·00 Zusammenhang ganz abgesehen, erkennen können. Diese Behauptung wurde in dieser Arbeit zur Frage gestellt. Zwei Tests wurden verfasst um: (1) die Erkenntnis der Schüler von logischen Irrtümern in tagtäglichen, mit jenen in biologischen Situationen zu vergleichen; und (2) zu untersuchen, ob Schüler, nachdem sie solche in tagtäglichen Situationen angetroffen hatten, eher 'unbegründete Behauptungen beseitigen' würden, als Schüler, die dergleiche Behauptungen zuerst in biologischen Zusammenhängen kennengelernt hatten. Der Effekt solcher vore...

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Section: Discussioncontrasting

confidence: 62%

A Comparison of the ‘Prompting Effect’ of Out‐of‐School with that of In‐School Contexts on Certain Aspects of Critical Thinking

Dreyfus

Jungwirth

1980

European Journal of Science Education

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“…For both Amanda and Virginia, the application of concepts and ideas to ''future'' problems was important for their understanding of ''critical thinking''. The perspectives of these students was also noted in previously mentioned literature (Glaser, 1941;Dunning, 1954Dunning, , 1956George, 1967;Vieira et al, 2011; Note: students could have had multiple responses in a single theme, coded as different subcategories; hence why subcategory numbers do not total up to 14. Gupta et al, 2015;Barron et al, 2021).…”

Section: Theme #1: ''Critical Thinking'' Involves the Application And...supporting

confidence: 65%

Student perceptions of “critical thinking”: insights into clarifying an amorphous construct

Bowen

2022

Chem. Educ. Res. Pract.

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“Critical thinking” has been situated as an important skill or way of thinking in chemistry education. However, despite its perceived importance, there has not been an established consensus definition for chemistry and science education with many resources operating from working definitions. The many definitions obfuscate what “critical thinking” is and entails and thus makes it an amorphous construct within education. Previous work in chemistry education has explored how different groups define “critical thinking” and found that the groups had limited agreement. The work here seeks to expand the literature base on what we know about “critical thinking” by probing perceptions of the construct further. Using semi-structured interviews and constructivist grounded theory, I explored student perceptions of “critical thinking” in the context of organic chemistry courses. From the analysis, I generated four major themes. Students perceived that “critical thinking” (1) involved the application and use of knowledge, (2) was contrasted to passive approaches to learning, particularly rote memorization, (3) was learned from previous experiences prior to organic chemistry, and (4) was motivated by a variety of intrinsic and extrinsic forces. I assert that these overarching commonalities across student perceptions align with the previous literature and the scientific practices in three-dimensional learning, thus offering a potential way forward for clarifying the construct and being more explicit about what we want students to know and do.

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“…One of the objectives of science in general education, as stated in this Commission^list of general goals, is to understand the common phenomena in one's physical environment, to apply habits of scientific thought to both personal and civic problems, and to appreciate the implication of scientific discoveries for human welfare. Kenneth George [5] states that, "Science is a process by which critical thinking is applied to various ways of finding answers." He further argues that many science teachers believe that one of the major goals of science education is to develop critical thinking ability in students and that science and critical thinking are equivalent in that "science is a process by which critical thinking is applied in the evaluation of various hypotheses.…”

Section: The Educational Policies Commission Of the National Educationmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Kenneth George [5] Control group procedure. Twenty-six students were selected to serve as the control group.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Effect of the St. Andrews College Natural Science Course upon Critical Thinking Ability

Skinner

Hounshell

1972

School Sci & Mathematics

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A comparison of the critical‐thinking abilities of science and non‐science majors

Cited by 5 publications

References 2 publications

A Comparison of the ‘Prompting Effect’ of Out‐of‐School with that of In‐School Contexts on Certain Aspects of Critical Thinking

A Comparison of the ‘Prompting Effect’ of Out‐of‐School with that of In‐School Contexts on Certain Aspects of Critical Thinking

Student perceptions of “critical thinking”: insights into clarifying an amorphous construct

The Effect of the St. Andrews College Natural Science Course upon Critical Thinking Ability

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