Skip to main content Accessibility help
×
Hostname: page-component-6766d58669-h8lrw Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-05-17T09:57:40.964Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
Series:   Elements of Paleontology

Dinosaurs

A Catalyst for Critical Thought

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 October 2018

Darrin Pagnac
Darrin Pagnac
Affiliation:
South Dakota School of Mines and Technology

Summary

University dinosaur courses provide an influential venue for developing aptitude beyond knowledge of terrestrial Mesozoic reptiles. Passion for dinosaurs, when properly directed, can trigger interest in science and be used to develop critical thinking skills. Examination of dinosaur paleontology can develop competence in information analysis, perception of flawed arguments, recognition of persuasion techniques, and application of disciplined thought processes. Three methods for developing critical thought are outlined in this Element. The first uses dinosaur paleontology to illustrate logical fallacies and flawed arguments. The second is a method for evaluating primary dinosaur literature by students of any major. The final example entails critique of dinosaur documentaries based on the appearance of dinosaurs and the disconnect between scientific fact and storytelling techniques. Students are owed more than dinosaur facts; lecturers should foster a set of skills that equips students with the tools necessary to be perceptive citizens and science advocates.
Get access

Keywords

dinosaurscritical thoughtundergraduatesdocumentarylogical fallacy

Information

Type
Element
Information
Series: Elements of Paleontology
Online ISBN: 9781108681711
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication: 15 November 2018

