Scientific Critical Thinking Research Articles

Measuring Critical Thinking in Science: Systematic Review

The review aims to explore possible methods for critical thinking assessment in science from previous studies. For a long time, critical thinking has been among most talked topics among researchers and academicians, due to its nature in improving one’s quality of life such as becoming an effective problem solver and logical thinkers. In this study, literature search for related studies was conducted through online databases, The Educational Resource Information Centre (ERIC) dated from the year 2010 till 2017 using keywords such as critical thinking, science, science education and measurement. Only refereed/peer-reviewed journals that fulfilled criteria needed were selected for the study with the findings from web-based service providers, including Sage Journals, Springer, Taylor & Francis, Science Direct, and Wiley Online Library. The findings were analyzed using document analysis technique to answer research questions of this study. This systematic review reveals that critical thinking can be assessed using quantitative or qualitative methods depending on the scope and dimensions of the research. Although there are studies on critical thinking in science, the assessment tools used are instrumented for critical thinking in general setting which focuses in general context. However, when it comes to assessing critical thinking in science secondary school/high school, the findings were limited.

La pensee critique en science: presentation d 'un modele iconique en vue d 'une definition operationnelle

In this paper, a critical review of literature is provided and different ways of defining critical thinking in science are explored: A tentative iconic model and an operational definition are proposed in order to stimulate exploratory observations and, eventually, the development of teaching strategies in science taking into account critical thinking. In our model, three main components of critical thinking are identified: the affective component (dispositions), the cognitive component (knowledge, basic skills, high order skills) , and the behavioral component (contextualised or generalised behaviors). The cognitive component is embedded in the affective component which modifies the development as well as the use of critical thinking skills and knowledge. The links between the environment and these critical thinking components are described as well as their mutual influences. This model emphasizes the key role of affectivity in the development and actualization of critical thinking in everyday life as a critical spirit.

The Relationship Between Verbal Ability and Critical Thinking Skill: The Implementation of Susan Loucks Horsley Model

Susan Loucks Horsley is a learning model that can connect science and technology. This model can help students adapt to the increasingly changing scientific and technology of the 21st century. Students are challenged with issues that require the use of scientific information, technology, verbal ability, critical thinking, and conceptual understanding in making decisions. It is because verbal ability and critical thinking are needed in solving problems hence this research aims to know the correlation of verbal ability with students' critical thinking skill in science learning of vibration, wave and sound material using Susan Loucks Horsley model. The sample of this research is the students of VIII A SMP N 1 Pamekasan. The collecting data technique use tests to measure the students' verbal ability and critical thinking skills. The data analysis uses Pearson correlation. The result of this research shows there is a correlation between verbal ability with students' critical thinking skill in science learning of vibration, wave and sound material using Susan Loucks Horsley model with the value of Pearson correlation coefficient 0,656 and significance 0.000. This research has an implication that the teachers should be appropriate in applying the learning model that can grow the students’ verbal ability and critical thinking skill.

Effect of Multi Modal Representations on the Critical Thinking Skills of the Fifth Grade Students

The purpose of this study was to explore the effects of multi modal representations within writing to learn activities on students’ critical thinking. Mixed method was used. The participants included 32 students 5th grade from elementary school. The groups were randomly selected as a control group and the other class was selected as the experimental group. Data collection tools has been Critical Thinking Test (CTT) and writing actives. The students were asked to tell their peers about the subjects in the unit with a writing activity using the summary writing type. The students performed three writing activities, one preparation and two real practice activities, in this process. The most basic dissimilarity between the groups is the request of the use of multimodal representations asked from the students in the experimental group. The Cronbach’s alpha reliability coefficent of the CTT was determined as 0.72. The results of this study show that the use of the multi modal representations in writing to learn activities improved the scientific critical thinking of the students.

Teaching Epidemiology at the Undergraduate Level: Considerations and Approaches.

The rapid growth in undergraduate public health education has offered training in epidemiology to an increasing number of undergraduate students. Epidemiology courses introduce undergraduate students to a population health perspective and provide opportunities for these students to build essential skills and competencies such as ethical reasoning, teamwork, comprehension of scientific methods, critical thinking, quantitative and information literacy, ability to analyze public health information, and effective writing and oral communication. Taking a varied approach and incorporating active learning and assessment strategies can help engage students in the material, improve comprehension of key concepts, and further develop key competencies. In this commentary, we present examples of how epidemiology may be taught in the undergraduate setting. Evaluation of these approaches and others would be a valuable next step.

