Critical Thinking Research Articles

A STUDY ON EFL STUDENTS' LEVELS OF CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS

This research aims to discover the levels of EFL students' critical thinking skills. It is a quantitative approach with descriptive design by utilizing the adapted version of the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Skills Test as the instrument. It consists of five indicators: deduction, inference, identifying assumptions, interpretation, and analyzing arguments, with five questions for each. The subjects of the research were 33 students of the English Department of FKIP, Lambung Mangkurat University. The results showed that 23 students (69.69%) had a moderate level of critical thinking skills, seven students (21.21%) had a low level, and three students (9.09%) had a high level. Specifically, they performed low levels in inference and identifying assumptions, but they had moderate levels of critical thinking skills in deduction, interpretation of information, and analysis of arguments. These findings imply the need to facilitate students with more practice to develop their critical thinking skills, particularly in making inferences and identifying assumptions. Further research is recommended to measure EFL students' critical thinking skills by involving larger participants using other instruments of measurement to reveal more conclusive findings.

Advancing the role of pharmacists in infectious diseases: Fostering critical thinking and collaboration

Disclaimer In an effort to expedite the publication of articles, AJHP is posting manuscripts online as soon as possible after acceptance. Accepted manuscripts have been peer-reviewed and copyedited, but are posted online before technical formatting and author proofing. These manuscripts are not the final version of record and will be replaced with the final article (formatted per AJHP style and proofed by the authors) at a later time.

The influence of students’ personality traits and their parents’ parenting style on Romanian students’ performance in science subjects from secondary to doctoral level

ABSTRACT With the exponential growth of technological innovation, new positions in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) are emerging. Employees face new job demands, requiring more technical and mathematical capabilities than before. Educating the population in science subjects is becoming increasingly important, as is making science subjects available to students and identifying factors influencing the development of logical thinking, the basis of STEM subjects. This paper focuses on identifying significant relationships between students’ personality traits, their parents’ parenting style and students’ performance in STEM subjects in high school and college, within Urie Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems framework. Using a questionnaire with standardized constructs, we surveyed Romanian students from a technical university and found that certain personality traits and parenting styles are significant mainly for the student’s performance in STEM subjects in high school, and these significant relationships differ for female students, compared to male students, possibly as a result of local cultural gender views. Our society aims to increase the participation of general public and female students in STEM majors and jobs, and our study informs the audience on how a student’s microsystem can nurture or hinder the development of logical thinking, as the basis of cognitive skills and performance in STEM fields.

A Review of the Influence of ‘Interactive Read Aloud’ on Standard one Pupils’ Vocabulary Growth and Critical Thinking in Public Primary Schools in Tanzania

A Review of the Influence of ‘Interactive Read Aloud’ on Standard one Pupils’ Vocabulary Growth and Critical Thinking in Public Primary Schools in Tanzania

РОЗВИТОК ЕМОЦІЙНОГО ІНТЕЛЕКТУ МАЙБУТНІХ ФІЛОЛОГІВ

This article is dedicated to the illumination of theoretical foundations and peculiarities of the interpretation of the concept of “emotional intelligence”. In particular, attention is focused on several models of emotional intelligence presented in classical psychological literature: the ability model of J. Mayer, P. Salovey, D. Caruso, the model of D. Goleman, the model of R. Bar-On. Within the framework of this study, an experimental investigation of the level of emotional intelligence of first-year philology students of the bachelor’s degree at Rivne State University of the Humanities was carried out based on N. Hall’s emotional intelligence test. As a result of the obtained data, it was concluded that the integrative level of emotional intelligence of first-year philology students of the bachelor’s degree is at a rather low level. This indicates the need for its development in society as a whole and in the educational environment in particular. Since the modern world dictates conditions in which the demand for a highly qualified specialist in the labor market today depends not only on his professional qualification, but also on the ability to communicate with people, make non-standard decisions, the ability to resolve conflict situations or the ability to prevent them, possession of critical thinking, the ability to adapt to new life conditions, etc. That is, a high level of development of emotional intelligence today can ensure highly competitive ability of a specialist and contributes to the building of a successful career in the chosen field. Relevant and promising in this regard is the need to introduce at the state level into the educational process (at all its levels) elements of training that would contribute to the development of emotional intelligence of education seekers and in particular the philological direction.

