Meeting Abstract

73.6  Thursday, Jan. 6  Rethinking College General Education Science Courses ROWE, M.P.*; GILLESPIE, M.B.; ROSE, L.A.; Sam Houston State; Sam Houston State; Sam Houston State rowe@shsu.edu

Research shows that a majority of Americans, including college graduates, are scientifically illiterate. A recent Carnegie study, for example, indicates that 93% of American adults, including a startling 78% of college graduates, are scientifically illiterate. Given that most university degrees require a minimum of two general education science courses, we must conclude that current core-curriculum science offerings fail to teach critical thinking in general, and the logic of scientific reasoning in particular. The inability of Americans to value, let alone understand, an empirical approach to decision making leaves them susceptible to bogus, and often harmful, pseudoscientific claims. Clearly, new approaches to teaching science are sorely needed, approaches that focus less on “memorizing the facts” and more on “science as a way of knowing.” We have developed, as the centerpiece of Sam Houston State’s QEP/SACS reaccreditation, the Foundations of Science (FoS) course to meet this need. The FoS engages students by focusing on extraordinary claims, ranging from alien abductions to cryptozoology to the lost continent of Atlantis, while empowering the students to evaluate such claims using the logic and factual knowledge from multiple scientific disciplines. Our presentation will introduce the rationale for this new course, the topics we cover, and our pedagogical approaches, which include case studies and cooperative learning. The effectiveness of the FoS has been assessed using a critical thinking exam developed by TTU/NSF, implemented in a pre- vs. post-course design using non-FoS general education science courses as a control. Results demonstrate highly significant improvements in students’ critical thinking skills associated with our new approach.