Analysis of the Extent to which Critical Thinking is Promoted in Examination Questions in the History High School Matriculation Examination Papers of Australia and Croatia

Abstract

High school leaving matriculation examination papers are taken by final year high school students and contribute to university entrance in both the countries of Australia and Croatia. A hierarchical critical thinking taxonomy was developed based on similar taxonomies in existing literature in order to research the questions in the History high school matriculation examination papers of Australia and Croatia respectively in terms of critical thinking. The examination questions were where necessary translated into English and then classified according to this taxonomy and the results are displayed according to the level of critical thinking demanded in these examination papers. The similarities and differences in the findings between the examination paper questions of the two countries in terms of critical thinking were compared and closely studied. Based on these results, conclusions and implications for further consequences of matriculation examination results, for example, university entrance, teaching, learning and good citizenship were then examined. DOI: 10.5901/jesr.2013.v4n3p351