Assessing and Developing Students' Critical Thinking

Abstract

The development of critical thinking is an important step in achieving the goals of holistic education, not only through helping students gain knowledge but above all through ensuring that they think effectively. The aim of this article is to explore the concept of critical thinking and to discuss possibilities to develop students' critical thinking. This article presents results of an experiment that was carried out in Vilnius Pedagogical University and designed to develop students' critical thinking skills and to strengthen their motivation to think critically. We investigated how a critical thinking development programme influenced students' critical thinking skills and motivation. Our programme of critical thinking is based on the ideas of humanistic psychology and meaningful learning, and the main learning methods deployed were based on co-operative learning. Our critical thinking development course significantly influenced all the measured components of the students' critical thinking skills and some components of their motivation. We discuss the result, draws conclusions and suggest recommendations.

Problem based learning and involvement in off campus organization enhance students’ critical participation behavior

“…Therefore critical participation behavior is considered as a disposition which developed significantly, and not the one which remained unchanged. 6 Maturity seems to be the risk factor of good critical participation behavior. This study noted that students aged 22-24 years were 40% more likely to have good critical thinking behavior compared to those aged 17-21 years.…”

“…Some dispositions developed significantly while some remained unchanged. 6 Considering that, it should be investigated as to whether critical participation behavior would develop.…”

Integrating Quantitative and Qualitative Approaches in Psychology Research Methods Teaching: The Example of a Classroom Debate

“…Peer interaction, more generally, has already been highlighted as a means by which to develop critical thinking skills Rimiene, 2002). In particular, environments that involve a high level of student-student and teacher-student dialogue are thought to encourage a deep understanding of material Nicol and Boyle, 2003).…”

A preliminary investigation into critical thinking of urban Xi’an high school students

“…Thus, there have been many programs created that promote critical thinking, such as The Instrumental Enrichment Program which is a content-free, paper-and-pencil program that improves problem-solving strategies in 14 cognitive areas and promotes broad application of these strategies from classroom subjects to real-life situations (Feuerstein et al, 1986); Lipman Philosophy for Children which is a program for younger students that develops informal logic skills through the discussion of issues raised in narrative tests, including problems of meaning, truth, ethics, reality and imagination (Resnick, 1987), etc. Many critical thinking development programs have been realized in universities in different countries, with studies showing significant differences in the test-retest scores of students' critical thinking (Facione et al, 1997;Rimiene, 2002). Because most of the attendees were university students, college nursing students or adults, the scholars' research populations were fairly limited.…”