California Critical Thinking Skills Research Articles

Strategies of Content Knowledge Representation and EFL Learners‘ English Writing Proficiency: Mediating Role of Critical Thinking Skills

The exploration of optimizing content knowledge representation and enhancing critical thinking capabilities in English as Foreign Language (EFL) learners’ writing still needs to be improved. Cultivating adept critical thinking skills and effective content knowledge representation is paramount for EFL learners, given its correlation with heightened writing proficiency. This study sought to examine critical thinking skills as a mediator in the correlation between strategies of content knowledge representation and writing proficiency among EFL learners. A total of 360 English as foreign language participants engaged in the California Critical Thinking Skills Test and responded to a questionnaire on strategies of content knowledge representation conducted at Kaifeng Science Technology and Communication College, China. Subsequently, participants undertook a writing task, and the outcomes underwent analysis using SPSS 26.0, incorporating descriptive analysis, correlational analysis, and AMOS 24.0 for mediating analysis. The findings unveiled a correlation between critical thinking skills and EFL learners’ writing proficiency, echoing the association observed between content knowledge representation strategies and writing proficiency. Furthermore, critical thinking skills were identified as a mediator, linking content knowledge representation strategies to writing proficiency among EFL learners. The combination of content knowledge representation and critical thinking skills emerged as a positive role in the writing process. This research underscored the paramount significance of critical thinking skills within a specialized discipline, highlighting their transformative potential for EFL learners’ writing competency and accentuating their functions in the broader writing pedagogy.

A critical issue: assessing the critical thinking skills and dispositions of undergraduate health science students

Critical thinking skills and dispositions are significantly important factors that aid in one’s ability to understand and solve complex problems. Within the field of higher education, critical thinking skills and dispositions are valued and encouraged but are not always fully developed at the completion of the undergraduate degree experience. Those students who are studying to enter the healthcare field are particularly in need of strong critical thinking skills and dispositions in order to provide patients and communities with effective, evidence-based care in the midst of an ever-increasingly complex environment. What program of study a student selects, and the unique curriculum design of that program, may impact the development of these skills and dispositions during undergraduate study. This quantitative study sought to explore and understand the critical thinking skills and dispositions of undergraduate students enrolled in a BS in Health Science (BSHS) degree program, and how these skills in particular compared to the national student population. During the Spring 2022 academic semester, 140 senior-level BSHS students were given the opportunity to complete the California Critical Thinking Skills Test and the California Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory. Results show less development in critical thinking skills when compared to the national student population, with Numeracy skills being the most poorly developed, and Truth-Seeking being the most inconsistent disposition possessed by the student participants. The implications of these findings, particularly for faculty who teach students planning to enter the healthcare field, are offered, including recommendations for curricular design and modification.

Effects of an annotation‐supported Socratic questioning approach on students' argumentative writing performance and critical thinking skills in flipped language classrooms

AbstractBackgroundCritical thinking and argumentative writing are considered complex but essential skills for learners. However, few studies have examined how instructions can be designed to optimize the development of such skills simultaneously. Contextualized in flipped language classrooms, this study aimed to develop an instructional innovation for English as a foreign language (EFL) learners.ObjectivesThis study investigated the effects of an annotation‐supported Socratic questioning (ASSQ) approach as a flipped classroom enhancement on students' argumentative writing and critical thinking in an EFL writing course.MethodsFifty students from two classes participated in the study, and they were randomly assigned to an experimental group and a comparison group. Following an 8‐week flipped learning curriculum, the experimental group learned with the proposed ASSQ approach in the enhanced flipped classroom, while the comparison group was exposed to the traditional flipped classroom. Students' argumentative writing performance was evaluated with their argumentative essays using a researcher‐developed writing rubric, and their critical thinking skills were assessed using the California Critical Thinking Skills Test.ResultsBoth groups significantly improved their argumentative writing, and the experimental group also significantly outperformed the comparison group after learning through the proposed approach. While the two groups had no significant difference in critical thinking skills, the within‐group comparison results revealed that the experimental group made significant improvements due to the instructional intervention.ImplicationsThe ASSQ approach could enhance the flipped classroom in regard to the teaching of argumentative writing, whereas it bears only limited impact on critical thinking. Overall, the positive effect of the proposed approach on enhancing English learners' argumentative writing performance was mainly attributed to the combined affordances of Socratic questioning and a social annotation tool to scaffold the students' thinking through verbal articulation, and to visualize their thinking with social annotations throughout the flipped learning process.

