Definition Of Critical Thinking Research Articles

Analysis of the Epistemological Potential of Critical Thinking at the Present Stage of the Educational Model

The central focus of our study is the issue of the significance of critical thinking in the system of educational paradigm. The primary goal set by the authors within the framework of the article is the definition of critical thinking of the surrounding reality both at the theoretical and practical levels of knowledge approbation. Essential emphasis in the work is made on the directions of integrative education, didactic approach to understanding the educational system, consideration of species and genus segments of critical thinking, designation of interactive technologies in the dynamics of elements of cognition and consideration of issues in the context of distance learning process. The authors provide a number of doctrinal foundations within the concepts of thinking; binomial system, which includes the concepts of thinking and criticism - critical thinking, as well as the introduction of specific methodologies in the educational hierarchy.

THE ENHANCEMENT OF STUDENTS' CRITICAL THINKING WITH THE USE OF "CHESS"

The context of the issue and the purpose of the study. In this paper, we discuss the organization of competence-based education, where the development of students' critical thinking skills is fundamental. What is critical thinking? Students, educators, pedagogues, and psychologists are all concerned about this issue. One of the most crucial skills for 21st century learners and professionals is critical thinking. The article discusses diverse and disparate theoretical views on the nature and definition of critical thinking. We attempted to arrange them. The most precisely articulated critical thinking traits, in our opinion, were selected out in the context of the study of those techniques (Klooster D., 2001). We attempted to explore these critical thinking traits in the context of the "Chess" in our study. Our purpose is to expose the potential of the topic "Chess" from the standpoint of improving students' critical thinking. The article also examines how a teacher should structure the teaching and learning process in order to create a community of critical thinkers.

Exploring the Underlying Ways of Enhancing Critical Thinking Skills

Critical thinking skills in the present dynamic and rapidly changing world are crucial skills that enable individuals to engage in rational and independent thinking to make decent and consistent decisions. This article aims at exploring multifarious underlying ways of enhancing critical thinking skills. It provides readers with definitions of critical thinking and critical thinking skills. It pinpoints key components of critical thinking, barriers to critical thinking, and the major strategies for enhancing these skills. Qualitative data related to critical thinking skills were gathered in the forms of lexes and lexical expressions through a scrupulous review of journal articles, website documents and relevant books published between 1984 and 2023. They served as secondary sources of qualitative data that were explored and analyzed through instances that led to broader concepts regarding critical thinking skills. It is concluded that both acquisition and application of these skills were imperative for individuals to adeptly formulate their fair decisions. Teachers, students, researchers and critics will find this article highly valuable as it equips them with the necessary skills to think critically and make well-versed decisions about a given subject matter.

Application of Critical Thinking in Improving Oral Proficiency of Chinese Universities English Majors

As critical thinking has been gradually valued and applied in various fields, people begin to attach importance to the cultivation and improvement of critical thinking. In education field, many educators and experts have begun to focus their research in critical thinking’s theories. How to improve students’ ability of critical thinking has always been a concern of educators who have been trying to combine critical thinking with curriculums. Based on the concept and definition of critical thinking, this study focuses on the application of critical thinking in improving oral proficiency of English majors. To investigate the relationship between critical thinking and oral English, we designed a questionnaire with the related information and collected a total of 62 college English majors’ views and feedbacks of it. The result shows that most students have awareness of thinking and analyzing from different perspectives. They also believe that the improvement of critical thinking skills influence and promote the clarity and logic in their oral expression. In addition, this essay had interviews with some teachers who are teaching in the university in online or offline form to know how they apply critical thinking into their class. In this essay, we will explore the concept of critical thinking, examine its importance in various contexts such as oral English in education field and shed light on effective strategies for enhancing and developing the skills of thinking and speaking.

