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School of Historical and Philosophical Inquiry
  • Home
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Dr Peter Ellerton

Senior Lecturer in Philosophy & Director of Engagement
+61 7 336 53165
peter.ellerton@uq.edu.au
Room E353, Forgan Smith Building (1)
View researcher profile

Publications

Book Chapters (8)
Journal Articles (10)
Conference Paper (1)
Thesis (1)
Data Collection (1)
Research Report (1)
Department Technical Report (1)
Newspaper Articles (39)

Book Chapters

Ellerton, Peter, Leibovitch, Yael and Brown, Deborah (2024). Critical thinking. Teaching Middle Years. (pp. 244-256) London: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9781003458586-19
Lodge, Jason M., Ellerton, Peter, Zaphir, Luke and Brown, Deborah (2024). Assessing in the Age of AI. Artificial Intelligence Applications in K-12. (pp. 24-37) New York: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9781003440192-3
Ellerton, Peter and Kelly, Robert (2021). Creativity and critical thinking. Education in the 21st Century: STEM, Creativity and Critical Thinking. (pp. 9-27) edited by Amanda Berry, Cathy Buntting, Deborah Corrigan, Richard Gunstone and Alister Jones. Cham, Switzerland: Springer. doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-85300-6_2
Ellerton, Peter (2019). Critical Thinking in Adolescence. The Encyclopedia of Child and Adolescent Development. (pp. 1-1) edited by S. Hupp and J. Jewell. London, United Kingdom: John Wiley & Sons. doi: 10.1002/9781119171492.wecad370
Ellerton, Peter (2017). Settling Science - why the scientific method confuses us. The Best Australian Science Writing 2017. (pp. ---) Sydney NSW Australia: NewSouth Publishing.
Ellerton, Peter (2017). Pragmatist epistemology, inquiry values and education for thinking. The Routledge international handbook of philosophy for children. (pp. 111-118) edited by Maughn Rollins Gregory, Joanna Haynes and Karin Murris. New York, NY United States: Routledge. doi: 10.4324/9781315726625
Ellerton, Peter (2015). Metacognition and critical thinking: some pedagogical imperatives. Palgrave handbook of critical thinking in higher education. (pp. 409-426) edited by M. Davies and R. Barnett. US: Palgrave Macmillan. doi: 10.1007/978-1-137-37805-7_25
Ellerton, Peter (2010). Theology is not philosophy. The Australian book of atheism. (pp. 125-138) edited by Warren Bonett. Carlton North, Vic., Australia: Scribe Publications.

Journal Articles

Leibovitch, Yael M., Beencke, Andrew, Ellerton, Peter J., McBrien, Craig, Robinson-Taylor, Cara-Lee and Brown, Deborah J. (2025). Teachers’ (evolving) beliefs about critical thinking education during professional learning: a multi-case case study. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 56 101725, 101725. doi: 10.1016/j.tsc.2024.101725
Normore, George, Leibovitch, Yael M., Brown, Deborah J., Pearson, Samuel, Mazzolo, Claudio, Ellerton, Peter J. and Watt, Glenn (2024). Investigating the impact of critical thinking instruction on writing performance: a multilevel modelling analysis of relative gain data in the Australian National Assessment Program. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 53 101546, 1-16. doi: 10.1016/j.tsc.2024.101546
Smith, Kathy, Maynard, Nicoleta, Berry, Amanda, Stephenson, Tanya, Spiteri, Tabetha, Corrigan, Deborah, Mansfield, Jennifer, Ellerton, Peter and Smith, Timothy (2022). Principles of Problem-Based Learning (PBL) in STEM education: using expert wisdom and research to frame educational practice. Education Sciences, 12 (10) 728, 728. doi: 10.3390/educsci12100728
Ellerton, Peter (2022). On critical thinking and content knowledge: a critique of the assumptions of cognitive load theory. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 43 100975, 100975. doi: 10.1016/j.tsc.2021.100975
Hegazy, Hind, Ellerton, Peter, Campos-Remon, Hannah, Zaphir, Luke, Mazzola, Claudio and Brown, Deborah (2021). Working from theory: developing the bases of teachers’ critical thinking pedagogies through action research. Educational Action Research, 31 (1), 1-16. doi: 10.1080/09650792.2021.1877757
Osborn, Judy-anne, Larkins, Jo-Ann, McBain, Bonnie, Ellerton, Peter, Black, Joel, Borwein, Naomi, Breuer, Florian and Roberts, Malcom (2020). Foundations of the DEFT Project: tertiary educators Developing Expertise Fostering Thinking. International Journal of Innovation in Science and Mathematics Education, 28 (2), 2-15. doi: 10.30722/ijisme.28.02.001
Mazzola, Claudio, Kinkead, David, Ellerton, Peter and Brown, Deborah (2020). Reichenbachian common cause clusters. Erkenntnis, 87 (4), 1707-1735. doi: 10.1007/s10670-020-00269-6
Kinkead, Dave, Brown, Deborah, Ellerton, Peter and Mazzola, Claudio (2019). Reasons: a digital argument mapping library for modern browsers. Journal of Open Source Software, 4 (37), 1044. doi: 10.21105/joss.01044
Jansen, Melanie and Ellerton, Peter (2018). How to read an ethics paper. Journal of Medical Ethics, 44 (12), 810-813. doi: 10.1136/medethics-2018-104997
Cook, John, Ellerton, Peter and Kinkead, David (2018). Deconstructing climate misinformation to identify reasoning errors. Environmental Research Letters, 13 (2) 024018, 024018. doi: 10.1088/1748-9326/aaa49f

Conference Paper

Ellerton, Peter (2015). The Skills and Values of Inquiry. International Conference of the Philosophy of Education Society of Australasia, Melboure, VIC, Australia, 5-8 December 2015. Fitzroy, VIC, Australia: Philosophy of Education Society of Australasia.

