relevance of critical thinking in natural sciences

In consulting technical reports, theoretical frameworks, research, and curricular reforms related to science education, one commonly finds appeals to scientific thinking and critical thinking as essential educational processes or objectives.

Critical thinking is essential in science. It’s what naturally takes students in the direction of scientific reasoning since evidence is a key component of this style of thought. It’s not just about whether evidence is available to support a particular answer but how valid that evidence is.

Critical thinking is a key learning outcome of higher education but is often overlooked in favour of discipline-specific knowledge. We found a high degree of consensus between the UK and US instructors across the humanities and social sciences.

The full spectrum of critical/rational thinking includes logic, informal logic, and systemic or analytic thinking. This common core is shared by the natural sciences and other domains of inquiry share, and it is based on following rules, reasons, and intellectual best practices.

Then, recognizing the relevance of promoting students‘ critical thinking in science classrooms, we present and discuss a way of how it can be done. Several reasons justify the interest which has started to emerge among researchers and educators concerning CT.

Scientific thinking and critical thinking are two intellectual processes that are considered keys in the basic and comprehensive education of citizens. For this reason, their development is...

Critical thinking has received significant scholarly attention in education over the years. This study conducted a bibliometric analysis of critical thinking during the last two decades (2000–2021) to identify research trends and hotspots of critical thinking.

Professor Larry Wilson from Miami-Dade Commu- nity College, a leading proponent of teaching critical thinking in the science classroom, defines critical thinking as the most ordered kind of thinking of which humans are capable.

Critical thinking in science can be considered a joint endeavor of critical thinking tout court and methodology in a broad sense, which encompasses both the philosophical and scientific reflection on how to conduct empirical investigations.

In the first section of this paper, I offer an analysis which upholds the traditional conception. That is, I argue that science is properly thought of as preeminently rational, and it is. properly so thought because of its embrace of scientific method (although my characterization of scientific method is itself un orthodox).