Exploration of flipped classroom approach to enhance critical thinking skills

Flipped classroom approach has become well-accepted and widely-used in different levels of education. Critical thinking was deemed as the core goal of higher education institutions to enhance students' competence advocated in the 21st century. The definition of critical thinking originating from Peter Facione was one of the most widely-accepted and commonly-used at present. The aim of the research was to explore a flipped classroom approach which was effective to enhance critical thinking skills proposed by Peter Facione, namely interpretation, analysis, inference, evaluation, explanation and self-regulation. This study selected 300 junior students majoring in business administration (100 students), international trade (100 students), and accounting (100 students) respectively of a private university in China, and took the Marketing flipped classroom course as an example. The quantitative research method was adopted in the research, and a questionnaire with 22 questions was used to collect data from the participants. The study involved two rounds. Each round involved three control classes with a traditional teaching instruction approach conducted and three experimental classes with a flipped classroom approach adopted. After analyzing and discussing the data collected, the research found that the flipped classroom approach promoted students' critical thinking skills to some extent. Through the study, a modified model of flipped classroom approach to enhance critical thinking skills was put forward. The modified model can be applied to more other courses at different levels, especially business courses. The research also had some limitations, including the 5-point Likert scale used, the representativeness and individual differences of participants, and the application of the study. In the future research, aspects regarding other skill development, effectiveness of course feedback and assessment, interdisciplinary knowledge, and implementation of the marketing plan etc.can be explored deeper.

Fostering and assessing student critical thinking: From theory to teaching practice

AbstractIn an age of innovation and digitalisation, critical thinking has become one of the most valued skills in the labour market. This paper shows how teachers can empower students to develop their students' critical thinking. After recalling why critical thinking matters for democracy and the economy, a definition of critical thinking is outlined. Next, a demonstration is given of how the concept critical thinking can be translated and simplified using teacher‐friendly rubrics that can support the design or redesign of lesson plans, teacher observations and formative assessment—as well as standardised assessments. In conclusion, the paper argues that critical thinking should be mainstreamed in all subjects in school curricula, and that it leads to deeper understanding of subject matter content.

Developing Critical Thinking in Technical and Vocational Education and Training

Critical thinking has been difficult to develop in technical and vocational education and training, where acquiring practical skills is often the priority. This study looks at whether tried-and-tested methods for developing critical thinking in higher education are also effective in this educational context. To test this, an intervention was carried out as part of a compulsory, semester-long “Basic Communication Skills” class for 149 first year engineering students. This involved linking the expected learning outcomes for the course to a series of sub-skills comprising an updated definition of critical thinking. Furthermore, a set of strategies promoting active participation among students was also implemented. The proposed methodology led to improved levels of critical thinking when compared to traditional teaching methods. It was found that lessons characterized as interactive, dynamic, and encouraging active student participation facilitate the teacher’s job in the classroom and improve the development of critical thinking in a specific technical and vocational education context.

Conceptualising critical thinking and its research in teacher education: A systematic review

ABSTRACT Pre-service teachers play a crucial role in fostering critical thinking among students to enhance their effectiveness in the 21st century. This systematic review examines 43 empirical studies to gain deeper insights into the concept of critical thinking in teacher education. We identified two primary definitions of critical thinking: the logical sense and value sense, both rooted in a discipline-oriented framework. The findings indicate that the logical sense, particularly the philosophical approach, predominantly informs research conducted on pre-service teachers. However, when it comes to critical thinking disposition, research results often fall short in demonstrating significant development, underscoring the contextual nature of critical thinking. Critical thinking is a sociological research method used to logically evaluate a problem by creating awareness of problematic knowledge and social situations. After analysing the influence of the relationship between critical thinking and research on critical thinking development in pre-service teachers, our findings suggest that there are limitations to cultivating critical thinking; further verification is needed regarding pre-service teachers’ ability to transfer critical thinking among various contexts or situations. This review emphasises the significance of embracing the multifaceted and context-bound aspects of critical thinking and good judgment for thinking quality in pre-service teacher education research.

Conceptualizations and instructional strategies on critical thinking in higher education: A systematic review of systematic reviews