Innovation in learning with EBS apps: Enhancing elementary school students’ critical thinking and problem-solving skills

The rapid technological advancement in the Era of Society 5.0 demands innovative learning methods to enhance elementary students’ critical thinking and problem-solving skills. This study aims to determine the design of the EBS Apps, the responses of elementary school students to the extent of students' interest in the app, the difficulties and challenges students encounter when using the apps, how the apps train and improve their critical thinking skills , and how the apps train and improve their problem-solving skills. The population of this study consists of all lower-grade elementary school students in Sumedang Regency, West Java, Indonesia. A randomly selected sample includes 35 lower-grade students (20 boys and 15 girls). This study employs experimental method with a one-group pretest-posttest design by using questionnaires and interviews as the instruments. The results of the study indicate that, first, the EBS Apps design features with elements such as a home screen, material and practice questions, settings, and user instructions, and offers three difficulty levels of material, each presenting four situations. Second, students responded to the EBS Apps as a user-friendly application. Third, students were interested in the features of the EBS Apps, such as practice to answer questions. Fourth, students faced various difficulties and challenges while using the EBS Apps. Fifth, there was an increase in critical thinking skills among elementary school students after using the EBS Apps. Sixth, there was an increase in problem-solving skills among elementary school students after using the EBS Apps.

From classrooms to global impact

In today's fast-changing environment, the need for quality education is more crucial than ever. Therefore, this article examines how quality education can transform society and contribute to a sustainable, interconnected world. It highlights the essential role of quality education in navigating global complexities, asserting that it can drive sustainable development and promote responsible global citizenship. The study redefined the scope of quality education by advocating for a holistic approach that goes beyond academic excellence, emphasizing the development of essential 21st-century competencies, critical thinking, and creativity. The article aligned educational practices with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), highlighting the importance of environmental stewardship and social responsibility. It discussed how quality education nurtured intercultural understanding, empathy, and civic engagement, thereby cultivating a sense of global responsibility among students. Furthermore, the article identified quality education as a catalyst for sustainable development, preparing learners for the green economy and equipping them with future-ready skills to address complex global challenges through interdisciplinary problem-solving. The implementation of transformative quality education was examined, focusing on policy frameworks, inclusive curricula, and empowering educators as agents of change. The article concluded with a call to action, showcasing successful models and inspiring case studies, while mobilizing stakeholders to prioritize quality education as a means to empower global citizens and shape a better future.

The Role of Digital Technology in Fostering Creativity and Critical Thinking in Chinese Art Education

The Role of Digital Technology in Fostering Creativity and Critical Thinking in Chinese Art Education

Fashioning of the Homo Economicus (Economic Citizen): Reflections on Migration and Integration

ABSTRACT This article critically explores what is meant by integration and the expectations that come with it, and how the ‘right’ kind of economic citizen (homo economicus) gets produced through social work practice with immigrants. This article engages in critical reflection on a participant’s narrative that derives from a larger study that investigated structural and individualistic factors that describe how Ethiopian immigrants living in Toronto, Canada negotiate the decision-making process to returning to their homeland. At the macro-level, the study explored the role that broader processes of social, political and economic transformation (globalization) play whilst at the micro-level exploring the aspirations, capabilities and individual agency to migrate out and how their experiences of settlement shape the return-thinking process. The participant accounting analyzed in this article probes the expansion of immigrant selection in Canada (Author), the policy of multiculturalism as Canada’s most recognized policy as it pertains to integration, and how they coalesce and shape settlement work with immigrants. This article, through the participant accounting, engages the question of what is meant by integration – and whether integration is the new assimilation – and concludes with a discussion on how to begin to address concerns that surround social work practice with immigrants.

A Framework for Facilitating Experiential Learning in Cultural Tourism

Cultural tourism provides rich opportunities for experiential learning, but a framework to foster such learning is lacking. This study introduces the “learning behaviors-interactive scenarios” framework to explore key facilitators of experiential learning in cultural tourism. Through a literature review, it outlines key learning behaviors in cultural tourism—seeking challenges, critical reflection, and immersive engagement—that drive Kolb's experiential learning model. It examines how activity, information, and interaction scenarios influence these behaviors and enhance learning outcomes. A case study of the Sancai Town Tourism App illustrates the framework's application, with survey results confirming its effectiveness in enhancing cultural understanding. This study addresses three research questions, contributing to a theoretical framework that integrates situational factors with individual learning behaviors, enhancing understanding of experiential learning in cultural tourism and offering insights into its digital transformation.

