Analyzing collegiate critical thinking course effectiveness: Evidence from a quasi-experimental study in China

Zhang, Qinggen; Tang, Huanli; Xu, Xinrui

doi:10.1016/j.tsc.2022.101105

Cited by 6 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…were often the main subjects of study (Kim et al, 2014;Michaluk et al, 2016;Siew and Mapeala, 2016;Basri and Rahman, 2019), while college students majoring in the humanities have received less attention. However, CT as a guide of belief and action (Gyenes, 2021) is an important ability for college students in all fields (Davies, 2013;Zhang et al, 2022). In humanities subjects, research has shown that independent thinking skills are valuable indicators of students' discipline-specific abilities in humanities subjects (Bertram et al, 2021).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Moreover, they need the ability to analyze issues dialectically and rationally, and to continually reflect on themselves and offer constructive comments (Klugman, 2018;Dumitru, 2019). Collegiate CT skills are taught via independent courses or embedded modules (Zhang et al, 2022). The humanities are no exception.…”

Section: Literature Review Ct Of College Students In the Humanitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Constructing a critical thinking evaluation framework for college students majoring in the humanities

Tang

Geng

et al. 2022

Front. Psychol.

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IntroductionEducation for sustainable development (ESD) has focused on the promotion of sustainable thinking skills, capacities, or abilities for learners of different educational stages. Critical thinking (CT) plays an important role in the lifelong development of college students, which is also one of the key competencies in ESD. The development of a valuable framework for assessing college students’ CT is important for understanding their level of CT. Therefore, this study aimed to construct a reliable self-evaluation CT framework for college students majoring in the humanities.MethodsExploratory factor analysis (EFA), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), and Item analysis were conducted to explore the reliability and validity of the CT evaluation framework. Six hundred and forty-two college students majoring in the humanities were collected. The sample was randomly divided into two subsamples (n1 = 321, n2 = 321).ResultsThe Cronbach’s alpha coefficient for the whole scale was 0.909, and the values of the Cronbach’s alpha coefficients for individual factors of the scale ranged from 0.724 to 0.878. Then CFA was conducted within the scope of the validity study of the scale. In this way, the structure of the 7-factor scale was confirmed. Results indicated that the constructed evaluation framework performed consistently with the collected data. CFA also confirmed a good model fitting of the relevant 22 factors of the college students’ CT framework (χ2/df = 3.110, RMSEA = 0.056, GFI = 0.927, AGFI = 0.902, NFI = 0.923, and CFI = 0.946).DiscussionThese findings revealed that the CT abilities self-evaluation scale was a valid and reliable instrument for measuring the CT abilities of college students in the humanities. Therefore, the college students’ CT self-evaluation framework included three dimensions: discipline cognition (DC), CT disposition, and CT skills. Among them, CT disposition consisted of motivation (MO), attention (AT), and open-mindedness (OM), while CT skills included clarification skills (CS), organization skills (OS), and reflection (RE). Therefore, this framework can be an effective instrument to support college students’ CT measurement. Consequently, some suggestions are also put forward regarding how to apply the instrument in future studies.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Literature Review Ct Of College Students In the Humanitiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Constructing a critical thinking evaluation framework for college students majoring in the humanities

Tang

Geng

et al. 2022

Front. Psychol.

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“…One study found that students generally believed that they had high critical thinking and problem-solving skills, and were satisfied with their ability to think critically [75]. Additionally, critical thinking abilities are necessary for students to pinpoint the root of a problem and the best fix to enhance their performance [76]. Thus, student performance achievement and behavioral intention are related to critical thinking learning.…”

Section: Critical Thinking As a 21st Century Skillmentioning

confidence: 99%

Exploring Factors Influencing the Acceptance of E-Learning and Students’ Cooperation Skills in Higher Education

Aldraiweesh

Alturki

2023

Sustainability

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This study investigates the relationship between the behavioral intention to use e-learning and academic achievement, using self-determination theory (SDT) and critical thinking as one of the 21st century skills. This study also examines how the behavioral intention to use e-learning, which mediates the effects of 21st century skills such as logical thinking and perceived utility, promotes academic performance. The approach is based on structural equation modeling using partial least squares (PLS-SEM). A survey question on the idea of self-determination and critical thinking in the 21st century was given to 346 students at King Saud University as the main method of collecting data. The obtained outcomes of students’ perceived usefulness, critical thinking in the 21st-century skills, and behavioral intention to utilize e-learning indicate a positive effect on their academic achievement in higher education institutes, and all of the surveyed students were completely satisfied with the effect of critical thinking in the 21st-century skills on behavioral intention to use e-learning. This study indicates that self-determination theory and critical thinking in the 21st-century skills, as well as communication skills over e-learning systems, enhance the students learning activities and enable the sharing of knowledge, information, and discussions, and, hence, we recommend that students utilize e-learning systems at educational institutions throughout Saudi Arabia for the purpose of learning and that they should be encouraged to do so through lecturers at higher level education institutions.

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“…In recent years, there has been a growing emphasis on the importance of cultivating critical thinking through real‐life problems, social issues, and moral and controversial dilemmas (Santos et al., 2021; Velez & Power, 2020; Volman & ten Dam, 2015). It is important to note that critical thinking is not an innate ability, but rather a learned skill that requires explicit instruction and ongoing practice (Dwyer, 2017; Evangelisto, 2021; Zhang et al., 2022). As a result, educators must prioritise the development and application of critical thinking across different domains, including academia, personal life, civic engagement and work‐related settings.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A multi‐country comparison of lower secondary students' critical thinking under the International Baccalaureate and national curricula

Johnston,

McGrane,

Vendrell‐Morancho

et al. 2023

Review of Education

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Critical thinking is an essential skill for life‐long learning, and, given its increasing importance as a graduate attribute, it is vital to evaluate how educational systems can best improve students' critical thinking through their curricula and classroom practices. This study evaluates the differences in the critical thinking skills of students in the International Baccalaureate (IB) Middle Years Programme (MYP), which explicitly emphasises critical thinking development in its curriculum and has been shown to facilitate classroom strategies to develop critical thinking, versus students enrolled in the national curricula in Australia, England and Norway. The study comprised 870 students across the MYP (n = 386) and non‐MYP (n = 484) curricula in Grades 9 and 10 across 21 schools. Data were remotely collected on their critical thinking skills, and several other relevant cognitive, non‐cognitive and background characteristics. A propensity score matching approach was used to match the MYP and non‐MYP groups on these characteristics and their critical thinking skills were compared using weighted regression. Findings showed that, overall, MYP students possessed higher levels of critical thinking skills than their non‐MYP peers with a moderate effect size (β = 0.38). This advantage also held at both grade levels and across Australian and English students, with no difference for Norwegian students. Thus, the MYP appears to be a promising exemplar for enhancing critical thinking among secondary‐aged students, although context needs to be considered. Based on these findings, recommendations of specific instructional strategies are offered, as well as future research to inform criticalthinking pedagogy.

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Analyzing collegiate critical thinking course effectiveness: Evidence from a quasi-experimental study in China

Cited by 6 publications

References 24 publications

Constructing a critical thinking evaluation framework for college students majoring in the humanities

Constructing a critical thinking evaluation framework for college students majoring in the humanities

Exploring Factors Influencing the Acceptance of E-Learning and Students’ Cooperation Skills in Higher Education

A multi‐country comparison of lower secondary students' critical thinking under the International Baccalaureate and national curricula

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