Reducing Pseudoscientific and Paranormal Beliefs in University Students Through a Course in Science and Critical Thinking

This study measured the relationship between student’s religion, gender, and propensity for fantasy thinking with the change in belief for paranormal and pseudoscientific subjects following a science and critical thinking course that directly confronted these subjects. Student pre-course endorsement of religious, paranormal, and pseudoscientific beliefs ranged from 21 to 53%, with religion having the highest endorsement rate. Pre-course belief in paranormal and pseudoscientific subjects was correlated with high scores in some fantasy thinking scales and showed a gender and a religion effect with females having an 11.1% higher belief across all paranormal and pseudoscience subcategories. Students’ religion, and frequency of religious service attendance, was also important with agnostic or atheist students having lower beliefs in paranormal and pseudoscience subjects compared to religious students. Students with either low religious service attendance or very high attendance had lower paranormal and pseudoscientific beliefs. Following the critical thinking course, overall beliefs in paranormal and pseudoscientific subcategories lowered 6.8–28.9%, except for superstition, which did not significantly change. Change in belief had both a gender and religion effect with greater reductions among religious students and females.     

Perceptions of Eighth Graders Concerning the Aim,Effectiveness, and Scientific Basis of Pseudoscience: the Case of Crystal Healing

Research in Science Education - Practices such as astrology or crystal healing can be defined as pseudoscience. Against pseudoscience, one of the major responsibilities of science education must be...     

反伪科学的几个理论问题

伪科学是自称为科学的非科学。马克思主义历来反伪科学。反伪科学的主体是具有科学判断能力的自然人、共同体和社会；区分科学与伪科学的标准应该是从“科学是系统化的知识”的定义中抽象出的两个具体标准，即可检验性和创新性（形式的或内容的）。伪科学的判明具有复杂性。     

Creatures in the Classroom: Preservice Teacher Beliefs About Fantastic Beasts, Magic, Extraterrestrials, Evolution and Creationism

Faculty have long expressed concern about pseudoscience belief among students. Most US research on such beliefs examines evolution-creation issues among liberal arts students, the general public, and occasionally science educators. Because of their future influence on youth, we examined basic science knowledge and several pseudoscience beliefs among 540 female and 123 male upperclass preservice teachers, comparing them with representative samples of comparably educated American adults. Future teachers resembled national adults on basic science knowledge. Their scores on evolution; creationism; intelligent design; fantastic beasts; magic; and extraterrestrials indices depended on the topic. Exempting science education, preservice teachers rejected evolution, accepting Biblical creation and intelligent design accounts. Sizable minorities ??awaited more evidence?? about fantastic beasts, magic, or extraterrestrials. Although gender, disciplinary major, grade point average, science knowledge, and two religiosity measures related to beliefs about evolution-creation, these factors were generally unassociated with the other indices. The findings suggest more training is needed for preservice educators in the critical evaluation of material evidence. We also discuss the judicious use of pseudoscience beliefs in such training.     

浅谈伪科学的市场化现象与科学划界问题

利用自创的"科学"概念和误读科学概念或误导消费者来宣传产品,利用科学的标签把"伪科学"市场化,模糊了科学、非科学和伪科学之间的界限,无视科学划界问题将会造成严重的社会后果。本文通过浅谈这种伪科学市场化现象与科学划界问题,警示现实的和潜在的伪科学消费者,应以证伪主义科学观来看待伪科学的市场化现象。     

Challenging pseudoscientific and paranormal beliefs held by some pre-service primary teachers

The widespread public acceptance of many paranormal and pseudoscientific claims should be of some concern to science educators who are striving to produce a scientifically literate community. There is ample evidence to show that students at all levels of our education system believe in aspects of pseudoscience based on claims and assumptions that are in conflict with accumulated scientific knowledge and a rigorous methodology. A survey was designed to assess primary and secondary science teacher-trainees' views. Afterwards 60 students were introduced to the notion of a ‘fair test’ and what constitutes ‘evidence’. Demonstrations of psychic powers were provided and a video shown of professional water-diviners repeatedly failing to locate water under controlled conditions. A re-survey, 3 months later, indicated a rejection of many prior beliefs. However, almost half of the group retained their beliefs in miracles and E.S.P. whilst more than 40% retained their belief in visitors from outer space and that the solar system was created by a supernatural force. Specializations: misconceptions, conceptual change, earth sciences education.     

