Teaching Quality Evaluation and Student Level of Moral Thinking: A Look at the TBC and DIT Measures of Correlation

This study aimed to validate the psychometric properties of the Sociomoral Reflection Measure - Short Form Objective (SRM-SFO) in Kuwait. The participants were 218 Kuwait University students, 64 males, and 154 females, with an average age 23.70 years and a standard deviation of 6.01. The researchers validated the psychometric efficiency of the study scale. This study showed a high internal consistency stability coefficient using Cronbach's alpha method (0.89). It also appeared that the correlation coefficients Between each item and the total score of the scale were mostly high and significant. There were significant differences in the average’s degrees of apparent aggression due to the two levels of moral thinking (mature and immature) in the direction of the level of immature moral thinking. The results also showed significant differences between males and females in the percentage of individuals at the fourth level of moral thinking for females. This indicates the psychometric efficiency of the Measure (SRM-SFO) in Kuwaiti society.

Summary In this article we explore the moral and religious reasoning of mathematically gifted adolescents (N = 20) who attend a special boarding school for gifted students in Finland. Th e sample consists of 11 female and 9 male fi rst-year upper secondary school students (M age = 16.25, SD age = 0.444). Th e participants’ intelligence and their moral and religious reasoning were measured by means of the following instruments: Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale III (WAIS-III); Defi ning Issues Test (DIT); and Religious Judgment Test (RJT) respectively. Th e research design was correlational and included the following three research questions: (1) How is intelligence related to moral thinking? (2) How is intelligence related to religious thinking? (3) How are moral and religious thinking related to each other? Results regarding the fi rst research question showed that moral reasoning was related to intelligence. However, WAIS-III scores were not positively linked to the DIT scores within this highly gifted sample. Results regarding the second research question showed that the most intelligent young adults were more opposed to the lowest and highest forms of religious reasoning than their less intelligent peers. Results regarding the last research question showed that the level of moral thinking was negatively related to both the lowest and the highest stages of religious judgement, but positively related to the third religious orientation stage (ego autonomy and one-sided self-responsibility).

R. M. Hare has argued for and defended a ‘two-level’, view of moral agency. He argues that moral agents ought to rely on the rules of ‘intuitive moral thinking’ for their ‘everyday’ moral judgments. When these rules conflict or when we do not have a rule at hand, we ought to ascend to the act-utilitarian,‘critical’ level of moral thinking. I argue that since the rules at the intuitive level of moral thinking necessarily conflict much more often than Hare supposes, and since we often do not have ready-made rules for our moral judgments, we must necessarily use critical moral thinking very frequently. However, act-utilitarian judgements at this level will sharply conflict with our strongly held ‘intuitive’ moral convictions. I show that Hare’s attempt to balance these two aspects of moral judgment requires us to simultaneously adopt two conflicting sets of moral standards, and thus an attempt to inculcate such standards constitutes a ‘schizophrenic’ moral education. Finally, I briefly outline an alternative conception of moral education, based on Aristotelian phronesis.

هدفت الدراسة إلى التعرف على مستويات التفکير الأخلاقي وعلاقته بمهارة حل المشکلات لدى طلبة الصف الثالث ثانوي بتعليم محافظة القنفذة ، والتعرف على مهارة حل المشکلات لدى أفراد عينة الدراسة ,والتعرف على العلاقة بين مستوى التفکير الأخلاقي ومهارة حل المشکلات, والفروق ذات الدلالة الإحصائية بين التفکير الأخلاقي ومهارة حل المشکلات.وقد تکونت عينة الدراسة من (291) طالبا تم اختيارهم بطريقة عشوائية في الفصل الدراسي الأول من العام الدراسي 2018 / 2019، ولتحقيق أهداف الدراسة تم تطبيق أداتين: الأولى مقياس مستوى التفکير الأخلاقي وفق نظرية کولبرج من إعداد الباحث فوقية عبد الفتاح (2001), ومقياس مهارة حل المشکلات من إعداد نزيه حمدي (1998) بما يتناسب وأغراض الدراسة ، وقد أظهرت نتائج الدراسة أن مستوى التفکير الأخلاقي لدى عينة من طلبة الصف الثالث ثانوي بتعليم محافظة القنفذة, بشکل عام جاء بدرجة متوسطة کما أشارت نتائج الدراسة أيضا إلى أن مقدرة طلبة الصف الثالث ثانوي بتعليم محافظة القنفذة على حل المشکلات جاءت بدرجة متوسطة. کما أظهرت نتائج الدراسة وجود علاقة طردية موجبة بين مستوى التفکير الأخلاقي ومقدرة الطلبة على حل المشکلات 0 الکلمات المفتاحية : التفکير الأخلاقي , حل المشکلات, طلبة الصف الثالث ثانوي بإدارة تعليم القنفذة. Abstract: The study aimed to identify the levels of moral thinking and its relationship to the problem-solving skill of third-grade of secondary education in Al Qunfudah Governoratethe skill of solving problems among the members of the study sample, identifying the relationship between the level of moral thinking and theproblem-solving skill, and the statistically significant differences between ethical thinking and theProblem-solving skill. The sample of the study consisted of (291) students who were randomly chosen in the first semester of the academic year 2018/2019, to achieve the goals of the study of two tools were applied: The first is a measure of the level of moral thinking according to Kohlberg theory prepared by the researcher Fawkia Abdul-Fattah (2001) And thecriterion of the problem-solving skill, prepared by Nazih Hamdi (1998), as appropriate for the study's purposes, the results of the study showed that the level of moral thinking among a sample of third-grade students in secondary education in Al-Qunfudah Governorate, in general, came with an average degree, the results of the study also indicated that the ability of third-grade students in the AL Qunfudah education department to solve problems came with a moderate degree The study results also showed a positive correlation between the level of moral thinking and students' ability to solve problems.

