Stimulating curiosity and critical thinking: the legacy of William Eberhard

Abstract

The transcendence of a scientist not only depends on scientific publications but also on the scientist´s ability to transmit knowledge on how nature works. Here, I will describe some of the strategies that William Eberhard has used to stimulate curiosity in students and promote hypothesis testing in lectures, during field walks and while leading small scientific projects. In his talks, Dr Eberhard often presents data questioning common ecological concepts, leaving it to the students themselves to dispute their validity. This strategy always produces passionate debate. On field walks, he questions ecological concepts learned in the classroom through exercises in the field. While leading research projects, he allows students to get lost in an ocean of hypothetical deductive reasoning, without setting pre-established directions. His spontaneous comments act as a lighthouse that helps students discover their own route to port. William Eberhard encourages the notion that ideas should submit themselves to the data, not vice versa. He never imparts dogmas, but questions them. Most professors believe that the best way to teach science is to tell how things are. William Eberhard´s approach to teaching is exactly the opposite: he teaches that asking good questions is much better than giving straight answers.