反伪科学的几个理论问题

伪科学是自称为科学的非科学。马克思主义历来反伪科学。反伪科学的主体是具有科学判断能力的自然人、共同体和社会;区分科学与伪科学的标准应该是从"科学是系统化的知识"的定义中抽象出的两个具体标准,即可检验性和创新性(形式的或内容的)。伪科学的判明具有复杂性。     

The Problem of Pseudoscience in Science Education and Implications of Constructivist Pedagogy

The intrusion of pseudoscience into science classrooms is a problem in science education today. This paper discusses the implications of constructivist pedagogy, which relies on the notions of viability and inter-subjectivity, in a context favourable to the acceptance of pseudoscience. Examples from written statements illustrate how prospective science teachers in Turkey readily accept pseudoscientific explanations of the origin of species. Constructivist pedagogy underestimates, if not ignores, the difficulty of holding rational discussions in the presence of pseudoscientific or absolute beliefs. Moreover, it gives a higher priority to learners’ exposure to alternative constructions through social negotiation than to furthering their appreciation of science. Under these circumstances, self-confirmation and social pressure to accept existing pseudoscientific beliefs may be unanticipated consequences of social negotiation. Considering the aim of science education to foster an appreciation of science, the implications of constructivist pedagogy are, or should be, of great concern to science educators.     

"伪科学"的提法不科学

科学自身不能定义什么是"科学"。"科学"概念已非科学范畴,而是哲学范畴。科学与非科学没有明确的分界线,所以"伪科学"与科学也没有明确的分界线。"伪科学"缺乏"可操作性"。不具"可操作性"的概念或命题不应该列入法律条文,否则将使法律失去应有的尊严。所谓"伪科学"实际上是科学发展链条中"潜科学"阶段的产物,应该谨慎对待。     

The Relationships Between Paranormal Belief, Creationism, Intelligent Design and Evolution at Secondary Schools in Vienna (Austria)

The present study is the first to investigate the relationships between a multiple set of paranormal beliefs and the acceptance of evolution, creationism, and intelligent design, respectively, in Europe. Using a questionnaire, 2,129 students at secondary schools in Vienna (Austria) answered the 26 statements of the Revised Paranormal Belief Scale (R-PBS) and three statements about naturalistic evolution, creationism and intelligent design (ID). The investigated Austrian students showed an average R-PBS score of 82.08, more than 50% of them agreed with naturalistic evolution, 28% with creationism, and more than a third agreed with ID, the latter two closely correlated with each other. Females generally showed higher belief scores in the paranormal, creationism and ID. The agreement with naturalistic evolution correlated negatively with religious belief, but not with other paranormal beliefs, whereas the two non-scientific alternatives to evolution significantly correlated with both traditional and paranormal beliefs. Religious belief showed a significant positive correlation with other paranormal beliefs. All subscales of paranormal belief decreased during the eight grades of secondary school, as did acceptance of creationism and ID. However, the acceptance of naturalistic evolution did not correlate with age or grade. Possible reasons and implications for science education and the biology curriculum at Austrian secondary schools are discussed.     

Faking science: scientificness,credibility, and belief in pseudoscience

Abstract

Due to the prevalence of pseudoscience, scientific illiteracy, and fake news, scientists are increasingly concerned about pseudoscientific beliefs among individuals without advanced scientific training. We recruited 85 undergraduate participants who read 10 pseudoscientific texts in each of the following conditions: APA-style references, credentialed names, absolute language, probabilistic language, and a control. We collected data on participants’ perceived scientificness, credibility, and belief for each condition to explore potential changes in belief when pseudoscientific texts were disguised as science. Our results for scientificness revealed moderate effects for added references (d?=?0.64) and smaller effects for credentialed names (d?=?0.29). Results for credibility paralleled those for scientificness, showing a large effect for the reference condition (d?=?0.83), and a smaller, though meaningful effect for credentialed names (d?=?0.42). Belief in pseudoscience did not change before or after any study condition, implying that beliefs are stable even when pseudoscience appears scientific and credible.     

The Context of Demarcation in Nature of Science Teaching: The Case of Astrology

The aim of developing students?? understanding of the nature of science [NOS] has been considered an important aspect of science education. However, the results of previous research indicate that students of various ages and even teachers possess both inaccurate and inappropriate views of the NOS. Such a failure has been explained by the view that perceptions about the NOS are well assimilated into mental structures and resistant to change. Further, the popularization of pseudoscience by the media and the assimilation of pseudoscience into previously established scientific fields have been presented as possible reasons for erroneous popular perceptions of science. Any teaching intervention designed to teach the NOS should first provoke individuals to expose their current ideas in order to provide them the chance to revise or replace these conceptual frameworks. Based on these assumptions, the aim of this study was to determine whether a teaching context based on the issue of demarcation would provide a suitable opportunity for exposing and further developing the NOS understandings of individuals enrolled in a teacher education course. Results indicate that a learning intervention based on the issue of demarcation of science from pseudoscience (in the specific case of astrology) proved an effective instructional strategy, which a majority of teacher candidates claimed to plan to use in their future teachings.     

