CUDOs to the teachers: Using Merton s norms of scientific practice to guide lessons in critical thinking

Professors are often exhorted to foster an atmosphere in critical thinking in their classes, and there is a wide variety of lessons and activities that college students can be given in order to keep their questioning spirit alive. In this paper, the researcher sets critical thinking against the framework of Merton’s Norms of scientific practice. Robert Merton’s work has been used in the philosophy and sociology of science as a way to discuss what constitutes a scientific culture. The norms are summarized in the acronym CUDOs: Communalism (scientific knowledge is open to all), Universalism (that the practice of science is open to everyone), Disinterestedness (scientists do research for the greater good and not their personal gain), and Organized Skepticism (scientists always operate from a default of skepticism, and constantly question new findings in systematic ways.) These norms can be applied to tertiary classrooms to show students that scientific thinking is not monopolized by those in the scientific field, and that part of this scientific thinking is an organized, critical approach to appraising the world. The researcher provides examples from her own classes and assesses her practice and future directions for critical thinking instruction at the tertiary level.