Objective: The investigators aimed to summarize prior studies of critical thinking development among pharmacy students, using the California Critical Thinking Skills Test (CCTST), Health Sciences Reasoning Test (HSRT), and Defining Issues Test (DIT).
 Methods: Independently, two investigators (KLZ, MJP) systematically searched available literature using PubMed, Google Scholar, ERIC, PsychInfo, as well as pharmacy education conference abstracts in American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education. Their search terms were ‘pharmacy’, and [‘critical thinking’, ‘HSRT’, ‘CCTST’, and ‘DIT’]. Studies included were those that investigated pharmacy students, used one of the tests (CCTST, HSRT, DIT), and used a longitudinal design with test administration at two or more time-points for the same subjects (i.e., development). On review, the CCTST and HSRT seem more foundational to analytical/critical thinking, while the DIT appears to measure moral/complex thinking. Summarizing used meta-analysis with Cohen’s d and random-effects modelling.
 Results: Five studies involved thinking development with 10 separate cohorts for meta-analysis (8 cohorts for CCTST, 2 for DIT, and 0 for HSRT). At 5 institutions, 407 and 1148 students were included (CCTST and DIT, respectively). For the CCTST, the overall effect was 0.33 (0.19-0.47 95%CI) with some heterogeneity among study cohorts (I2=52%). For the DIT, the overall effect was -0.23 (-0.83-0.37 95%CI) with considerable heterogeneity between study cohorts (I2=95%). For the CCTST and DIT, some studies showed effect-sizes greater than 0.5. Meta-analysis of the HSRT could not be conducted (i.e., 0 studies found).
 Implications: While measuring different aspects of “critical thinking”, the CCTST and DIT showed responsiveness to change and appear to be promising measures of cognitive development. These tests should be used in further well-designed research studies that explore strategies for improving cognitive development in pharmacy education.
 Conflict of Interest
 We declare no conflicts of interest or financial interests that the we or members of our immediate families have in any product or service discussed in the manuscript, including grants (pending or received), employment, gifts, stock holdings or options, honoraria, consultancies, expert testimony, patents and royalties.
 
 Type: Original Research

In view of implications of Kohlberg's theory of moral development, two hypotheses were considered in two independent studies: a) individuals who consider the use of potentially harmful substances to be morally wrong will be less likely to use such substances than peers who view such activities as a personal choice; and b) compared to those who are less mature, more mature moral reasoners display more consistency between their expressed beliefs about the morality of drug use and their reports of actual drug use. Two samples of college students, 29 men and 59 women in Study 1 and 46 men and 100 women in Study 2, served as participants. All completed questionnaires about their use of tobacco, alcohol, and illicit drugs and their beliefs about the morality of using these substances. Participants in Study 2 also responded to the Defining Issues Test (DIT) to assess their level of moral thinking. Results from Study 1 supported hypothesis (a). Findings from Study 2 supported hypotheses (a) and (b).

