Uploaded March 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Well, that depends on your definition of critical thinking. The term critical thinking means different things to different people. Who is right? Science teachers are trained to teach critical thinking, emphasizing that science is falsifiable and requires tested hypotheses, evidence, and consensus. They encourage students to engage in the scientific process through NGSS practices and project-based learning.
CFI's Education Department: centerforinquiry.org/education-department
But here’s what they don’t teach: how our own flawed thinking and perceptions can get in the way of accepting facts. They do not teach that many of the things we each believe are tied more closely to our identities than to any facts. This reality that our worldview affects how we process new information and that science is the best way to put guardrails in place so we can seek the truth in the most objective way possible should be an ongoing theme in our classrooms.
This talk was part of the exciting lineup for CSICon 2024. CSICon is the premiere conference for science and skepticism.
Learn more at: csiconference.org
Bertha Vazquez taught middle school science in Miami-Dade County Public Schools for thirty-four years. As a teacher, she was the recipient of several national and local honors, including the 2014 Samsung’s $150,000 Solve For Tomorrow Contest and The Charles C. Bartlett National Excellence in Environmental Award in 2009. She was Miami-Dade County Public School’s Science Teacher of the Year in 1997, 2008, and 2017. She was also the winner of the NABT‘s 2017 Evolution Education Award and NCSE’s 2023 Friend of Darwin award. Vazquez is the education director at the Center for Inquiry, a nonprofit organization that promotes science and reason. She published her first book, On Teaching Evolution in December 2021. Her second book on climate change education is due for publication in 2025 with Corwin Press. In her spare time, Vazquez is an avid tennis player and bashful ukulele player. She lives in Miami, Florida, with her husband, son, and dog.
This talk took place during CSICon in Las Vegas on October 26, 2024
Well, that depends on your definition of critical thinking. The term critical thinking means different things to different people. Who is right? Science teachers are trained to teach critical thinking, emphasizing that science is falsifiable and requires tested hypotheses, evidence, and consensus. They encourage students to engage in the scientific process through NGSS practices and project-based learning.
CFI's Education Department: centerforinquiry.org/education-department
But here’s what they don’t teach: how our own flawed thinking and perceptions can get in the way of accepting facts. They do not teach that many of the things we each believe are tied more closely to our identities than to any facts. This reality that our worldview affects how we process new information and that science is the best way to put guardrails in place so we can seek the truth in the most objective way possible should be an ongoing theme in our classrooms.
This talk was part of the exciting lineup for CSICon 2024. CSICon is the premiere conference for science and skepticism.
Learn more at: csiconference.org
Bertha Vazquez taught middle school science in Miami-Dade County Public Schools for thirty-four years. As a teacher, she was the recipient of several national and local honors, including the 2014 Samsung’s $150,000 Solve For Tomorrow Contest and The Charles C. Bartlett National Excellence in Environmental Award in 2009. She was Miami-Dade County Public School’s Science Teacher of the Year in 1997, 2008, and 2017. She was also the winner of the NABT‘s 2017 Evolution Education Award and NCSE’s 2023 Friend of Darwin award. Vazquez is the education director at the Center for Inquiry, a nonprofit organization that promotes science and reason. She published her first book, On Teaching Evolution in December 2021. Her second book on climate change education is due for publication in 2025 with Corwin Press. In her spare time, Vazquez is an avid tennis player and bashful ukulele player. She lives in Miami, Florida, with her husband, son, and dog.
This talk took place during CSICon in Las Vegas on October 26, 2024
