U N I V E R S I T Y  O F  P I T T S B U R G H

Volume X, Number 2

Lauren Yaich, Natural Sciences

University of Pittsburgh—Bradford

The development and refinement of this rigorous, truth-seeking skill is perhaps the essence of a higher education, creating a habit that will be retained long after the student has left the college classroom.

Photo courtesy of Pitt-Bradford Lauren Yaich

Critical thinking is integral to the scientific process, and explaining how this scientific process is used to answer questions about living organisms is the common denominator in my various biology classes. As budding scientists, students are taught to make observations about a phenomenon, create a hypothesis about some aspect of this phenomenon, and then carry out experiments that will either prove or disprove the hypothesis.

To make this process a bit more concrete for my students, who are often fans of TV shows like CSI and Law and Order, I often use the analogy of lawyers who are working on a murder case, because in the end, the ultimate goal of science and the criminal justice system is the same—to determine the “truth” about a particular situation. If the lawyer is a prosecutor, he will build a case by collecting as much incriminating evidence as possible (e.g., blood samples, bullet fragments, testimony from witnesses). The scientist essentially carries out a similar process, performing numerous experiments to study different aspects of the phenomenon in order to build up a body of evidence that supports her hypothesis.

In the criminal justice system, there is also a lawyer whose job is to defend the accused. He must force the jury to take a very hard look at the validity of the evidence. Was the evidence collected and processed correctly? Is there another possible explanation for why that drop of blood was found on the carpet? The scientist must play this role as well, and it is here where critical thinking really comes into play—she must take a hard look at the evidence she has collected to verify that it really supports the hypothesis. Is there more than one possible explanation for the results obtained? Were the controls appropriate for that particular experiment? Were enough data points collected to make the results statistically significant? What other experiments should be carried out that might either strengthen the hypothesis or refute it? The development and refinement of this rigorous, truth-seeking skill is perhaps the essence of a higher education, creating a habit that will be retained long after the student has left the college classroom.

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