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Element purchase

Temporarily unavailable

References

References

Anderson, L., and Kraftwohl, D. (eds.). (2001). A Taxonomy for Learning, Teaching, and Assessing: A Revision of Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, London: Pearson.Google Scholar
Aronson, E. (1978). The Jigsaw Classroom, Oxford: SAGE Publications Inc.Google Scholar
Avraamidou, L., and Osborne, J. (2009). The role of narrative in communicating science. International Journal of Science Education, 31(12), 1683–1707.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bruner, J. (1986). Actual Minds, Possible Worlds, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Campbell, V. (2016). Science, Entertainment, and Television Documentary, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chisman, J. (1998). Introducing college students to the scientific literature and the library. Journal of College Science Teaching, 28(1), 39–42.Google Scholar
Choe, S., and Drennan, P. (2001). Analyzing scientific literature using a jigsaw group activity: Piecing together student discussions on environmental research. Journal of College Science Teaching, 30(5), 328–330.Google Scholar
Clemens, E. (1986). Of asteroids and dinosaurs: The role of the press in the shaping of scientific debate. Social Studies of Science, 16, 421–456.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dahlstrom, M. (2014). Using narratives and storytelling to communicate science with nonexpert audiences. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, 111(4), 13614–13620.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dougan, D. (2014). Science storytelling in TV documentaries. Actes D’Història de la Ciència I de la Tècnica. Nova Època, 7, 35–49.Google Scholar
Ennis, R. (1987). A conception of critical thinking: With some curriculum suggestions. APA Newsletter on Teaching Philosophy, Summer, 1–5.Google Scholar
Facione, P. (1990). Critical Thinking: A Statement of Expert Consensus for Purposes of Educational Assessment and Instruction (The Delphi Report), Millbrae, CA: California Academic Press.Google Scholar
Floyd, K. (2011). Communication Matters, Boston, MA: McGraw Hill.Google Scholar
Gehring, K., and Eastman, D. (2008). Information fluency for undergraduate biology majors: Applications of inquiry-based learning in a developmental biology course. CBE Life Sciences Education, 7(1), 54–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gould, S. (1992). Bully for Brontosaurus: Reflections in Natural History, London: W. W. Norton and Co.Google Scholar
Hansen, H. (2002). The straw thing of fallacy theory: The standard definition of “fallacy.” Argumentation, 16(2), 133–155.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harman, C. (1999). Reading the Literature in the Jargon-Intensive Field of Molecular Genetics. Journal of College Science Teaching, 28(4), 252–253.Google Scholar
Hoskins, S., Stevens, L., and Nehm, R. (2007). Selective use of the primary literature transforms the classroom into a virtual laboratory. Genetics, 176(3), 1381–1389.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hutchinson, J., and Garcia, M. (2002). Tyrannosaurus was not a fast runner. Nature, 415, 1018–1021.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hutchinson, J., Famini, D., Lair, R., and Kram, R. (2003). Biomechanics: Are fast-moving elephants really running? Nature, 422, 493–494.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jungwirth, E. (1987). Avoidance of logical fallacies: A neglected aspect of science-education and science-teacher education. Research and Science and Technological Education, 5(1), 43–58.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Krontiris-Litowitz, J. (2013). Using primary literature to teach science literacy to introductory biology students. Journal of Microbiology Education, 14(1), 66–77.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lipman, M. (1988). Critical thinking: What can it be? Educational Leadership, 46, 38–43.Google Scholar
McPeck, J. (1981). Critical Thinking and Education, New York, NY: St. Martin’s Press.Google Scholar
Miller, S. (2014). The public impact of impacts: How the media play in the mass extinction debates. In Keller, G. and Kerr, A., eds., Volcanism, Impacts, and Mass Extinctions: Causes and Effects. Geological Society of America Special Paper, 505, 439–455, Bolder, CO.Google Scholar
Montgomery, S. (1996). The Scientific Voice, New York, NY: Guildford Press.Google Scholar
Owen, R. (1842). Report on British fossil reptiles. Part II. Report of the Eleventh Meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science. Pp. 60–224.Google Scholar
Paul, R. (1981). Teaching critical thinking in the “strong” sense: A focus on self-deception, worldviews, and a dialectical mode of analysis. Informal Logic, 4(2), 2–7.Google Scholar
Ross, R., Duggan-Haas, D., and Allmon, W. (2013). The posture of Tyrannosaurus rex: why do student views lag behind the science? Journal of Geoscience Education, 6, 146–160.Google Scholar
Rowcliffe, S. (2004). Storytelling in science. School Science Review, 86(314), 121–126.Google Scholar
Sagan, C. (1995). The Demon-Haunted World: Science As a Candle in the Dark, New York, NY: Random House.Google Scholar
Salmi, H., Thuneberg, H., and Vainikainen, M. (2016). Learning with dinosaurs: A study on motivation, cognitive reasoning, and making observations. International Journal of Science Education, Part B, 1–16.Google Scholar
Scannella, J., and Horner, J. (2010). Torosaurus Marsh, 1891, is Triceratops Marsh, 1889 (Ceratopsidae: Chasmosaurinae): synonymy through ontogeny. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 30(4), 1157–1168.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schmaltz, R., Jansen, E., and Wenckowski, N. (2017). Redefining critical thinking: Teaching students to think like scientists. Frontiers in Psychology, 8, 459.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Shannon, S., and Winterman, B. (2012). Student comprehension of primary literature is aided by companion assignments emphasizing pattern recognition and information literacy. Issues in Science and Technology Librarianship, 68, www.istl.org/12-winter/refereed3.html Accessed November 22, 2017.Google Scholar