AptitudeHub: A Centralized Platform for Free Aptitude Skill Development

In the modern educational landscape, aptitude skill development is critical for competitive exams, recruitment processes, and academic evaluations. However, current platforms are either financially inaccessible or lack a centralized and interactive approach. AptitudeHub aims to address these gaps by offering a free, locally hosted platform focusing on abstract reasoning, critical reasoning, and quantitative aptitude. It integrates features like interactive quizzes, performance tracking, and curated video tutorials to enhance learning outcomes. The platform is developed using the MERN stack, ensuring scalability, data privacy, and user-centric design. This paper reviews related works and presents a comparative analysis of the proposed system with existing solutions, highlighting its contribution to democratizing education

CoCoSo Technique for Teaching Effectiveness

University mathematics, as an important core foundational course, is closely related to professional courses and occupies an important position that cannot be underestimated. University mathematics courses focus on cultivating students' abilities such as logical reasoning and abstract thinking, but the current teaching effectiveness of university mathematics courses is not optimistic. The teaching effectiveness evaluation of university mathematics education major is MADM. Currently, the CoCoSo and CRITIC technique was put forward MADM issue. The double-valued neutrosophic sets (DVNSs) are put forward characterizing fuzzy data during the teaching effectiveness evaluation of university mathematics education major. In this study, CRITIC technique was put forward the determination of attribute weights and double-valued neutrosophic number CoCoSo (DVNN-CoCoSo) technique is administrated for MADM. Finally, numerical example for teaching effectiveness evaluation of university mathematics education major is put forward to show the DVNN-CoCoSo technique.

Dynamic positioning in identity development: Case studies of Chinese university English language teachers

This multiple-case study examines the dynamics of identity among Chinese university teachers of English as a foreign language (EFL) in response to challenges that arise from individual teaching contexts. Grounded in Dialogical Self Theory (DST), the study investigates how these teachers navigate conflicting pedagogies, exercise agency, and negotiate their professional identities. Through in-depth interviews and classroom observations, the findings demonstrate the ways in which participating teachers drew on diverse position repertoires to manage the complexities of their teaching roles. The study identified several key positioning strategies, including the adoption of meta-positions, the creation of third positions, the utilization of promoter positions, the formation of coalitions of positions, and the management of cacophonous positioning. The findings contribute to the growing body of research on language teacher identity, highlighting the dynamic complexity of identity construction. The study offers implications for professional development programs, advocating for opportunities that foster critical reflection on teachers’ multiple I-positions.

Fraudulent Participation in Online Qualitative Studies: Practical Recommendations on an Emerging Phenomenon.

Fraudulent participation is defined in the following as participation in research by individuals who, for one reason or another, intentionally provide false responses. Qualitative studies are at an increased risk of fraudulent participation when online recruitment and participation are used, and monetary incentives offered. Fraudulent participation threatens data quality and subsequent evidence-based practice, yet validated guidance on how to tackle it is lacking. This paper offers a critical reflection thereon by three separate qualitative research groups that experienced fraudulent participation in collaboration with a patient representative, a bioethicist, a legal expert, a journal deputy editor, and a chief executive of a national charity. The Prevent FRaudulent Online STudy participation (P-FROST) recommendations provide advice on (1) Study set-up (including team members and study design), (2) Monetary incentives and recruitment, (3) Data collection (screening and interview considerations), and (4) Analysis, reporting, and support. The reflection which balances the diverse perspectives of patients, researchers, funders, ethics boards, and legal teams puts forward the P-FROST recommendations to identify and prevent fraudulent participation throughout the design, ethical approval, and implementation of online qualitative research.

Essays as “clinical” pedagogy: a Hegelian approach to essay writing

ABSTRACT Current debates in clinical legal education (CLE) exclude essay writing as a legitimate form of “clinical” pedagogy. This article argues that essay writing should be classified as a form of CLE due to its potential to mirror legal practice and enhance students’ reflective capacities. By incorporating Hegelian dialectical reasoning, the paper proposes a structured approach to legal essay writing that includes thesis, antithesis and synthesis. This method encourages students to engage deeply with legal arguments, reflecting on their merits and counterarguments. The dialectical approach aligns with constructivist teaching methodologies, promoting critical thinking and practical skills relevant to legal practice and beyond. The article outlines the theoretical basis of this model and provides a practical framework for its implementation in legal education. It further connects this pedagogical strategy to the development of transferable skills that prepare students for professional legal environments. Through this dialectical method, the paper advocates a more holistic and nuanced understanding of legal concepts, bridging the gap between academic theory and practical application, and, thus, making the case for the incorporation of Hegel-inspired essay writing into the definition of CLE.

