Teaching the 21st Century Learning Skills with the Critical Thinking Technique Based on the Argumentation Method

Abstract

In today’s world, rather than students who memorize information and only perform assigned tasks, education is more oriented towards raising inquisitive individuals with a strong consciousness. Contemporary education, thus, seeks to provide students with the abilities to think critically and analytically, to question or prove with arguments, and to build causal relationships between subjects in order to use the knowledge learned when needed. Taking all these expectations into account, teaching critical thinking skills and techniques based on the argumentation method can help students progress both cognitively and behaviorally. To this end, the goal of this qualitative case study is to provide students with the 21st century learning skills using the critical thinking technique on the basis of argumentation-based learning. The research group comprises of 40 students from Hatay Mustafa Kemal University’s Faculty of Education. In the study, a semi-structured interview form was employed to gather data. As a result of the research, two main conclusions were made. Firstly, subjects can be better comprehended through classes that incorporate the use of ideas, views, proof, or evidence. Such classes can be taught in greater depth and without much difficulty. Furthermore, students’ speaking and oral abilities, as well as comprehension skills, increase in sessions taught using the argumentation method and critical thinking strategies. Yet, it should be noted that in order to attain these results, lessons should be planned in accordance with the mentioned methods.