Critical Thinking among Al-Balqa Applied University Students

Abstract

Critical thinking is a central part of our daily life. It has great importance in immunizing the individual against the vast amount of information, events, and situations that the individual deals with and faces. This study aimed at identifying differences in critical thinking according to different variables. The variables were specializations (scientific, literary), gender (male, female), the Grade Point Average (GPA) and the scores of Jordanian high school national exam (Tawjiji) to predict critical thinking skills. This quantitative study used the descriptive approach by applying Watson's and Glasser's [16] critical thinking appraisal short form transferred to Arabic by Alotaibi [7]. This study was applied to a sample comprising (216) students from Ajloun University College, affiliated with Al-Balqa Applied University, students in Jordan. The results indicated that the study sample had high levels of critical thinking of sub-skills and a high level in critical thinking as for the total scores. There were statistically significant differences in all critical thinking of sub-skills according to specializations in favour of the scientific stream. Besides, there were statistically significant differences in all critical thinking skills according to gender in favour of males. Also, critical thinking could be predicted by the degree of the national examination for high school in Jordan (Tawjiji) but not by Grade Point Average (GPA). The differences in critical thinking between students of scientific streams and literary ones may refer to the difference in school curricula. The scientific courses focus on critical thinking skills more than literary ones. Therefore, it was important to include critical thinking skills in school curricula since critical thinking skills are very important in an individual's success both in study and life.

A Study on High School Students’ Critical Thinking Skills

“…However, there are also other studies that revealed contradictory results on gender differences in CT skills. While some studies reported no significant difference by gender (Afsahi & Afghari, 2017;Özcan, 2017;Sur 2020), some studies concluded that males were ahead when compared to female students in CT skills (King, Wood, & Mines, 1990;Thayer-Bacon, 1993;Algharaibeh & ALmomani, 2020;Marni et al, 2020). Some researchers attributed females' success in CT to females' being more able to think critically and to arrange the way of their thinking than those of males.…”

“…The cortical region of the male brain is primarily focused on spatial tasks, with only a small fraction dedicated to producing and processing words. Moreover, the ability to estimate the causes of the problems for males is easier as it is also related to the left side of the brain on which CT skills is higher compared to the right side of the brain used generally by females (Fuad et al, 2017;Algharaibeh & ALmomani, 2020;Marni et al, 2020). Besides these, considering the CT skills tests and their sub-dimensions, gender effect also varies from test to test in general and from one sub-dimension to another.…”

“…Previous literature on gender differences in CT skills reported conflicting results across various samples. Although some studies concluded CT skills did not significantly differ by gender (Sur, 2020;Saçlı & Demirhan, 2008;Özcan, 2017;Marni et al, 2020;Afhasi & Afghari, 2017), some studies reported a significant difference in favor of females (Irwanto, Rohaeti, & Prodjosantoso, 2019;Shubina & Kulaklı, 2019;Hove, 2011;İncirkuş, 2021;Ay & Akgöl, 2008) while some of them reported males have comparatively higher CT skills (Algharaibeh & ALmomani, 2020). Previous studies also revealed contradictory results on father, and mother's educational background differences in CT skills.…”

An assessment of critical thinking in the Middle East: Evaluating the effectiveness of special courses interventions

“…By the same token, studies have concluded a noticeable deficiency in coherent organization of ideas, evidence, and arguments in assignments requiring extensive writing. Authors have blamed traditional instructor-centered teaching methods focusing on memorization rather than critical reasoning and problem solving [21,22].…”