The Role of Critical Thinking in Science Education

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This review aims to explain the relevance of critical thinking in science education, and to
provide practical strategies for implementing critical thinking in the science classroom.

This review attempts to answer six questions regarding the role of Critical Thinking in
Science Education. It also provides details about the situation of Critical Thinking in Science
curriculum in the last years, and how Critical thinking can be implemented into the Science
curriculum.

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Critical thinking has been largely ignored in science education, with the emphasis being
placed on content-based teaching and students' memory for their learning.

The search engines used were ERIC, Baidu scholar, CORE, and the key words were Critical
thinking, Science Education. The most useful search syntax entered in ERIC database
("Critical thinking")+("Science education") by April, 2017; retrieved 175 results or records
limiting the time from 2013 (last five years).

According to Hagop A. Yacoubian (2015), there are a number of reasons for addressing
Nature of Science (NOS) in school science linked to Critical thinking, including humanizing of
the sciences and situating them in personal, ethical, cultural, and political contexts.

Demir, S. (2015a) states that critical thinking and reflective thinking are important in all
societies, and that training science teachers who can think creatively and critically is
particularly important for raising future generations.

According to Osborne J. (2014), critique is a core feature of science and is important for
students to develop their ability to undertake the cognitive process of complex reasoning.

Critical Thinking is seen as a key competency in higher education, particularly for science
and technology, and is necessary for living in a plural society with citizenship competence.

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Critical thinking is a fundamental pillar for creating a pathway for Nature of Science (NOS)
learning, and it plays a crucial role in fostering scientific literacy.

The link between Critical Thinking and Science is through the practice of critique, discussion-
debate, defending ideas, finding appropriate solutions for problems, evaluating arguments,
rejecting and assessing arguments, obtaining information and meaning clarifying, solving
discrepancies and concluding true statements.
Critical thinking is present in many processes related to science, such as observation,
exploration, problem solving, decision making, obtaining information, critique, critical
questioning, question formulation, construction of reliable knowledge, argumentation,
evaluation, careful and rigorous testing, rejecting-accepting hypothesis, clarifying
discrepancies and concluding true statements.

There are different conceptions of critical thinking in the context of science education. Some
authors focus on skills such as analysis, evaluation, inference, interpretation, explanation,
self-regulation, while others disregard 'skills' and 'process' as appropriate terms or elements
in the conception of critical thinking.

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Lai (2011) views critical thinking as consisted of two dimensions, namely, cognitive ability
and disposition. Disposition includes open-mindedness, inquisitiveness, flexibility, a
propensity to seek reason, a desire to be well-informed, and a respect for and willingness to
entertain diverse viewpoints.

According to Ennis (1996, cited in Hagop A. Yacoubian; 2015), critical thinking involves
argument development and evaluation, as well as the credibility of sources. It also involves
active learning, problem-solving, decision making, and the utilization of information.

Pedrosa-de-Jesus, Moreira, A. Lopes, B. & Watts, M. (2014) conceptualize critical

questioning as a competency, and emphasize that context plays an important role in being a
'critical questioner'.

Toman, U.; Odabaşi, S.; Cimer, A. (2014) provide a concept of Reflective thinking, which is
an aspect shared with some conceptions of critical thinking. Marques, R.; Tenreiro, C.;
Matins, I. (2011) present some important concepts and reflections pointed out that there are
two perspectives or philosophical traditions of critical thinking.

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Critical Thinking is a normative concept that refers to good thinking. It involves a set of
intellectual tools that are well mobilized in the context of problem-solving, decision-making
and in the context of interacting with others.

The conception presented by Marques, R.; Tenreiro, C.; Matins, I. (2011) that all students
develop their abilities naturally and spontaneously should no longer be accepted, as it is
important to think well. Therefore, Critical thinking needs to be developed in students.

Gábor Zemplén (2007) argues that critical thinking is a double-edged weapon. It can be
used to question the status quo.

The most controversial conception of Critical Thinking found in this review was presented by
Sharon Bailin (2002). She argues that most conceptions of Critical Thinking are flawed
because they are largely conceived as processes and skills and not as a set of standards
applicable to every situation.

Demir (2015) notes that different perspectives should be considered and used to develop
critical thinking skills in the classroom.
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Inquiry-based learning improves students' critical-thinking skills in science and technology
courses, supported with guided inquiry activities.