Siegel, H. (1988). Educating Reason: Rationality, Critical Thinking, and Education, New York, NY: Routledge.Google Scholar
Snively, E., and Cox, A. (2008). Structural mechanics of pachycephalosaur crania permitted head-butting behavior. Paleontologica Electronica, 11(1), 1–17.Google Scholar
Snively, E., and Theodor, J. (2011). Common functional correlates of head-strike behavior in the pachycephalosaur Stegoceras validum (Ornithischia, Dinosauria) and combative artiodactyls. PLOS One, DOI:https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0021422 Accessed November 22, 2017.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Snow, C. (2010). Academic language and the challenge of reading for learning about science. Science, 328, 450–452.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stevens, K., and Parish, J. (1999). Neck posture and feeding habits of two Jurassic sauropod dinosaurs. Science, 284(5415), 798–800.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Suleski, J., and Ibaraki, M. (2009). Scientists are talking, but mostly to each other: A quantitative analysis of research represented in mass media. Public Understanding of Science, 19(1), 115–125.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Taylor, M., Wedel, M., and Naish, D. (2009). Head and neck posture in sauropod dinosaurs inferred from extant animals. Acta Paleontological Polonica, 54(2), 213–220.10.4202/app.2009.0007CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Unger, F. J. A. N. (1851). Die Urwelt in ihren Verschiedenen Bildungsperioden, Leipzig: Weigel.Google Scholar
Wedel, M. (2009a). Lies, damned lies, and Clash of Dinosaurs. Sauropod Vertebra Picture of the Week, https://svpow.com/2009/12/15/lies-damned-lies-and-clash-of-the-dinosaurs/ Accessed November 22, 2017.Google Scholar
Wedel, M. (2009b). Clash of the Dinosaurs: Dangerous Ltd document their own dishonest editing. Sauropod Vertebra Picture of the Week, https://svpow.com/2009/12/17/clash-of-the-dinosaurs-dangerous-ltd-document-their-own-dishonest-editing/ Accessed November 22, 2017.Google Scholar
Anderson, L., and Kraftwohl, D. (eds.). (2001). A Taxonomy for Learning, Teaching, and Assessing: A Revision of Bloom’s Taxonomy of Educational Objectives, London: Pearson.Google Scholar
Aronson, E. (1978). The Jigsaw Classroom, Oxford: SAGE Publications Inc.Google Scholar
Avraamidou, L., and Osborne, J. (2009). The role of narrative in communicating science. International Journal of Science Education, 31(12), 1683–1707.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bruner, J. (1986). Actual Minds, Possible Worlds, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Campbell, V. (2016). Science, Entertainment, and Television Documentary, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chisman, J. (1998). Introducing college students to the scientific literature and the library. Journal of College Science Teaching, 28(1), 39–42.Google Scholar
Choe, S., and Drennan, P. (2001). Analyzing scientific literature using a jigsaw group activity: Piecing together student discussions on environmental research. Journal of College Science Teaching, 30(5), 328–330.Google Scholar
Clemens, E. (1986). Of asteroids and dinosaurs: The role of the press in the shaping of scientific debate. Social Studies of Science, 16, 421–456.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dahlstrom, M. (2014). Using narratives and storytelling to communicate science with nonexpert audiences. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, 111(4), 13614–13620.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dougan, D. (2014). Science storytelling in TV documentaries. Actes D’Història de la Ciència I de la Tècnica. Nova Època, 7, 35–49.Google Scholar
Ennis, R. (1987). A conception of critical thinking: With some curriculum suggestions. APA Newsletter on Teaching Philosophy, Summer, 1–5.Google Scholar
Facione, P. (1990). Critical Thinking: A Statement of Expert Consensus for Purposes of Educational Assessment and Instruction (The Delphi Report), Millbrae, CA: California Academic Press.Google Scholar
Floyd, K. (2011). Communication Matters, Boston, MA: McGraw Hill.Google Scholar
Gehring, K., and Eastman, D. (2008). Information fluency for undergraduate biology majors: Applications of inquiry-based learning in a developmental biology course. CBE Life Sciences Education, 7(1), 54–63.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gould, S. (1992). Bully for Brontosaurus: Reflections in Natural History, London: W. W. Norton and Co.Google Scholar
Hansen, H. (2002). The straw thing of fallacy theory: The standard definition of “fallacy.” Argumentation, 16(2), 133–155.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Harman, C. (1999). Reading the Literature in the Jargon-Intensive Field of Molecular Genetics. Journal of College Science Teaching, 28(4), 252–253.Google Scholar
Hoskins, S., Stevens, L., and Nehm, R. (2007). Selective use of the primary literature transforms the classroom into a virtual laboratory. Genetics, 176(3), 1381–1389.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hutchinson, J., and Garcia, M. (2002). Tyrannosaurus was not a fast runner. Nature, 415, 1018–1021.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hutchinson, J., Famini, D., Lair, R., and Kram, R. (2003). Biomechanics: Are fast-moving elephants really running? Nature, 422, 493–494.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jungwirth, E. (1987). Avoidance of logical fallacies: A neglected aspect of science-education and science-teacher education. Research and Science and Technological Education, 5(1), 43–58.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Krontiris-Litowitz, J. (2013). Using primary literature to teach science literacy to introductory biology students. Journal of Microbiology Education, 14(1), 66–77.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lipman, M. (1988). Critical thinking: What can it be? Educational Leadership, 46, 38–43.Google Scholar
