Effective Teaching of Critical Thinking with Ray Hall | Skeptic’s Toolbox

Can teaching critical thinking classes really help students learn the difference between science and pseudoscience? To find out Ray Hall conducted and published a study to find out if Fresno State’s GE course Natural Science 4 (NS4) delivers on its desired learning outcomes. College students (n=806) were surveyed at semester’s beginning and end. Epistemically unwarranted beliefs in pseudoscience were found to be pervasive among our student population. NS4, a course that specifically and directly addressed pseudoscience produced a large and significant reduction of those beliefs, but scientific research methods classes and unrelated general education classes used as controls did not.

This talk will describe our study and our findings, and highlight a few strategies we have found effective for changing epistemically unwarranted beliefs, and the importance of teaching critical thinking.

Dr. Ray Hall is a professor of Physics at California State University – Fresno. The majority of his published research involved his work in the DØ Collaboration, a 700+ member experimental particle physics experiment at Fermilab, which discovered the “top quark,” a fundamental particle of nature. His current research centers on understanding best practices for teaching critical thinking and the methodologies of science, and how to best assess student learning outcomes in these areas. He also shares his love for science and physics through his @PhysicsFun Instagram that has nearly 2 million followers!(Ref:https://centerforinquiry.org/video/effective-teaching-of-critical-thinking/)