Understanding the Complex Relationship between Critical Thinking and Science Reasoning among Undergraduate Thesis...

Area of Science:

• Science Education
• Biology Education

Background:

• Critical thinking and scientific reasoning are key goals in science education.
• Empirical evidence on the relationship between these skills is limited.
• Science writing is proposed as a method to develop and study these skills.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the relationship between scientific reasoning in undergraduate biology thesis writing and critical-thinking skills.
• To explore implications for science instruction.

Main Methods:

• Assessed scientific reasoning in biology theses using the Biology Thesis Assessment Protocol.
• Evaluated critical-thinking skills using the California Critical Thinking Skills Test.
• Analyzed data from undergraduate students at two universities.

Main Results:

• Scientific reasoning in writing showed a strong positive correlation with the critical-thinking skill of inference.
• Other aspects of scientific reasoning in writing (e.g., epistemological considerations, writing conventions) were not significantly related to critical-thinking skills.
• Scientific reasoning in writing is not simply a proxy for general critical thinking.

Conclusions:

• The study bridges existing research linking science writing to enhanced critical thinking.
• Findings support further investigation into instructional strategies focused on improving inference skills to boost scientific reasoning in student writing.