Scales used to evaluate critical thinking in nursing graduation

Objective: To analyze the scales used to measure critical thinking in undergraduate nursing students.Methods: Scoping review guided by Joanna Briggs Institute recommendations. Search carried out in November/2021 in five databases and two libraries. Descriptive data analysis.Results: Final sample had 57 articles. 91% (n = 53) adopted a validated scale to measure critical thinking in nursing students, and 9% (n = 4) combined two of them. California Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory, California Critical Thinking Skills Test, and Health Science Reasoning Test were the most used scales. Studies with beginners prevailed, and there were several contexts and research themes. Simulation and concept mapping were the most evaluated teaching strategies, and 59.6% (n = 34) identified an increase in critical thinking after the intervention.Conclusions: Nursing managers and educators have 17 validated scales available to measure critical thinking, a fundamental element of clinical practice.

English

Evidence-Based Practice (EBP) in health is important for patient safety and quality care while Critical Thinking (CT) is a vital prerequisite to evidence based nursing. Despite their importance, in some settings neither EBP nor CT is taught assessed or implemented. This scoping review examined literature related to teaching, learning, assessment and implementation of EBP and application of CT by nursing students and graduates. Arksey and O’Malley framework was used to conduct the scoping review.  PubMed, CINAHL, EMBASE and Joanna Briggs Institute for EBP data bases were searched for studies conducted between 2000 and 2020. Inclusion criteria were adapted from the -Population, Intervention, Professionals and Patients, Outcomes, Health Care settings (PIPOH) framework. Search terms included; evidence based practice, nursing education, nursing practice, critical thinking, methods, barriers, facilitators to teaching, learning, assessing and implementing EBP and CT. A total of 2,303 articles were retried, eventually 37 met the inclusion criteria. Use of non-traditional instructional methods for teaching EBP and CT were documented including Problem Based Learning, concept mapping, simulation, think aloud, critical incidence technique, debates and role-plays, reflective journaling, article analysis, nursing journal clubs and multidisciplinary clinical rounds. Validated tools for assessing EBP and CT Skills included; California Critical Thinking Skills Test, Upton and Upton 2006 EBP questionnaire and Yoon’s 2004 Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory. Teaching, assessing EBP and applying CT skills is challenging. Therefore  innovative teaching methods are required to promote learning while successful implementation require strategies to minimize detractors and sustain enablers of the process. Key words: Evidence-Based Practice nursing, critical thinking, teaching, learning, assessment and implementation.

The Levels of Critical and Creative Thinking among Palestinian University Students in the West Bank, Palestine

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 Relationship between Critical Thinking Skills, Portfolio Models and Academic Achievement of Moroccan Midwifery Students

The present study investigates the relationship between critical thinking skills and portfolio models and academic achievement among midwifery students. Design: A mixed method was followed for this study. A cross-sectional study was used for reporting the results of the California critical thinking skills test (CCTST). In addition, a focus group while following the COREQ guideline to establish the categorization of portfolios. Method: the research sample consisted of 41 students, 48.78 % were registered in the third semester, and 51.21% were in the sixth semester. The CCTST was used to measure critical thinking skills (CTS). A focus group of six teachers was used to develop a classification of portfolio models. The data was analyzed using Chi-Square, and ANOVA. Results: The CCTST and all subscales are highly reliable. Age and educational level were significant variables for the portfolio models, and (CTS). Relationships were also found between the midwifery student’s portfolios models and their CCTST overall scores. Moreover, the students with the highest scores in (CTS) had portfolio Toast Rack design. Conclusion: CCTST showed good validity and reliability for Moroccan midwifery students, and can be used to inform on portfolios design. Validation with large and diverse samples is recommended. It is suggested that instructors consider the dominant portfolio design of each level and use appropriate teaching methods.
 