Assessing development in critical thinking: One institution’s experience

Ethics education has been a topic of hot debate in corporate board rooms, business schools and the media for years (Baxter and Rarick, 1987; Belleville, 1990; David et al, 1990; Herman and Cullen, 1988; McLaughlin, 1990; Schoenfeldt et al, 1991; Sims and Sims, 1991). Business schools are often criticized for providing a curriculum that is too narrow and technical, focusing only on quantitative procedures and ignoring the more qualitative issues. If we assume that these sorts of arguments are legitimate, then it seems plausible to ask whether choos ing business as a major is a self-selecting process such that entering business majors differ in moral reasoning from other students in other disciplines. Our claim will be that there is no significant difference be tween the moral reasoning of business and non-business students. The crux of moral development theory is not whether one should commit certain acts, but rather the reason for committing those acts. One way to determine the reasoning, and hence, the level of one's mor al development is to use James Rest's Defining Issues Test (DIT) (Rest, 1979). The DIT is a widely-used test to determine the level of moral development by presenting a series of scenarios to a test-taker and offering the test-taker solutions based on different reasoning proce dures. Even though two persons may arrive at the same answer, their reasoning, as revealed by the DIT, can reflect a substantial difference in their moral development and their level of critical thinking. The sce narios and responses represent fundamental, underlying structures of

The current study aimed at identifying the level of moral thinking of gifted students in line with Kohlberg aspects. To achieve the study objectives the moral thinking scale was administered a sample of (115) male and female students from king Abdullah II gifted school in Zarqa city. Another sample of (118) normal male and female students in the same classes were included. The results indicated that the moral level of the sample was in the fourth Kohlberg level. No significant differences among gifted students were found due to gender. There were significant differences among gifted student due to class in favor of higher classes. However, there was no significant difference between gifted and normal students in the level of moral thinking. Students who came from families with great number of siblings outscored students who came from families with small number of siblings. Student order of birth had no significant effect on moral thinking. The researchers proposed recommendations based on the results

The current study aimed at identifying the level of moral thinking of gifted students in line with Kohlberg aspects. To achieve the study objectives the moral thinking scale was administered a sample of (115) male and female students from king Abdullah II gifted school in Zarqa city. Another sample of (118) normal male and female students in the same classes were included. The results indicated that the moral level of the sample was in the fourth Kohlberg level. No significant differences among gifted students were found due to gender. There were significant differences among gifted student due to class in favor of higher classes. However, there was no significant difference between gifted and normal students in the level of moral thinking. Students who came from families with great number of siblings outscored students who came from families with small number of siblings. Student order of birth had no significant effect on moral thinking. The researchers proposed recommendations based on the results

RETRACTED: Steal like an artist: Connection between critical thinking and creativity of a future musician in a digital environment

LANGUAGE NOTE | Document text in Chinese; abstract also in English.在後設倫理學以至生命倫理學上，一直存在著脉絡主義與原則倫理之爭辧。脉絡主義者解決道德問題的方式，是首先審視個別事件發生的脉絡細節，作出道德判斷後再將之用於其他相類事件；原則倫理者卻試圖將一般的道德原則應用於特殊事件上。前者可視為一種「自下而上」的方式，後者則可名為「自上而下」。很多道德哲學家都指出這兩種進路各有利弊。R.M. Hare藉著引介兩層道德思維結構，來論證上述二者其實並不矛盾，相反地，它們在不同的道德思維層面，分別扮演重要角色。在本文中，我嘗試檢視Hare的論証是否成立，又是否會在實踐上引生另外的問題。最後，我將指出，中國的儒家倫理中的「經」、「權」觀念，如何可以幫助解決詠絡主義與原則倫理的問題。There has been controversy between particularism and generalism in metaethics in general and bioethics in particular. Particularists (e.g. contextualists) attempt to solve moral problems by firstly working with particular cases in all of their contextual details and then by applying these results to other similar cases, whereas generalists (principled ethicists) try to apply the general normative principles to particular cases. The former approach can be viewed as a "bottom-up" and the latter "top-down" way. As indicated by many moral philosophers, both of these approaches have shortcomings. Principled ethics have been challenged for their impotence in providing guidance in a moral decision. The challenge is in twofold: Firstly, there is scepticism that one can reach a moral judgment by reasoning deductively from general ethical principles; secondly, these theories are insensitive to and thus do not give due weight to the contextual variabilities in a specific situation. By contrast, contextualism emphasizes the relative importance of inductive method in moral reasoning. However, how to resolve moral issues by employing the inductive method remains a problem. Therefore, while it accuses principled ethics of its inability to guide moral decision, contextualism itself cannot provide any guidance.With respect to the rival views of principled ethics and contextualism, R.M. Hare thinks that both theories have grasped the truth, but only part of it. For instance, contextualism has caught hold of an important truth, that one has to judge each situation on its own merit. But if contextualism persists in asserting that in morals one cannot appeal to general principles, then it is mistaken. This is a mistaken view in that it ignores another obvious truth that some situations are similar in some morally relevant respects, and also in that it holds that these two truths are incompatible. Hare conceives that this mistake arises from confusing the concepts of universality and generality and also from failing to make the distinction between the two levels of moral thinking. By introducing the intuitive level and critical level of moral thinking, Hare argues that the two kinds of metaethical theories are not in real conflict. Contrarily, they both play important roles in our moral thinking, though at different levels. In this paper, I am going to examine to what extent, if ever, Hare's attempt is successful, and furthermore, what are the steps that should be taken to remedy the deficiency, if any. Finally, I try to show that the ideas of "jing" and "quan" in Confucian ethics operate in the two levels of moral thinking in Hare's structure, and hope that these two ideas may help to solve the issue discussed in this paper.DOWNLOAD HISTORY | This article has been downloaded 23 times in Digital Commons before migrating into this platform.