The effect of using the scientific approach through concept understanding and critical thinking in science

This research aimed to find out: (1) the effect of scientific approach through concept understanding in science, (2) the effect of scientific approach through critical thinking in science, and (3) the effect of scientific approach through concept understanding and critical thinking in science. The research was a quasi experimental research using pretest-posttest control group design. The population of the research was the fifth grade school elementary students in the first cluster of Palakka Bone amounted of 125 students. Technique of collecting sample was cluster random sampling which was 71 students. Data were analyzed with independent sample t-tes dan MANOVA test. The research findings showed: (1) There is a significant positive effect of scientific approach through concept understanding in science, the result obtained 0.003, (2) There is a significant positive effect of scientific approach through critical thinking in science; the result obtained 0.000, (3) there is a significant positive effect of scientific approach through concept understanding and critical thinking; the result obtained 0.000. In conclusion, the scientific approach is effective to use in science class in improving students’ concept understanding and critical thinking.

Critical Thinking in Science: What Are the Basics?

<em>This paper reviews some of the most critical issues in science in terms of scientific thinking, and reasoning. Many students arrive at college poorly prepared to function in the typical science class and encounter a good deal of difficulty. This paper provides some general information regarding critical thinking skills and delves into some specific realms that need investigation and formative evaluation.</em>

Intentionally flawed manuscripts as means for teaching students to critically evaluate scientific papers.

As future scientists, university students need to learn how to avoid making errors in their own manuscripts, as well as how to identify flaws in papers published by their peers. Here we describe a novel approach on how to promote students' ability to critically evaluate scientific articles. The exercise is based on instructing teams of students to write intentionally flawed manuscripts describing the results of simple experiments. The teams are supervised by instructors advising the students during manuscript writing, choosing the 'appropriate' errors, monitoring the identification of errors made by the other team and evaluating the strength of their arguments in support of the identified errors. We have compared the effectiveness of the method with a journal club-type seminar. Based on the results of our assessment we propose that the described seminar may effectively complement the existing approaches to teach critical scientific thinking. © 2017 by The International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 46(1):22-30, 2018.

Hooking Up Data with Literacy: Creating an Educational Framework for Uppsala University Library

Uppsala University Library offers a range of workshops and lectures for students and researchers in order to help them improve their information seeking skills, academic writing and critical scientific thinking. Our library education program mainly focuses on sources such as books or scholarly articles but students in many subject fields often face additional challenges since they have to handle large amounts of data. We identified the fact that we were hardly incorporating data management in our library education as a potential weakness. This project was developed in order to determine if the library should get involved in teaching data literacy.The project involved gathering knowledge on how data is being taught at the university by conducting a student and teacher survey. A data module was developed and incorporated to the existing framework focusing on information literacy. The module was tested and evaluated by a pilot group of students. Our findings indicate that the University Library should begin teaching data literacy. We believe data to be one of the current challenges for Academic libraries and a key for staying relevant for students and researchers.

THE INQUIRY OF INDEGENOUS CULTURE SEBAGAI MODEL PEMBELAJARAN MATA KULIAH PENDIDIKAN KEBUDAYAAN DAERAH UNTUK MENINGKATKAN KREATIFITAS MAHASISWA

