(1) Video Library > 5. Critical Thinking About Science
- Buy now
- Learn more
Introduction

How This Course Came to Be
Why is Science Literacy Important, and How Should We Teach It?

Introduction to the Videos in This Section
Should We Expect Our Politicians To Be Science Literate?
Why Most People (Even People with PhDs in Science) are Scientifically Illiterate
A Curriculum For Teaching Genuine Science Literacy: Overview
The Vocabulary of Science
The Logic of Science
The Methods of Science
The Landscape of Science
The Ethics of Science
Part 1: The Vocabulary of Science: First Steps to Science Literacy

Question: Is Evolution a Theory, a Fact, or Both?
Overview of the Course
1. An Important Distinction For the Whole Course

Epistemically Loaded versus Epistemically Neutral Language
2. What is a Theory?

"It's Just a Theory": "Theory" as Down-Player
"Theories are the Pinnacles of Science": "Theory" as Up-Player
Why We Need a Neutral Definition of "Theory"
A Neutral Definition of "Theory": A Classical (but incomplete) Story
A Neutral Definition of "Theory": A More Sophisticated Story
3. What is a Fact?

"You Can't Deny the Facts": A Loaded Definition of "Fact"
"I Had the Facts Wrong": A Neutral Definition of "Fact"
Can There Be Theoretical Facts?
4. What is a Law?

Loaded Definitions of "Law"
Examples of Laws in Biology and Psychology
Examples of Laws in Astronomy and Physics
Unpacking the Neutral Concept of "Law"
But Are There Any Laws?
A Quick Word: Are Laws Explanatory?
5. What is a Hypothesis?

"That's Just a Hypothesis": A Loaded Definition of "Hypothesis"
A Neutral Definition of "Hypothesis"
6. What is a Model?

Introduction: What is a Model?
Maps and Models
Models as Tools For Reasoning About the World
How Equations Can Be Models
Is There a Difference Between a Model and a Theory?
7. Theories, Models, Truth and Reality

Introduction: Theories, Models, Truth and Reality
The Challenge of Interpreting Scientific Theories
Prediction and Truth: Lessons From Ptolemy
Prediction and Truth: Lessons From the Kinetic Theory of Gases
8. Test Yourself: Fact vs Theory vs Hypothesis vs Law ... Explained!

Assignment: Critique a 7 Minute Video on the Vocabulary of Science
Here's the Video: "Fact vs. Theory vs. Hypothesis vs. Law… EXPLAINED!"
Part 1: The Motivation For the Video
Part 2: "Scales of Truthiness"
Part 3: The Fundamental Error
Part 4: The Problem With Defining Facts in Terms of Observations
Part 5: Problems With Defining Hypotheses as Starting Points For Inquiry
Part 6: Problems With Defining Theories as Well-Supported
Part 7: Problems With Defining Evolution as an Observable Fact
Part 8: Problems With Defining Laws in Terms of Observations
Part 9: Can Laws Explain, or Do They Just Describe? Kepler, Newton and Einstein
Part 10: Analyzing the Last Slide
Part 11: Who is to Blame?
9. Wrapping Up

What's Next?

Why is Science Literacy Important, and How Should We Teach It?

9 Lessons