A meta-analysis on critical thinking and community college student achievement

Abstract

The purpose of this meta-analysis was to examine the relationship between student levels of critical thinking (as established via critical thinking tests) and community college student success. We conducted a meta-analysis to synthesize the extant literature on critical thinking and community college student success. After systematically searching the relevant literature through electronic databases using an array of search terms, we screened studies and reviewed them for inclusion. Included studies were reliably coded using a protocol to extract correlational effect size data and study characteristics. These effect sizes were aggregated meta-analytically. From a total of 23 studies (27 samples, N=8233), we found that critical thinking was moderately related to community college student success. The relationship between student achievement and levels of critical thinking (as skills or dispositions) was constant for both nursing and non-nursing students as well as for grades and individual test outcomes; however, students’ levels of critical thinking was more strongly associated with longer-term outcomes compared with those at the shorter term. Meta-regression results indicated some evidence that effects were weaker for male and minority community college students. Implications for this study include the importance of cultivating critical thinking for all community college students and the exploration of understudied areas for future research.