 Received: 21 June 2022 / Accepted: 16 August 2022 / Published: 2 September 2022

Prediction of academic performance based on learning style and critical thinking among medical students

This study aimed to understand the medical sciences students’ critical thinking (CT) and their learning styles and investigate the relationship between academic performance and the both mentioned variables. A descriptive analytical study was conducted on 469 medical sciences students in Ardabil University of Medical Sciences using the Kolb's learning styles and California's CT skills test (Form-B). Cumulative grade point average was considered as academic performance. The data were analyzed with SPSS 18 and using Chi Square test, Independent t-test, one-way ANOVA and Pearson correlation test with a significant level of p<0.05 . The mean of academic performance was 15.9±1.7 . The popular learning style among students was assimilative style. Results showed significant relationship between academic performance and learning style. Significant relationship between academic performances of students with the total CT skills was not found, but significant relationship was seen between academic performance and deductive skill only. Learning styles changed in different semesters among medicine and dentistry students from an abstract-reflexive style to a concrete-active one. Using appropriate, active and collaborative teaching methods can help to improve learning and students' academic performance.

Fostering Creativity and Critical Thinking in College: A Cross-Cultural Investigation.

Enhancing creativity and critical thinking have garnered the attention of educators and researchers for decades. They have been highlighted as essential skills for the 21st century. A total of 103 United States students (53 female, 24 male, two non-binary, and 24 non-reporting) and 166 Chinese students (128 female, 30 male, one non-binary, and seven non-reporting) completed an online survey. The survey includes the STEAM-related creative problem solving, Sternberg scientific reasoning tasks, psychological critical thinking (PCT) exam, California critical thinking (CCT) skills test, and college experience survey, as well as a demographic questionnaire. A confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) yields a two-factor model for all creativity and critical thinking measurements. Yet, the two latent factors are strongly associated with each other (r=0.84). Moreover, Chinese students outperform American students in measures of critical thinking, whereas Americans outperform Chinese students in measures of creativity. Lastly, the results also demonstrate that having some college research experience (such as taking research method courses) could positively influence both United States and Chinese students’ creativity and critical thinking skills. Implications are discussed.

Effects of a curriculum integrating critical thinking on medical students’ critical thinking ability in Iran: a quasi-experimental study.

PurposeImproving physicians’ critical thinking abilities could have meaningful impacts on various aspects of routine medical practice, such as choosing treatment plans, making an accurate diagnosis, and reducing medical errors. The present study aimed to measure the effects of a curriculum integrating critical thinking on medical students’ skills at Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Iran.MethodsA 1-group pre-test, post-test quasi-experimental design was used to assess medical students’ critical thinking abilities as they progressed from the first week of medical school to middle of the third year of the undergraduate medical curriculum. Fifty-six participants completed the California Critical Thinking Skills Test twice from 2016 to 2019.ResultsMedical students were asked to complete the California Critical Thinking Skills Test the week before their first educational session. The post-test was conducted 6 weeks after the 2 and half-year program. Out of 91 medical students with a mean age of 20±2.8 years who initially participated in the study, 56 completed both the pre- and post-tests. The response rate of this study was 61.5%. The analysis subscale showed the largest change. Significant changes were found in the analysis (P=0.03), evaluation (P=0.04), and inductive reasoning (P<0.0001) subscales, but not in the inference (P=0.28), and deductive reasoning (P=0.42) subscales. There was no significant difference according to gender (P=0.77).ConclusionThe findings of this study show that a critical thinking program had a substantial effect on medical students’ analysis, inductive reasoning, and evaluation skills, but negligible effects on their inference and deductive reasoning scores.