IBL is a way of learning that involves asking questions, seeking information, and finding new
ideas related to an event. It can be implemented at different levels, including constructed
inquiry, guided inquiry, and free inquiry.

Bati, Kaan; Kaptan, Fitnat (2015), cite some authors in order to explain how the modeling
based science education can influence the development of the critical thinking skills.

The modeling process involves steps such as forming hypotheses, conducting systematic
observations, evaluating the models, revising the models based on the evidence, and
applying the models to new circumstances. Model-based science education involves
constructing cognitive models, critiquing and changing processes.

Demir, S. (2015a) states that teachers should receive training in Critical Thinking in order to
foster and use it in Science education.

According to Osborne J. (2014), Critical Thinking is fostered in science classrooms by

providing opportunities to engage students in critique, argumentation, and questioning.
Furthermore, Pedrosa-de-Jesus, H., Moreira, A. Lopes, B. & Watts, M. (2014) state that
different learning contexts were designed to elicit students' questions.

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Toman, U.; Odabaşi, S.; Cimer, A. (2014) found that micro-teaching, Lesson Planning, Self-
evaluation, Reflective journal are the methods that teachers use to foster reflective thinking
in their students. They also suggest that teachers must be given theoretical training in
reflective thinking.

Rui Marques, Celina Tenreiro, Isabel M. Matins (2011) state that to promote critical thinking,
one needs to create a learning environment that encourages students to express their ideas,
explore, take risks, share successes and failures, and question each other.

Beford (2010) proposes an interesting strategy for students to learn science through Critical
Thinking, called agnotology. This strategy involves studying misinformation presented by
media, and is used in the classroom to teach students how and why there is ignorance about
well-established facts about science.

Brow, S. (2009), emphasizes the importance of questioning promotion in students for

developing their Critical Thinking in the classroom, and mentions as important aspects for
fostering Critical thinking linked to science learning, using students' experience or real-life
cases, overcoming students' reluctance to question, using humor.

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Brow's model of critical thinking suggests that students progress through a sequence of
stages, where the preference for structured classes, a right answer to be told, and a teacher
as the ultimate authority, changes to a preference for distinguishing between questions to
which answers are known and those that are yet to be obtained.

Based on a study about a course analysis that includes Critical Thinking in Science
Education in an International Baccalaureate program, Gábor . Zemplén (2007) notes that by
engaging students in a critical examination of knowledge, teachers will foster an appreciation
of the quest for knowledge.

Gábor Zemplén (2007) presents one idea to encourage students towards science:
presenting to them the benefits of science in economical-jobs, respect, intellectual
satisfaction, and other matters.

Sharon Bailin (2002) states that fostering critical thinking in science classrooms is possible
by teaching students the appropriate intellectual resources, highlighting the range of areas in
which particular intellectual resources apply, and fostering the appropriate habits of mind.

The importance of critical thinking in science teaching and learning is shown by several
recent articles, and the situation of in-and pre-service science teachers regarding critical
thinking is revealed.

In an empirical experience, Demir (2015) concluded that science teacher candidates

generally exhibited a positive stance towards their own critical and reflective thinking, though
there were some weaknesses in their thinking.

Toman, U.; Odabaşi, S.; Cimer, A. (2014) investigated the opinions of science and
technology pre-service teachers regarding the methods for developing reflective thinking.
They found that the pre-service teachers could not adequately reveal their skills of reflection
in the technical field.

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Marques, R. Tenreiro, C. Matins, I., (2011) assert that attempts to integrate critical thinking
into curriculum have failed, because teachers do not have a clear idea of critical thinking and
because inquiry-based teaching is not actually conducted in class.

Brow, S. (2009) argues that the current way of teaching science leaves an erroneous
impression of the nature of it, because the ability to question and imagine is not often
cultivated in science classrooms.

The author asserts that misconceptions about Critical thinking, lack of clear guidance for
including CT in the textbooks, and lack of clarity in the objectives of the course cause
problems with Critical thinking implementation.

The curriculum of science in many countries emphasizes critical thinking and argumentation.
This is why critical thinking is included in PISA tests and in the new National Curriculum for
England and Wales.

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In the renovation of the Science and Technology teaching program in Turkey, inquiry-based
learning (LBL) and student-centered approach were included, and values and critical
thinking were made an integrated part of the curriculum.
Bati, Kaan; Kaptan, Fitnat (2015) cite that the National Research Council of the United
States (NRC, 2012) emphasizes the need for inclusion of critical thinking skills and
disposition in teaching programs, and that Hagop A. Yacoubian (2015) highlights the need
for a science curriculum that engages students in developing critical understandings about
Nature of Science.

