Using controversies to promote critical thinking in the sciences

Many herbal remedies, additives, and dietary supplements have controversy regarding their safety and effectiveness. Investigating these controversies is a practical way to apply critical thinking to relevant problems for students in the STEM disciplines, many of whom are preparing for health-related careers. This session will outline the implementation of a critical thinking writing assignment for a second-semester biochemistry course; however, similar projects could be easily adapted for lower-level science courses, and thus this session should be of broad interest. One such controversy, laetrile, will be investigated in small groups during the session as an example.