nquiry model provides the opportunity for students to learn to develop their intellectualpotential in the fabric of the activities that he composed himself to find something.Students are encouraged to act actively seek answers to the problems it faces and drawtheir own conclusions through a process of critical scientific thinking, logical, and systematic.Students may not remain and be passive, receiving and memorizing lessonsgiven by the professor. The purpose of this study is students can explore the local cultureor indigenous wisdom-based inquiry learning culture through the Regional CulturalEducation courses to be included in the syllabus and lesson plans for each subject toelementary schools. Syllabus and lesson plans based on the indigenous culture is expectedto foster respect and appreciate the diversity of Indonesian culture. The methodused in this research is the development of research that approached by Research andDevelopment which refers to Thiaragajan (1994) with 4D models that define, design,develop and disseminate. The data required in this research is quantitative data andqualitative data. Acquisition of data using tests, observations, questionnaires. The instrumentsused are: (1) observation sheet subject of Pendidikan Kebudayaan Daerahfeasibility study using a model-based inquiry indigenous culture; (2) the observationsheet lecturer in organizing learning ability; (3 pieces of student activity observation;(4) The student questionnaire responses (5) the results of student competence. Analysisof the data in this study is a descriptive qualitative. These results are an average increaseof 76.54 kratifitas consisting of students above average creativity of students inanswering questions at 75.02 and accuracy measures inquiry learning at 76.17. 76.54Value proves that the research is successful because of the success criteria of this studywas 75. Based on these results it can be concluded that the Inquiry of indegenous Culturecan be used as learning models Regional Cultural Education Courses to enhancethe creativity of students. Sustainability of the student competency is learner-SD has thecharacter to Indonesia’s strong and cultured. Besides, it is also expected of students asprospective teachers to defend the Indonesian culture of the process of acculturationand globalization thus lowering the culture to learners after becoming a teacher someday.

THE DEVELOPMENT OF LABORATORY-BASED EARTH AND SPACE SCIENCE LEARNING MODEL TO IMPROVE SCIENCE GENERIC SKILLS OF PRE-SERVICE TEACHERS

This study focuses on the improvement of prospective teachers’ science generic skills in learning for earth and space sciences subject using a laboratory-based model. Research methods were Research and Development used mixed methods design, i.e. Embedded Experimental models. The results showed that the structure of the learning using laboratory-based model consists of four stages, namely engagement, exploration, explanation, and elaboration; with details on description of natural phenomena, the identification of questions, linking concepts with practical topic; modeling, training, exploration, interpretation of data, conclude, and communicate the procedures and results of the investigation. Moreover, the ability of science generic skills of teacher candidates was low at 52.50%. In addition, the profile of lecturer performance in learning reached 55%. Also, the condition of the learning environment is generally sufficient in supporting the development of laboratory activities, for example: a comfortable laboratory room for conducting the practicum. Next, 75% student agreed that for understand the material; it needs a practice in lab. As many as 70% of students agreed that practicum will increase students' understanding, although students also agreed that clarification is still required by lecturers (80%). Furthermore, 69% of the students found the materials of Earth and Space Sciences ismore attractive than other materials, although 78% said material of Earth and Space Sciences is fairly complicated and abstract. The interest of students to the material of Earth and Space Sciences is because these materials can foster curiosity (88%) as well as providing benefits to their daily life (90%). Finally, three out of four students agreed that the science generic skills can develop the ability of scientific work and critical thinking.

THE EFFECTS OF PROBLEM-BASED LEARNING WITH THINKING MAPS ON FIFTH GRADERS’ SCIENCE CRITICAL THINKING

This research was conducted to evaluate the effects of Problem-based Learning (PBL) with Thinking Maps (TM) teaching method (PBL-TM) on Fifth Graders’ science critical thinking. The critical thinking skills evaluated were Comparing and Contrasting, Sequencing, and Identifying Cause and Effect in physical science. A quasi-experimental pre-test and post-test control group design was employed in the research. The sample consisted of 270 Fifth Graders (age 11 years old) from three primary schools in Tawau, Sabah, Malaysia who were all randomly selected and assigned to PBL-TM (n=90), PBL (n=90), and Conventional Problem Solving (CPS) (n=90) teaching groups. The 30-item Test of Science Critical Thinking was used as the pre-test and post-test. The three thinking maps used were Double Bubble Maps, Flow Maps, and Multi-Flow Maps. A MANCOVA was conducted on the post-test scores with students’ pre-test scores as the covariates. The result indicated that students in the PBL-TM group significantly outperformed their counterparts in the PBL group who, in turn, significantly outperformed their counterparts in the CPS group in Comparing and Contrasting, Sequencing, and Identifying Cause and Effect. The findings suggest that thinking maps, which were explicitly infused into problem-based learning is effective in promoting critical thinking among Fifth Graders in physical science lessons. Key words: critical thinking, fifth graders, problem-based learning, thinking maps.

