DOES "TEACHING THE CONTROVERSY" FOSTER CRITICAL THINKING?

Many scientists are baffled by the actions of K-12 school districts concerning teaching about pseudo-controversies such as evolution v. intelligent design or climate change. We wonder how our K-12 colleagues can think that teaching both sides of an issue is better than teaching the consensus scientific understanding. I will describe how the journalistic value of "fair and balanced" coverage of issues has been adopted by many school districts (and some state science standards) in the interest of promoting critical thinking. I will provide examples of how this goal has allowed pseudo-science to be taught in science classrooms. Fortunately, there are also examples where critical examination of such issues in the context of understanding the nature of the scientific enterprise have advanced scientific literacy.