Thesis

Ellerton, Peter (2019). Teaching for thinking: explaining pedagogical expertise in the development of the skills, values and virtues of inquiry. PhD Thesis, School of Historical and Philosophical Inquiry, The University of Queensland. doi: 10.14264/uql.2019.211

Data Collection

Lodge, Jason, Pezaro, Charlotte, Brown, Deborah, Kent, Kirsty, Corbett, Brooklyn and Ellerton, Peter (2019). Detailed list of studies identified in systematic review of published research examining the critical thinking of higher education students. The University of Queensland. (Dataset) doi: 10.14264/uql.2019.964

Research Report

Mair, D., Smillie, L., La Placa, G., Schwendinger, F., Raykovska, M., Pasztor, Z., van Bavel, R. and Ellerton, Peter (Expert Contributor) (2019). Understanding our political nature: How to put knowledge and reason at the heart of political decision-making. Science for Policy Luxembourg, Belgium: Publications Office of the European Union. doi: 10.2760/374191

Department Technical Report

Ellerton, Peter (2017). Critical Thinking and Collaborative Inquiry. Occasional paper commissioned by the NSW Department of Education National Initiatives & Performance Directorate.

Newspaper Articles

Ellerton, Peter (2018, 08 04). How do you know that what you know is true? That’s epistemology
Ellerton, Peter (2018, 02 07). How to use critical thinking to spot false climate claims
Ellerton, Peter (2017, 08 17). When it comes to same-sex marriage, not all views deserve respect
Ellerton, Peter (2017, 06 13). Film festival reveals the passion, emotion and disappointment that can come with science
Ellerton, Peter (2017, 04 18). Facts are not always more important than opinions: here’s why
Ellerton, Peter (2017, 01 31). Shallow impact: when crackpot conspiracy theories are touted as news, we all lose
Ellerton, Peter (2016, 12 23). A very diplomatic Christmas: how to avoid a coup at the dinner table this year
Ellerton, Peter (2016, 12 01). Whose word should you respect in any debate on science?
Ellerton, Peter (2016, 10 10). Post-truth politics and the US election: why the narrative trumps the facts
Ellerton, Peter (2016, 09 15). What exactly is the scientific method and why do so many people get it wrong?
Ellerton, Peter (2016, 07 25). Despairing about elections? This is why your vote matters
Ellerton, Peter (2016, 07 21). Why we need to hear what controversial people say and not silence the debate
Ellerton, Peter (2016, 05 30). Why there’s so little real argument in today’s political debate
Ellerton, Peter (2016, 02 02). We can’t trust common sense but we can trust science
Ellerton, Peter (2016, 01 29). Why would anyone believe the Earth is flat?
Ellerton, Peter (2016, 01 07). What does it mean to think and could a machine ever do it?
Ellerton, Peter (2015, 12 24). How to unwrap Christmas and Santa for the little atheists in your life The Conversation
Ellerton, Peter (2015, 12 21). Santa, death and the Easter Bunny – how to have that hard talk with your kid The Conversation
Ellerton, Peter (2015, 08 19). Teaching how to think is just as important as teaching anything else The Conversation
Ellerton, Peter (2015, 08 11). The politics of fear have trumped the politics of courage – more’s the pity
Ellerton, Peter (2015, 07 14). Some useful tips on how to raise an argumentative child The Conversation
Ellerton, Peter (2015, 06 15). This is why you will lose your argument
Ellerton, Peter (2015, 05 29). Working together for critical thinking in schools
Ellerton, Peter (2015, 05 11). Why politicians don’t want us to think, but opinions are okay
Ellerton, Peter (2014, 12 18). How to teach all students to think critically
Ellerton, Peter (2014, 11 14). How an approach to science helps define the political centre
Ellerton, Peter (2014, 10 06). The ironclad logic of conspiracy theories and how to break it The Conversation
Ellerton, Peter (2014, 07 17). The problem of false balance when reporting on science
Ellerton, Peter (2014, 05 13). Why facts alone don’t change minds in our big public debates
Ellerton, Peter (2014, 04 23). Brandis confuses right to be heard with right to be taken seriously The Conversation
Ellerton, Peter (2014, 01 31). Where is the proof in pseudoscience?
Ellerton, Peter (2014, 01 16). What you think is right may actually be wrong – here’s why
Ellerton, Peter (2013, 07 23). And in science news … can we have more science news? The Conversation
Ellerton, Peter (2013, 05 01). Bees, pesticides and … what are chief scientists for?
Ellerton, Peter (2012, 08 11). Are all ideas equal? Not in the classroom
Ellerton, Peter (2012, 05 28). Teaching the nature of science (and keeping students engaged)
Ellerton, Peter (2012, 05 23). Health of Australian Science: time to call in the doctors (of physics) The Conversation
Ellerton, Peter (2012, 05 11). The truth, the whole truth and … wait, how many truths are there?
Ellerton, Peter (2012, 04 26). Listen and learn: the language of science and scepticism The Conversation
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