Did you learn how to detect BS when in school?

Sharon Begley of Newsweek says we need to reform science education to add one important item to the curricula. We need to teach the ability to detect Bad Science (BS). Perhaps this shouldn't be restricted to science classes. Classes in BS detection would include such topics as:

* What counts as evidence? Many studies are observational, rather than randomized, and such studies only show correlation, not cause and effect.

* How do statistics work? One important concept is regression to the mean. When you take medication at the depth of a cold, did the medication bring about health or did it just take time for your body's own defenses to kick in?

* How do you know? If it is by intuition or anecdote, it is likely wrong. The human brain is good at finding patterns in randomness and at overestimating causality.