科学崇拜和合理性怀疑--高知识人群邪教受害者思想根源初探

崇拜科学的唯科学主义并不具备真正的科学精神,真正的科学精神恰恰是合理性的怀疑.本文简要分析了唯科学主义的产生渊源、其对伪科学的传播所产生的影响,以及我们对此应采取的措施.     

A case of preservice elementary teachers exploring, retelling, and reframing

This study shows preservice elementary teachers' frames (points of view) about science curriculum. Frames are rules that influence how one perceives and organises events with which one thinks. Participants' frames were externalised by exploring issues from Sagan's text,The Demon Haunted World: Science as a Candle in the Dark (1996), Sagan uses commonly held frames about controversial topics to contrast pseudoscience and science. This narrative explores how students retelling their reactions (to experiences of their own design) might influence one's awareness of beliefs in general and reconsideration of personal beliefs about science and teaching. The entangled issues of critical and metaphoric thinking, as well as reframing are exemplified.     

科学与伪科学

通俗地说明科学的准确涵义，并将科学与非科学和伪科学加以区别。在此基础上提高对伪科学的鉴别能力，并理解科学仍在发展中，需要从非科学中汲取大量营养。     

The Public Discussion on Flat Earth Movement

Science & Education - The paper reflects on public discourses about science and pseudoscience, proposing the same discursive structure for both—the Esperantist-Epideictic genre. This...     

博物学对构建科学文化的启示

社会大众对科学持有一定的观念和理解,形成关于科学的文化。科学主义将其他类型的知识贬斥为大众常识、诗意的表述、形而上学的胡说和伪科学。分析西方科学史上的多元研究传统,可知博物学对多元文化的理解需求具有亲和力和开放性,理解西方科学的多元传统为破除科学主义一元文化和建设中国当代科学文化提供了源头活水。     

加强"科学教育"师资培养及专业建设的思考

随着我国社会的不断发展和综合国力的不断增强,满足人民群众日益增长的物质需要,特别是精神文化的需要,提高全民族的科学素质,彻底铲除“伪科学”,普及“科学教育”越来越显示出其重要性,目前我国从事“科学教育”的人才严重缺乏,因此,加强实施“科学教育”的师资和传播人才的培养,加强其学科的基本建设成为当务之急。     

The Influence of Education Major: How Diverse Preservice Teachers View Pseudoscience Topics

Pseudoscience beliefs (e.g., astrology, ghosts or UFOs) are rife in American society. Most research examines creation/evolution among liberal arts majors, general public adults, or, infrequently, middle or high school science teachers. Thus, research truncates the range of ersatz science thinking and the samples it studies. We examined diverse beliefs, e.g., extraterrestrials, magic, Biblical creation, and evolution, among 540 female and 123 male future teachers, including 325 elementary education majors. We study how these cognitions related to education major and, because popular media often present pseudoscience “information”, student media use. Future elementary educators most often rejected evolution and endorsed “creationism” or Intelligent Design. Education majors held similar beliefs about astrology, UFO landings, or magic. Compared with other education students, elementary education majors watched less news or science television and read fewer popular science magazines. However, religious and media variables explained more variation in creation/evolution beliefs than education major. We discuss implications of our findings for elementary school science education and how teacher educators may be able to affect pseudoscience beliefs among their elementary education students.     

经济学是一门科学吗?——基于科学划界标准的审视

从实证论和还原论两个基本条件来看,经济学并不符合西方主流社会所理解的科学含义;如果从这个视角来强调经济学的科学性,那么只会强化它的"伪科学"特征.当然,无论是证实主义还是证伪主义作为科学划界的标准都存在缺陷,对包括经济学在内的社会科学尤其如此.在某种程度上,迄今为止,人们对科学概念的理解和使用几乎是实用性的和政治性的,而非学术性的和哲理性的,经不起思辨逻辑的耙梳.因此,对科学的划界应该寻找另外的标准.一般地,科学本质上可理解为实现某种目的的一组逻辑自洽的理论体系,从这一角度上讲,经济学也是一门科学.