Study of critical thinking status and its influence factors of medical students

Abstract

Objective To understand the status and related influencing factors of critical thinking of medical students, so as to provide recommendations for the training methods of critical thinking of medical students. Methods A total of 380 medical students in third and fourth grade of a medical university were investigated by using the California Critical Thinking Tendency Questionnaire and stratified random sampling method. 356 valid questionnaires were recovered. SPSS 22.0 software was used for statistical analysis, including t-test, analysis of variance and multiple linear regression analysis and other methods. Results The Cronbach's α coefficient of the scale was 0.728, and the cumulative variance contribution rate was 68.43%. The average score of positive critical thinking ability of medical students was 196.02, showing that they had positive thinking ability. Multiple linear regression analysis showed that the degree of extracurricular reading, whether there was a part-time job, and the students' self-study time per week had positive correlation with the critical thinking of medical students (P<0.05). Conclusion The critical thinking ability of medical students needs to be improved and the factors of critical thinking need to be further studied, and the research and practice of cultivating medical students' critical thinking ability must be deepened. Key words: Medical student; Critical thinking; Influencing factors; Multiple linear regression