The contribution of critical thinking to STEM disciplines at the time of generative intelligence

Elena Guerra; Elena Guerra

doi:10.3934/steme.2024005

STEM Education

2024, Volume 4, Issue 1: 71-81. doi: 10.3934/steme.2024005

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The contribution of critical thinking to STEM disciplines at the time of generative intelligence

Elena Guerra ^, ,

Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Brescia, 25121, Italy

Academic Editor: Alberto Borboni

Received: 27 November 2023 Revised: 10 January 2024 Accepted: 15 January 2024 Published: 29 January 2024

After more than two decades since its inception, the acronym STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics), which designated the scientific disciplines to be strengthened in the U.S. to meet the challenges of the new millennium, is changing its orientation and representations. Furthermore, this is seen in Europe and Asia, a new approach to reading the contemporary world, which is based on a few key concepts: Interdisciplinarity and complexity. Philosophy, by its nature, plays a leading role in developing those skills that the Framework for the 21st Century Learning report has identified as indispensable and grouped under the 4Cs (Critical thinking, Communication, Collaboration, Creativity). Specifically, critical thinking, which originates with philosophy, helps to settle complex situations and problems and this discipline is also capable of bridging knowledge that seems distant from each other, bringing it into dialogue. In this paper, I aim to investigate, by literature review, the role of critical thinking in the STEM disciplines, which are closely connected to the development of technological knowledge, and thus of GAI (Generative Artificial Intelligence), to contribute to a discussion on how can offer a critical understanding of GAI and its uses. The result of this reflection, which does not yet seem to be outlined in the literature, but which hopefully will be more extensively addressed in the future, indicates that critical thinking, guided by philosophy, can play a crucial role in STEM, especially concerning the Post-Normal Science model, in which the construction of scientific knowledge leaves the academy. Moreover, GAI tools significantly modify the interactions between the different knowledge actors.
- STEM,
- education,
- critical thinking,
- complexity,
- GAI,
- post-normal science
Citation: Elena Guerra. The contribution of critical thinking to STEM disciplines at the time of generative intelligence[J]. STEM Education, 2024, 4(1): 71-81. doi: 10.3934/steme.2024005

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Abstract

After more than two decades since its inception, the acronym STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics), which designated the scientific disciplines to be strengthened in the U.S. to meet the challenges of the new millennium, is changing its orientation and representations. Furthermore, this is seen in Europe and Asia, a new approach to reading the contemporary world, which is based on a few key concepts: Interdisciplinarity and complexity. Philosophy, by its nature, plays a leading role in developing those skills that the Framework for the 21st Century Learning report has identified as indispensable and grouped under the 4Cs (Critical thinking, Communication, Collaboration, Creativity). Specifically, critical thinking, which originates with philosophy, helps to settle complex situations and problems and this discipline is also capable of bridging knowledge that seems distant from each other, bringing it into dialogue. In this paper, I aim to investigate, by literature review, the role of critical thinking in the STEM disciplines, which are closely connected to the development of technological knowledge, and thus of GAI (Generative Artificial Intelligence), to contribute to a discussion on how can offer a critical understanding of GAI and its uses. The result of this reflection, which does not yet seem to be outlined in the literature, but which hopefully will be more extensively addressed in the future, indicates that critical thinking, guided by philosophy, can play a crucial role in STEM, especially concerning the Post-Normal Science model, in which the construction of scientific knowledge leaves the academy. Moreover, GAI tools significantly modify the interactions between the different knowledge actors.

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