Objectives: The study aims to investigate levels of critical and creative thinking among university students in the West Bank, Palestine. It also aims to test for any possible correlation between critical and creative thinking. Methods: A descriptive correlational research design was used and a sample of 414 students was selected. The California critical thinking skills and the cognitive processes associated with creativity test were utilized. Results: The results show that the level of critical thinking among students was low, while the level of creative thinking was moderate. The correlation coefficient was statistically significant in the positive direction (r = 0.687). The results show that students of humanities are more creative than students of scientific disciplines. Students with high GPAs and those with advanced academic years are more critical thinkers compared to the others. Male students were better than female students in critical thinking. Conclusions: The study recommends that thinking styles should be included in educational activities at universities.

The purpose of this study is to resolve ‘moral conflict’ in sport and to present a better approach with respect to right actions for sports participants. While acknowledging that there are many positive values or principles (e.g. Olympism) in sport, some ‘moral conflict’ in sport might still arise and therefore cannot be easily resolved. By introducing Hare's two levels of moral thinking (i.e. intuitive level and critical level), I first clarify the question ‘Why do moral conflicts appear?’ That moral conflicts may arise normally is because people or philosophers tend to think that moral principles ought to be simple and general. In the general situation, it would be fine to follow these kinds of principles when there is no conflicting situation. But in a particular context, there might be a problem. It would be impossible to resolve a conflicting problem if we do not think critically. Second, I suggest that ‘keep the rules’ can be seen as a prima facie principle or duty for sports participants. However, this prima facie principle may not be sufficient or appropriate to resolve the problem of conflict by using the intuitive thinking, since one might face a conflict between ‘keep the rules’ and ‘not to keep the rules’ and s/he cannot select in between. Thus, critical thinking is needed. Third, I try to differentiate critical thinking from intuitive thinking. Critical thinking aims not only to select the best set of prima facie principles for use in intuitive thinking, but also to resolve conflicts between them. So, if we are able to think critically, a prima facie duty sometimes can be overridden by other more important duties (sound and ethical) in a particular situation. However, as not all sports participants are capable enough to think critically, moral education regarding how to develop athletes' ‘critical thinking’ in sport is needed. It may be recommended that virtue ethics play an important role in sport not just through initiating participants into rule‐following but also in cultivating certain dispositions and educating their desires. As it is, what we also need is a good sports education system which can enlighten people toward a better understanding of sport and its values.

The article reveals the content and level of critical thinking; the key provisions of the philosophy of education, on which the organization of the development of critical thinking of students of higher education should be based, are highlighted; the levels of the process of formation of critical thinking skills and the most important factors and components of the development of critical thinking are considered. The methodological foundations of the research are: leading propositions of the theory of scientific knowledge; general scientific principles of historicism, systematicity, and scientificity; conceptual provisions of pedagogical, psychological, and sociological sciences; ideas of experience based on the simultaneous study of pedagogical, socio-cultural and economic phenomena; philosophical and pedagogical ideas of the development of modern education. The methodological basis of the research is presented on four hierarchically subordinated levels: philosophical, general scientific, specifically scientific, and technological. The diagnostics of the system for improving students' critical thinking and the professional readiness of future specialists allowed us to talk about integrated indicators of the formation of the professional readiness of future specialists and increasing the level of critical thinking of students at the formative stage of the experiment. The increase in students' critical thinking and the formation of professional readiness of future specialists by all indicators is 15%, which is a positive result. Positive changes in the levels of student's critical thinking and the formation of professional readiness of future EG specialists compared to CG were revealed. Increasing the level of this readiness among EG students is due to the introduction of the author's system for improving students' critical thinking with the use of innovative technologies. The conclusion emphasizes that the use of innovative technologies increases the level of critical thinking of students and their professional readiness.