Teachers’ use of Bloom’s higher order questions in class to augment EFL learners’ listening comprehension and critical thinking ability

Abstract The current emphasis on questioning techniques has inspired many EFL teachers to explore the impact of applying different pedagogical teaching strategies on the enhancement of thinking skills. Therefore, the present study aims to investigate the influence of using higher order questioning technique on the listening comprehension achievement and critical thinking ability of Iranian intermediate EFL learners. To reach this end, 40 participants in 4 intact classes in Kish Air Language institute in Mashhad were selected and divided in two groups to be assigned into experimental and control group. The experimental group received higher order questions based on Bloom’s Taxonomy classification for 12 sessions. A pretest and a posttest of English listening comprehension test of TOEFL (TOEFL PBT) and California Critical Thinking Skill Test (CCTST) were administrated in both groups. 2 Independent sample t-tests were utilized to examine the data. Sample t-tests were run to compare the experimental and the control group means on the pretest and posttest of listening comprehension and critical thinking tests. The results surmised that there was a statistically significant difference between the pretest and posttest scores regarding listening comprehension and critical thinking in the experimental group. The results imply that using higher order questions as an instructional technique can enhance learners’ listening comprehension achievement and critical thinking ability.

Critical thinking skills in intensive care and medical-surgical nurses and their explaining factors

Critical thinking affects patient safety in critical situations. Nurses, in particular, intensive care unit (ICU) nurses, need to develop their critical thinking skills. The present article seeks to compare the level of critical thinking in medical-surgical and ICU nurses and investigate the factors explaining it. A cross-sectional study was conducted on 120 medical-surgical and ICU nurses (60 per group). Data were collected using the California Critical Thinking Skills Test and analyzed in SPSS-16 using independent samples t-test, ANOVA, and the regression analysis. The mean critical thinking score was 8.68 ± 2.84 in the ICU nurses and 9.12 ± 2.99 in the medical-surgical nurses. No significant differences were found between the two groups in terms of the critical thinking score and the scores of its domains. The results of the regression analysis showed that demographic variables explain only 8% of the variations in critical thinking score, as only gender explains nurses' critical thinking score. The results revealed poor critical thinking scores in the nurses working in medical-surgical wards. Investigating the reasons for the poor scores obtained and using educational strategies such as PBL, conceptual map, participation in interdisciplinary rounds, the development of clinical guidelines and participation in continuing education conferences are recommended for developing critical thinking skills in nurses.

How Much Difference Can We Make? Assessing the Change in Students’ Critical Thinking in a Private Political Science Program in Egypt

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study is to determine the change in students’ levels of critical thinking (CT) through comparing the results of second- and fourth-year students. The study also investigates the factors that are statistically significant in explaining the change, if any, in students’ CT. In doing that, the study determines whether or not the use of assessment criteria that encourage CT influences or triggers any change in students’ CT. The study employs mixed methods, combining quantitative methods with qualitative ones. Quantitative data were collected using the California CT Skills Test in order to investigate the change in students’ levels of CT. Quantitative data were complemented with reflective judgment interviews, which were used to obtain more in-depth responses from the students. The study finds that the levels of students’ CT increased from 0 percent in year two to 18 percent in year four. The qualitative research revealed very good performance for fourth-year students in interpretation, evaluation, inference, self-regulation and recognition of their own biases. It also showed minimal reliance on religious texts in discussing gender equality. Variables such as school GPA, non-Egyptian high school degree, and independent learning were found statistically significant to higher levels of CT. Despite its pilot nature, this study provides some insight into the levels of CT in private political science programs in Egypt while investigating the most or least statistically significant variables. Identifying the most statistically significant variables informs researchers, practitioners, and education policy makers about what to prioritize for better CT among students.