‘How are rainbows made?': profiles of early childhood teachers' beliefs and their associations with responses to young children's causal questions

ABSTRACT This study investigates how early childhood teachers in China respond to children’s causal questions and explores the relationship between their belief profiles and response patterns. Grounded in Martin Buber’s dialogic philosophy and complemented by constructivist theories, latent profile analysis revealed three distinct belief profiles: leaders, followers, and polyphonists. Multilevel logistic regression showed that leaders were more inclined to provide explanations, followers tended to encourage exploration and information seeking, and polyphonists used a balanced combination of response types. These findings highlight the complex interplay between beliefs and practices in early childhood education, reflecting the cross-cultural exchange, collision, and integration of global educational ideas. The study underscores the importance of fostering critical and creative thinking in teacher education to help navigate the complexities of education.

Screenwriting, Industry, and Power. Review of Steven Maras Scenariul De Film. Istorie, Teorie Și Practică

The review explores the translation and significance of Steven Maras’s Screenwriting: History, Theory, and Practice into Romanian, emphasizing its relevance within the global academic and filmmaking landscape. Maras’s theoretical approach, influenced by Foucault and cultural studies, offers insights applicable beyond Hollywood, including to Romanian filmmaking practices. Despite differences between Hollywood and Romanian cinema, Maras’s work prompts critical reflection on power dynamics, institutional influences, and the visibility of screenwriters. It aids teaching by focusing it towards understanding screenwriting as a blueprint for production, highlighting the industrial dimensions of the craft.

A critical review of 50 years of initial teacher education in Jamaica: challenges and solutions for improving its effectiveness

ABSTRACT This review of initial teacher education (ITE) in Jamaica highlights the policies, pivotal events, educational initiatives and reforms that have shaped the landscape of teacher education in Jamaica over the last 50 years. It offers a critical reflection on the provision of ITE and the findings of a recent report on education in Jamaica, which suggests that its ITE is weak and ineffective. The review highlights what has taken place over the last 50 years and shows how more emphasis has been placed on concerns over the supply of teachers than on the provision of the type of ITE that produces quality teachers. Drawing on recognised principles for best practice in ITE and a critical theoretical perspective around the importance of teacher and learner agency, the paper suggests more attention must be given to building a globally informed, but also locally crafted knowledge base for teacher preparation in Jamaica. This involves preparing teacher educators who are educated, critically conscious and certified to assume responsibility for developing high-quality ITE in Jamaica.

Unveiling Critical Thinking Pedagogy: Classroom-Based Assessment Strategies in Higher Education

Promoting critical thinking (CT) skills has largely attracted the concern of numerous relevant stakeholders, including teachers, students, and policymakers, with the assumption that CT is a vitally learned skill needed by graduates. This study explores the extent of classroom-based assessment strategies used to promote the CT ability of undergraduate students in Vietnam. Qualitative research approaches were employed through in-depth interviews, classroom observations, and assignment analysis with a curriculum review of the Global Citizens Program at Swinburne Vietnam Alliance Program with FPT Education. The findings show that teachers have widely applied a couple of assessment techniques to increase the CT capability of students, including peer review, reflective writing, case study analysis and evaluation, teamwork projects, research-type assessments, and problem-solving. Furthermore, lecturers who are more aware of the importance of CT and those who are more flexible and skilled in testing self-developing techniques have more strategies for incorporating CT into their assessments. The study reveals that if CT is explicitly stated in the program learning outcomes and incorporated into the course outlines, it is more likely to be implemented.

The use of bedside case-based learning in the clinical practice of midwifery education in China.

This study aimed to investigate the impact of bedside case-based learning on critical thinking and capacity for self-directed learning in a group of midwifery students in China. Bedside teaching is a well-established educational tool to improve the clinical practice of medical, nursing, and midwifery students. A new pedagogical approach; bedside case-based learning (BCBL) is an interactive teaching approach involving small-group, student-educator discussion to describe the etiology and management of a patient case. This new approach has been gradually integrated into Chinese midwifery education programs to promote clinical problem-solving skills, knowledge application, teamwork, and collaboration. A quasi-experimental pre-test-post-test group design. This study used a quasi-experimental pre-test-post-test group design. A convenience sample of 67 third-year students majoring in midwifery at the university were prospectively enrolled in this study. Pre- and post-BCBL class surveys were conducted using the Self-Rating Scale of Self-Directed Learning (SRSSDL) and the Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory-Chinese Version (CTDI-CV) to assess changes in self-learning and critical thinking abilities before and after the intervention. Following bedside case-based learning, the total scores for self-directed learning capacity and critical thinking increased, although there were no statistically significant differences (P > 0.05). Although there were no statistically significant differences between pre- and post-test results, students' self-assessed scores in self-directed learning and critical thinking improved between pre- and post-test.