McPeck, J. (1981). Critical Thinking and Education, New York, NY: St. Martin’s Press.Google Scholar
Miller, S. (2014). The public impact of impacts: How the media play in the mass extinction debates. In Keller, G. and Kerr, A., eds., Volcanism, Impacts, and Mass Extinctions: Causes and Effects. Geological Society of America Special Paper, 505, 439–455, Bolder, CO.Google Scholar
Montgomery, S. (1996). The Scientific Voice, New York, NY: Guildford Press.Google Scholar
Owen, R. (1842). Report on British fossil reptiles. Part II. Report of the Eleventh Meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science. Pp. 60–224.Google Scholar
Paul, R. (1981). Teaching critical thinking in the “strong” sense: A focus on self-deception, worldviews, and a dialectical mode of analysis. Informal Logic, 4(2), 2–7.Google Scholar
Ross, R., Duggan-Haas, D., and Allmon, W. (2013). The posture of Tyrannosaurus rex: why do student views lag behind the science? Journal of Geoscience Education, 6, 146–160.Google Scholar
Rowcliffe, S. (2004). Storytelling in science. School Science Review, 86(314), 121–126.Google Scholar
Sagan, C. (1995). The Demon-Haunted World: Science As a Candle in the Dark, New York, NY: Random House.Google Scholar
Salmi, H., Thuneberg, H., and Vainikainen, M. (2016). Learning with dinosaurs: A study on motivation, cognitive reasoning, and making observations. International Journal of Science Education, Part B, 1–16.Google Scholar
Scannella, J., and Horner, J. (2010). Torosaurus Marsh, 1891, is Triceratops Marsh, 1889 (Ceratopsidae: Chasmosaurinae): synonymy through ontogeny. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology, 30(4), 1157–1168.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schmaltz, R., Jansen, E., and Wenckowski, N. (2017). Redefining critical thinking: Teaching students to think like scientists. Frontiers in Psychology, 8, 459.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Shannon, S., and Winterman, B. (2012). Student comprehension of primary literature is aided by companion assignments emphasizing pattern recognition and information literacy. Issues in Science and Technology Librarianship, 68, www.istl.org/12-winter/refereed3.html Accessed November 22, 2017.Google Scholar
Siegel, H. (1988). Educating Reason: Rationality, Critical Thinking, and Education, New York, NY: Routledge.Google Scholar
Snively, E., and Cox, A. (2008). Structural mechanics of pachycephalosaur crania permitted head-butting behavior. Paleontologica Electronica, 11(1), 1–17.Google Scholar
Snively, E., and Theodor, J. (2011). Common functional correlates of head-strike behavior in the pachycephalosaur Stegoceras validum (Ornithischia, Dinosauria) and combative artiodactyls. PLOS One, DOI:https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0021422 Accessed November 22, 2017.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Snow, C. (2010). Academic language and the challenge of reading for learning about science. Science, 328, 450–452.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stevens, K., and Parish, J. (1999). Neck posture and feeding habits of two Jurassic sauropod dinosaurs. Science, 284(5415), 798–800.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Suleski, J., and Ibaraki, M. (2009). Scientists are talking, but mostly to each other: A quantitative analysis of research represented in mass media. Public Understanding of Science, 19(1), 115–125.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Taylor, M., Wedel, M., and Naish, D. (2009). Head and neck posture in sauropod dinosaurs inferred from extant animals. Acta Paleontological Polonica, 54(2), 213–220.10.4202/app.2009.0007CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Unger, F. J. A. N. (1851). Die Urwelt in ihren Verschiedenen Bildungsperioden, Leipzig: Weigel.Google Scholar
Wedel, M. (2009a). Lies, damned lies, and Clash of Dinosaurs. Sauropod Vertebra Picture of the Week, https://svpow.com/2009/12/15/lies-damned-lies-and-clash-of-the-dinosaurs/ Accessed November 22, 2017.Google Scholar
Wedel, M. (2009b). Clash of the Dinosaurs: Dangerous Ltd document their own dishonest editing. Sauropod Vertebra Picture of the Week, https://svpow.com/2009/12/17/clash-of-the-dinosaurs-dangerous-ltd-document-their-own-dishonest-editing/ Accessed November 22, 2017.Google Scholar

Accessibility standard: Unknown

Why this information is here

This section outlines the accessibility features of this content - including support for screen readers, full keyboard navigation and high-contrast display options. This may not be relevant for you.

Accessibility Information

Accessibility compliance for the HTML of this element is currently unknown and may be updated in the future.

Save element to Kindle

To save this element to your Kindle, first ensure no-reply@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Dinosaurs
  • Darrin Pagnac, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology
  • Online ISBN: 9781108681711
Available formats
×

Save element to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Dinosaurs
  • Darrin Pagnac, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology
  • Online ISBN: 9781108681711
Available formats
×

Save element to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Dinosaurs
  • Darrin Pagnac, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology
  • Online ISBN: 9781108681711
Available formats
×