Helena Pedrosa-de-Jesus, Aurora Moreira, Betina Lopes & Mike Watts (2014) share that in
Portuguese higher education, the ability to think critically is fundamental.

Marques, R. Tenreiro, C. Matins, I. (2011) mentions that it is possible to promote students'

thinking processes by giving them programs explicitly centered on the development of these
thinking abilities and dispositions.

In different countries, efforts have been made to integrate critical thinking into science
curricula, but this has not been successfully implemented in classrooms. One of the
obstacles is that teachers do not have a clear idea of critical thinking.

Gábor . Zemplén (2007), states that the problems in the implementation of Critical Thinking
in the Curricula are the misconception of the concept of Critical Thinking and the lack of
clarity of the questions about how much, exactly what, and when to incorporate CT into the
curricula.

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Critical Thinking in Science Curricula must be based on a clear educative purpose, whether
to seek instrumental/economic purposes in an indoctrinating way or human development
through fostering their critical thinking.

Sharon Bailin (2002) notes that there is much of value in the work in science education
literature devoted to the fostering of Critical Thinking, but that there are problems with some
of the conceptions of Critical Thinking and hence potential problems with some of the
educational implications.

It is seen that Critical thinking has a great potential to favor Science Education, especially
through the application of classroom techniques based on Critical Thinking criteria and
principles. Questions, critique, and argumentation are deemed the most important classroom
activities for fostering Critical thinking and improving Science learning-teaching.

In order to effectively implement Critical thinking in science education, in-service and pre-
service teachers must first develop Critical thinking competences in conceptual and practical
domains. This is why Critical thinking-related activities and techniques must be implemented
in the science teaching-and-learning process.

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Students can use question-formulation, online discussions, case studies, experiments for
discussion and argumentation promotion to engage in science education through Critical
Thinking. The most interesting strategy is based on the examination of misinformation
presented on media (agnotology).
Links between science topics and real life issues, conceptual clarification, and including a
special course or program in the curriculum for developing Critical thinking are some of the
strategies for developing critical thinking in science education.

There are some problems regarding Critical thinking development in Science education in
the classroom, especially because science classes are mainly carried out with the focus on
content and students' memorization, rather than on creativity, meaningful understanding
and/or Critical thinking.

The discussion about Critical Thinking in the Curriculum of Science and in general, is
referred to note that CT is widely included in the Curriculum of many countries, and that
there are no disagreements about its importance. However, there are reports of failures in
the implementation of CT in the Classroom.

Critical thinking is recognized as an important subject for preparing citizens to use science in
a responsible fashion, and is also recognized as an important subject for preparing young
people for civic and ethic life in a digital age.

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The failure of implementing Critical thinking in the science curriculum may be due to
education systems' willingness to favor an instrumental view of education linked to political,
industrial and commercial interests rather than a commitment to a real human development.

Regarding Critical thinking conceptualization and misconception, there is a major

discrepancy between the majority of authors' conceptions of CT and the discrepant
conception, which associates CT with terms such as principles, criteria, standards, norms,
thinking quality, thinking evaluation.

What is less rejected is the affirmation that activities such as questioning, problem-solving,
decision making, argumentation, critique, information assessment, active learning
techniques, and others alike foster Critical thinking and improve Science education.

The Critical Thinking concept deprecates memorization and traditional teaching methods,
but some authors deem important the role of knowledge in developing critical thinking,
especially when tackling Science or any academic subject through Critical thinking.

Science teachers can use the articles cited here to learn more about critical thinking
techniques that can be used in the classroom to improve science education results and
develop students' critical thinking.

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Critical thinking is inherently existent in Science practice, and can be implemented in the
classroom in different ways. However, there are reports of successful implementations of CT
in Science curricula, and these implementations can be emulated to improve students'
science learning and Critical thinking development.

Critical thinking is an important part of science education. Several studies have been
conducted to evaluate critical thinking and reflective thinking skills among science teacher
candidates. Inquiry-based learning approach improves students' critical thinking skills, and
the International Baccalaureate Theory of Knowledge is in conflict with the Canadian Journal
of Science , Mathematics and Technology Education .

The new basics: big data reveals the skills young people need for the New Work Order.
Foundation for Young Australians, viewed 07 January 2017, http://apo.org.au/node/63409>.