The purpose of this research roundtable is to discuss the use of Brookfield’s Critical Incident Questionnaire to effect dispositional change in students toward critical thinking, gain greater instructor insight, and improve instruction. My preliminary, and future, work in this area derives from experience with undergraduate students taking a general education science course.

Recent studies question the effectiveness of a traditional university curriculum in helping students improve their critical thinking and scientific literacy. We developed an introductory, general education (gen ed) science course to overcome both deficiencies. The course, titled Foundations of Science, differs from most gen ed science offerings in that it is interdisciplinary; emphasizes the nature of science along with, rather than primarily, the findings of science; incorporates case studies, such as the vaccine…