On the advantage of RBL teaching mode for medical students in undergraduate years and in foreign academic exchanges

Research based learning (RBL) is a brand new teaching mode implicated by Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine specifically designed for clinical undergraduates. The nature of RBL is about exploring unknown knowledge and designing and executing comprehensive experiments. RBL aims at creating an open, active student participation, and close student-mentor interaction teaching mode. RBL includes literature study, research aim selection, experiment design and implementation, statistical analysis, results and conclusions, final report writing and defense of the report. Our experience indicates that RBL can substantially improve students' scientific logic and critical thinking and experimental skills, and develop the spirit of a team-player. This scientific training enables students to receive more comprehensive scientific training, facilitate their subsequent clinical research and practice, and assist them to participate in more international scientific exchanges. We propose that the RBL mode should be adopted for clinical student education in other universities. Key words: Research based learning; Medical education; Talent development; International cooperation

A Descriptive Study of the Critical Thinking Skills of Social Science at Junior High School

The significance of the research is to seize a description of critical thinking students at a Junior High School at South Tangerang, Indonesia. It uses a descriptive statistic method to describe a more specified critical thinking student. Nowadays, learning process has been valued as non-critical thinking method to students. Whereas, by the critical thinking there will be the activity of thinking process to conclude. It has needed to be drilled since it had been early time to students to solve the problems. It gets social science critical thinking of 401 students. It is measured by the indicators of interpretation, analysis, evaluation, explanation, and inference. The results indicate the students skill in interpretation, analysis, explanation, and inference at a high level whereas it needs to create learning process of critical thinking students to do the evaluation at a medium level creating the hard worker and problem solver students.

Current Approaches in Implementing Citizen Science in the Classroom.

Citizen science involves a partnership between inexperienced volunteers and trained scientists engaging in research. In addition to its obvious benefit of accelerating data collection, citizen science has an unexplored role in the classroom, from K–12 schools to higher education. With recent studies showing a weakening in scientific competency of American students, incorporating citizen science initiatives in the curriculum provides a means to address deficiencies in a fragmented educational system. The integration of traditional and innovative pedagogical methods to reform our educational system is therefore imperative in order to provide practical experiences in scientific inquiry, critical thinking, and problem solving for school-age individuals. Citizen science can be used to emphasize the recognition and use of systematic approaches to solve problems affecting the community.

The development and validation of a test of science critical thinking for fifth graders.

The paper described the development and validation of the Test of Science Critical Thinking (TSCT) to measure the three critical thinking skill constructs: comparing and contrasting, sequencing, and identifying cause and effect. The initial TSCT consisted of 55 multiple choice test items, each of which required participants to select a correct response and a correct choice of critical thinking used for their response. Data were obtained from a purposive sampling of 30 fifth graders in a pilot study carried out in a primary school in Sabah, Malaysia. Students underwent the sessions of teaching and learning activities for 9 weeks using the Thinking Maps-aided Problem-Based Learning Module before they answered the TSCT test. Analyses were conducted to check on difficulty index (p) and discrimination index (d), internal consistency reliability, content validity, and face validity. Analysis of the test–retest reliability data was conducted separately for a group of fifth graders with similar ability. Findings of the pilot study showed that out of initial 55 administered items, only 30 items with relatively good difficulty index (p) ranged from 0.40 to 0.60 and with good discrimination index (d) ranged within 0.20–1.00 were selected. The Kuder–Richardson reliability value was found to be appropriate and relatively high with 0.70, 0.73 and 0.92 for identifying cause and effect, sequencing, and comparing and contrasting respectively. The content validity index obtained from three expert judgments equalled or exceeded 0.95. In addition, test–retest reliability showed good, statistically significant correlations ({rm r}=0.76, P< 0.01). From the above results, the selected 30-item TSCT was found to have sufficient reliability and validity and would therefore represent a useful tool for measuring critical thinking ability among fifth graders in primary science.