Testing a diabetes keotacidosis simulation in critical care nursing: A randomized control trial

BackgroundIntegrating high fidelity simulation while teaching diabetes ketoacidosis would ensure a controlled therapeutic milieu for nursing students to practice. PurposeTo evaluate the effectiveness of simulation teaching intervention for diabetes ketoacidosis in critical care nursing for undergraduate students’ in a public university. MethodsA simple, two-arm (parallel) randomized controlled trial was conducted in a national public university. A total of 164 nursing students were recruited and randomly assigned to two groups. The simulation group (N = 82) participated in the diabetes ketoacidosis high-fidelity simulation teaching intervention compared to the control group (N = 82) who were exposed to patient assignments on a clinical day on an acute medical unit. The primary outcomes were assessed using the Student Satisfaction and Self Confidence in Learning, Simulation Design Scale, Educational Practice Questionnaire, Critical Thinking Skills Tool and California Critical Thinking Skill Test from 2015 to 2016. ResultsThe students in the randomized control trial have had significantly higher scores on Student Satisfaction, and Self Confidence in Learning, Simulation Design, Educational Practice, Critical thinking skills and Critical Thinking Skill post-test mean scores. Younger age groups who had higher satisfaction had better self-confidence and a positive perception of the simulation design and education practice, which reflected better learning outcomes in the simulation group compared to the control group. ConclusionsThis study supports the use of high-fidelity simulation scenarios as a teaching-learning strategy that is useful for students to assess, plan, intervene and evaluate in emergencies like diabetes ketoacidosis.

The effect of different teaching styles on critical thinking and achievement goals of prospective teachers

Learning environment enriched with diverse teaching styles can be effective in fostering critical thinking (CT) and achievement goals (AG) for preparing prospective teachers to cope with challenges of twenty-first century. To examine the effect of diverse teaching styles on prospective teachers’ CT and AG; guided discovery, convergent discovery and divergent production styles (Mosston & Ashworth, 2002) were used in teaching of badminton during fourteen weeks. Voluntary participants were forty prospective classroom teachers (treatment group n=20; comparison group n=20) from a Teacher Education Program at a public university in central Turkey. California Critical Thinking Skills Test-Form 2000 (CCTST), The California Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory (CCTDI) and Trichotomous Achievement Goal Scale (TAGS) were administered as pre-post test. The results showed that diverse teaching styles had positive effect on CT skills, CT dispositions, AG of performance approach and performance avoidance, but negative effect on mastery AG of prospective teachers

The interrelationship among critical thinking, writing an argumentative essay in an L2 and their subskills

This study investigated the relationship between critical thinking and the writing ability of Iranian EFL learners, and the interrelationship among the subskills of the two constructs. Furthermore, it aimed at finding which skills of critical thinking predicted the participants’ writing ability. To this end, 104 students majoring in English Language took the California Critical Thinking Skills Test and the Writing section of the IELTS test which required them to develop a piece of argumentative writing. Their writings were scored by two experts against the four subskills dictated by the IELTS test rubrics. The results indicated a significant correlation between critical thinking and writing ability of the participants. Moreover, among the subskills of writing ability, only organisation was correlated with certain subskills of critical thinking. The results of multiple regression analysis revealed that among the five components of critical thinking, analysis and evaluation turned out to be stronger predictors of writing ability.

Comparison of the Effects of Concept Mapping and Conventional Teaching Methods on Critical Thinking of Nursing Students

Introduction: Development of critical thinking and Procedural skills has remained a serious and considerable challenge throughout the nursing educational system in Iran. Conventional methods of teaching such as lecture, as the dominant method used in higher educational systems, is a passive style which ignores critical thinking. Therefore, the aim of this study was to compare the effects of instruction by concept-mapping and conventional methods in fundamentals of nursing on critical thinking skills in Tehran nursing students in 2014. Methods: This quasi-experimental study was carried out on 70 nursing students, who were selected through convenient sampling method, then divided randomly into two equal experimental and control groups, in the Clinical Skills Center of Tehran Nursing and Midwifery School. Educational content was presented in the forms of concept-mapping for the experimental group and lecture in the control group. Data collection included a demographic information and California Critical Thinking Skills (form B) questionnaire; They were filled at the beginning and end of the fourth week of the Instructional period. Data were analyzed using SPSS software (v. 21), using descriptive and analytical statistics, at the significance level of 0.05. Results: Before the intervention, the mean of the total critical thinking skill score was 9.71 ± 2.66 in the concept mapping group and 9.64 ± 2.14 in the lecture group, and the difference was not significant (P = 0.121); but, after the intervention, the critical thinking skill score was 15.20 ± 2.71 in the intervention group and 10.25 ± 2.06 in the control group, which had a significant difference (P = 0.003). Conclusions: Using concept mapping strategy in the education of nursing students may lead to developing critical thinking skills as one of the important missions of higher level education. Therefore, it is recommended to employ this method in clinical nursing education. Keywords: Concept mapping, Critical Thinking Skills, Fundamentals of Nursing, Nursing Students

