Our Prospective Mathematic Teachers Are Not Critical Thinkers Yet

Abstract

In order to help students develop their critical thinking skills, teachers need to model the critical thinking skills and dispositions in front of their students. Unfortunately, very rare studies investigating prospective teachers' readiness in critical thinking dispositions are available in the field of mathematics education. This study was intended to investigate the level of critical thinking disposition of prospective mathematics teachers. Using vase study methods, three studies were done in Malang.Three levels of critical thinkers were identified from these case studies namely: non-critical thinker, emergent critical thinker, developing critical thinker. Majority of prospective mathematics teachers' critical thinking dispositions are at the non-critical thinker level. Only a few of them are at the emergent critical thinker, and very rare at the developing critical thinker level. It can be concluded that prospective mathematics teachers are not critical thinker yet. Teacher education institutions need to reform their curriculum and instructional practices to improve their students critical thinking skills and dispositions. Keywords: Critical Thinking, Disposition, Mathematics, Prospective Teachers AbstrakDalam rangka membantu siswa mengembangkan kemampuan berpikir kritis, para guru perlu memodelkan kemampuan dan disposisi berpikir kritis tersebut di hadapan siswanya. Akan tetapi, sedikit peneliti yang menyeliidi tingkat kemampuan berpikir kritis calon guru matematika. Penelitian ini dimaksudkan untuk menyelidiki tingkat kemampuan berpikir kritis calon guru matematika. Menggunakan metode studi kasus, tiga studi kasus telah dilaksanakan di Malang.Tiga tingkat kemampuan berpikir kritis teridentifikasi dari studi kasus ini, yaitu: non-critical thinker, emergent critical thinker, dan developing critical thinker. Mayoritas calon guru matematika masih berada di tingkat non-critical thniker.Hanya sebagian kecil yang berada pada level emerging critical thinker, dan sangat jarang yang berada pada level developing critical thinker. Dapat disimpulkan bahwa calon guru matematika masih belum merupakan pemikir kritis. Lembaga pendidikan guru perlu mereformasi kurikulum dan praktik pembelajaran mereka untuk meningkatkan kemampuan dan disposisi berpikir kritis siswanya.

Critical Thinking Disposition: Students Skeptic in Dealing with Ill-Logical Mathematics Problem

“…Angeli and Valanides (2009) stated that critical thinking is required by of every citizen of the democracy to deal with a large number of ill-defined information and problems filled with uncertainty. It was confirmed by As'ari that critical thinking can make better and more appropriate decisions in responding to information (As'ari et al, 2017). Based on the information, it is appropriate to think critically as an important foundation in education to face the 21 st century (Cheng et al, 2017).…”

“…Critical thinking is a very important thing for everyone (Angeli and Valanides, 2009;As'ari, Mahmudi, and Nurlaelah, 2017;Bell and Loon, 2015;Biber, Tuna, and Incikabi, 2013;Bie, Wilhelm, and Meij, 2015;Chen, Tolmie, and Wang, 2017;Cheng, May, and Wan, 2017;Ku, Lee, and Ellis, 2017;Özkahraman, 2012;Udi and Cheng, 2015). Critical thinking is a type of thinking involved in solving problems, formulating conclusions, counting possibilities, and making decisions (Taube, 1997).…”

“…The characteristics of a person that is said to have a critical thinking disposition are related to life and life in general: (a) being curious (As'ari et al, 2017;Facione, 1992;Özkahraman, 2012), (b) seekings to always be informed (As'ari et al, 2017;Facione, 1992;Özkahraman, 2012), (c) being ready to always use critical thinking (As'ari et al, 2017;Facione, 1990;Özkahraman, 2012), (d) believing in the process of reasoned investigation (Facione, 1990), (e) confidence (As'ari et al, 2017;Facione, 1990), (f) open thinking (As'ari et al, 2017;Facione, 1990;Özkahraman, 2012), (g) flexibility (As'ari et al, 2017;Facione, 1990;Özkahraman, 2012), (h) understanding the opinions of the others (As'ari et al, 2017;Facione, 1990), (i) being objective or fair minded (As'ari et al, 2017;Facione, 1990;Özkahraman, 2012), (j) sage (As'ari et al, 2017;Facione, 1990), (k) being willing to reconsider and revise if necessary (As'ari et al, 2017;Facione, 1990) and (l) Honest (Facione, 1990). The characteristics of a person who has a critical thinking disposition are related to a particular problem, question or problem namely: (a) clarifying the clarity of a problem; (b) being diligent in searching for relevant information (c) rational in selecting and applying criteria; (d) ordering (in order) in working on complex issues; (e) focusing on the main concerns; (f) persevering despite difficulty (never giving up); (g) careful consideration of subjects and circumstances (Facione, 1990).…”

“…Ill-defined problems are a problem with ambiguity and ambiguous goals (Hocking & Vernon, 2017). Furthermore, ill-defined problems are divided into three types of problems: (1) problems with ambiguous (open-ended) information (As'ari et al, 2017;Douglas, Koro-ljungberg, Mcneill, Malcolm, & Therriault, 2012;Hocking & Vernon, 2017;Lynch, Ashley, Pinkwart, & Aleven, 2009), (2) problems with incomplete information (As'ari et al, 2017;Lynch et al, 2009) and (3) problems in which there is information conflict (contradictory information) (As'ari et al, 2017;Douglas et al, 2012;King & Kitchener, 1994).…”

“…Ill-defined problems, in which there is an information conflict, are also called ill-logical problems by As'ari et al (2017). Based on the results of the ill-logical problem done by As'ari et al (2017) to some mathematics teacher candidates, it is found that the prospective teacher is at the level of emergent critical thinker.…”