Assessment of Instructional Materials in Speech and Oral Communication: Basis for Curriculum Enhancement

Education promotes development for quality teaching in general which Includes the social aspects brought about by the environmental pressures, the growing interdependence of people and countries, and the changing needs of people and societies. All educational systems aim for quality education to produce students who demonstrate understanding of scientific concepts, critical and creative thinking skills, and love and appreciation for the English language. Thus, educators and concerned government agencies have been mandated and were asked to strengthen English language offerings and teaching to maximize the students' skills and knowledge. Our facility in English, a competitive edge over other Asian nations, as well as in other nations is slowly being undermined by growing perceptions of its deterioration. The perceived deterioration is attributed to many factors not the least of which is the quality of instruction in all levels of our educational system. Thus, the teachers of English especially in speech and oral communication should be adept and resourceful to meet the global competencies. The study used the descriptive- normative research design as it aimed to assess the instructional materials used in teaching speech and topics that can be supplemented by these instructional materials in which the researcher believed has something to do with effectiveness of instructional materials as basis to enhance the curriculum. This method was used to gather the needed and relevant data and information about the research variables. More specifically, the researcher was able to gather data through questionnaire because it covers a small population where the variables were concrete. It further used qualitative questions to qualify data based on international norms in Speech and Oral Communication. Most of the indicators were much accepted by the respondents in assessing the instructional materials offered to enhance the curricular offering in terms of Content and Acceptability.

Improving medical students' knowledge of genetic disease: a review of current and emerging pedagogical practices.

Genetics is an essential subject to be mastered by health professional students of all types. However, technological advances in genomics and recent pedagogical research have changed the way in which many medical training programs teach genetics to their students. These advances favor a more experience-based education focused primarily on developing student’s critical thinking skills. In this review, we examine the current state of genetics education at both the preclinical and clinical levels and the ways in which medical and pedagogical research have guided reforms to current and emerging teaching practices in genetics. We discover exciting trends taking place in which genetics is integrated with other scientific disciplines both horizontally and vertically across medical curricula to emphasize training in scientific critical thinking skills among students via the evaluation of clinical evidence and consultation of online databases. These trends will produce future health professionals with the skills and confidence necessary to embrace the new tools of medical practice that have emerged from scientific advances in genetics, genomics, and bioinformatics.

Teacher students’ dilemmas when teaching science through inquiry

Background: Inquiry-based science education (IBSE) is suitable to teach scientific contents as well as to foster scientific skills. Similar conclusions are drawn by studies with respect to scientific literacy, motivational aspects, vocabulary knowledge, conceptual understandings, critical thinking, and attitudes toward science. Nevertheless, IBSE is rarely adopted in schools. Often barriers for teachers account for this lack, with the result that even good teachers struggle to teach science as inquiry. More importantly, studies indicate that several barriers and constraints could be ascribed to problems teacher students have at the university stage.Purpose: The purpose of this explorative investigation is to examine the problems teacher students have when teaching science through inquiry. In order to draw a holistic picture of these problems, we identified problems from three different points of view leading to the research question: What problems regarding IBSE do teacher students have from an objective, a subjective, and a self-reflective perspective?Design & method: Using video analysis and observation tools as well as qualitative content analysis and open questionnaires we identified problems from each perspective.Results: The objectively stated problems comprise the lack of essential features of IBSE especially concerning ‘Supporting pupils’ own investigations’ and ‘Guiding analysis and conclusions.’ The subjectively perceived problems comprise concerns about ‘Teachers’ abilities’ and ‘Pupils’ abilities,’ ‘Differentiated instruction’ and institutional frame ‘Conditions’ while the self-reflectively noticed problems mainly comprise concerns about ‘Allowing inquiry,’ ‘Instructional Aspects,’ and ‘Pupils’ behavior.’Conclusions: Each of the three different perspectives provides plenty of problems, partially overlapping, partially complementing one another, and partially revealing completely new problems. Consequently, teacher educators have to consider these three perspectives.

All Aboard! The Polar Express Is Traveling to Science—Understanding the States of Matter while Differentiating Instruction for Young Learners

ABSTRACTThis standards-based science lesson introduces young learners to scientific inquiry and critical thinking by using activities to demonstrate three phases of matter (solid, liquid, and gas). By learning about the states of matter through a 5E instructional approach, students are encouraged to observe changes in the states of matter and to discuss their understanding in both small and large group forums. Student participants will be involved in hands-on activities along with small and large group discourse while actively learning about the states of matter and enjoying a hot chocolate demonstration with sampling. Developmentally appropriate instructional approaches are emphasized throughout this lesson.