The Effect of Problem-Based Learning Clinical Education on Nursing Student's Critical Thinking

Background: Problem-based clinical education is an effective strategy for enhancing creativity, group work, leadership and problem-solving skills in nursing students. It seems PBL can improve nursing students’ critical thinking skills. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of problem-based clinical education on nursing students’ critical thinking. Methods: This randomized controlled trial was conducted in Kashan University of Medical Science in 2015. In total, 36 nursing students were recruited and were allocated to either the conventional or the problem-based clinical education. A demographic questionnaire and the California Critical Thinking Skills Test, Form B, were used for data collection. Students’ critical thinking skills were assessed both at the beginning of their clinical course and one week after it. The SPSS software was employed for performing the independent- and the paired-samples t as well as the Mann-Whitney U tests. Results: The mean of students’ critical thinking score in the conventional clinical education group increased significantly from 10.94±1.85 to 11.88±1.86 (P=0.016). In the problem-based education group, the mean of critical thinking score also increased from 10.72±1.44 to 13.33±1.67 (P=0.0004). Before the study, the groups did not differ significantly regarding the scores of critical thinking. However, the posttest value of critical thinking score in the problem-based education group was significantly higher than the score in the conventional education group. Conclusions: Both conventional and problem-based clinical educations significantly improved nursing students’ critical thinking. However, the problem-based clinical education strategy was more effective than the conventional one.

Comparison between the Critical Thinking, Educational Self- Efficiency and Motivation of the Female and Male Students of Payam Nour University of Yasouj

The current study aims to compare critical thinking, educational self-efficiency and educational motivation among female and male students of Payam Nour University and to determine effects of critical thinking training on educational achievements and motivation. Differences of these variables among students of various fields also were examined. The sample includes 120 students (60 male students and 60 female students) using stratified random sampling. In order to collect data, three questionnaires of California critical thinking skills test (Form B) (CCTST), Murise's educational self-efficiency small-scale and the questionnaire of Hermans advance motivation were applied. This research is of causal-comparative type and multi-variable variance analysis (Monova) and one-sided analysis were used in order to analyze the data statistically. Data analysis results showed that there was significant difference in critical thinking, educational self-efficiency and educational motivation among female and male students when p &lt; 0.01. Moreover, Differences of self-efficacy, critical thinking and motivation among students of different fields were concluded.

On the Relationship between Critical Thinking Ability, Language Learning Strategies, and Reading Comprehension of Male and Female Intermediate EFL University Students

This study was going to investigate the relationship between critical thinking ability, language learning strategies, and reading comprehension of male and female Iranian intermediate EFL university students majoring in English translation and English teaching at Tehran Azad University, South Branch. The participants chosen were 100 EFL learners that after homogenizing 79 remained. This study was a correlational one. For the purpose of this study, California Critical Thinking Skill Test (CCTST), Strategy Inventory for Language Learning (SILL), and reading section of the TOEFL test were administered. Data were analyzed based on the questionnaires and they were submitted to the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 22.0 for analysis. The Pearson- product moment correlation proved that there was a significant positive relationship between critical thinking ability and reading comprehension, as well as a positive relationship between language learning strategies and reading comprehension was found. Reading comprehension was considered as dependent variable. Finally, in order to find whether there was any difference between males and females in terms of critical thinking ability and their language learning strategy use an independent sample t-test was run. The findings revealed that there was not any significant difference between the performances of male and female participants in terms of critical thinking and their language learning strategy use. The findings of this study will be helpful for material developers, syllabus designers and EFL teachers.