AimThis systematic review identified systematic reviews of quantitative and qualitative empirical studies on the promotion and development of critical thinking in higher education students that allowed us to answer the following research questions: (1) What are the main definitions of critical thinking found in systematic reviews of critical thinking in higher education, and what are their similarities and differences? and (2) What are the most commonly used teaching strategies in higher education for teaching or promoting critical thinking, and how effective have they proven to be?MethodsSystematic reviews were selected according to the guidelines for systematic reviews and meta-analyzes (PRISMA, 2020) and the eligibility criteria proposed by the PICOS strategy (population, interventions, comparators, outcomes and study design), based on 23 records of scientifically identified registers in the Journal Citation Report databases of the Web of Science.ResultsThe bibliometric and systematic search of reviews of empirical studies on the topic allowed the selection of five systematic reviews. The results highlighted that conceptually critical thinking is related to both dispositions and skills, and that although there is no consensus on its definition, it is established that it is a higher-order cognitive process that can be trained. However, the results show that more studies have been conducted considering critical thinking as a skill than as a disposition, that the immersion approach has been widely used, and that some instructional strategies have shown greater effectiveness than others when the disciplines are evaluated independently.DiscussionDespite the relative consensus on the importance of critical thinking for professional development in higher education, this review highlights some difficulties in conceptualizing critical thinking, in the relationship between dispositions and skills, and in its assessment in academic disciplines.

Критичне мислення: поняття та практика

The relevance of critical thinking makes it necessary to clearly define this concept and explore the steps necessary to acquire the skill that lies behind this concept. Today, in the specialized literature, you can find a variety of definitions of critical thinking, which can give the impression that this field is in a chaotic state. The author’s analysis made it possible to identify the essential features of this concept, based on which critical thinking is defined as the ability to analyze the process of thinking for its compliance with the criteria of rationality. Acquiring this skill involves mastering three main components: normative, descriptive and prescriptive. The normative component includes knowledge about the standards of rational thinking. These standards include not only the rules, principles and laws of logic but also the basic laws of statistics and probability theory, as well as the rules of scientific work. The descriptive component involves the acquisition of knowledge about how we actually think. First of all, we are talking about heuristics and cognitive biases, which are kinds of algorithms by which habitual thinking occurs, and which often lead us to mistakes. The prescriptive component includes knowledge of how to make the transition from habitual thinking to correct thinking. The author notes that critical thinking is an interdisciplinary project because mastering this skill requires the use of information from various fields of knowledge. At the same time, the article describes the special role of philosophical community both in the study and in teaching critical thinking. Accordingly, it is concluded that there is a need for more active development of this field by Ukrainian philosophers, which may become a promising area for the implementation of their professional skills.

Autodesarrollo del pensamiento crítico y la práctica reflexiva en docentes de educación primaria con vivencias de riesgo sanitario

The contamination of drinking water with different chemicals and heavy metals, released from different anthropogenic sources, has become a global concern. Contamination of drinking water is a relatively new but steadily increasing problem as a result of population growth, urbanization and industrialization unprecedented since the 1990s, with significant implications for both the environment and human health. Contaminated drinking water and poor sanitation are linked to the transmission of diseases such as cholera, diarrhoea, dysentery and polio. Much research has been done around water and human rights. However, international campaigns for access to drinking water and the campaign against privatization could increase the political priority towards water and force governments and the State to ensure basic water needs. That is why the application of the Health Risk Index is a key element in the detection and definition of priority areas, seeking to evaluate and characterize a resident population based on the health risk exposed. Although the State is responsible for ensuring vulnerability to risks associated with all services, including water, education must start from the youngest, and it is there, where teachers and professors must encourage critical thinking so that the educated can be multiplying entities. In this article, the definitions of critical thinking and reflective practice are analyzed under the collection of information related to the experiences of health risk in the Republic of Peru, going through the basic education teacher to the students, making an analysis of the behavior of this phenomenon in the educational system and finally evaluating critically the national curricular design.

Critical thinking: Stakeholder expectations and challenges for Accountancy educators

Developing future accountants who are critical thinkers, able to adapt in a volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) world, remains one of the biggest challenges facing accounting educators. Competency frameworks of professional accounting bodies do provide some guidance in terms of the competencies and skills graduates should possess when entering the profession, but lack the inclusion of a clear, consensus-based definition of critical thinking and its related skills. The present study sought to explore the extent to which critical thinking and related concepts are present in and align across the competency frameworks of four professional accounting bodies. Employing a content analysis, the results indicated no agreed-upon definition for “critical thinking” or related terms. The term “critical thinking” only appeared in one framework with “decision-making”, “judgement” and “problem solving” serving as surrogate terms across the frameworks. Variations of “analyse”, “explain” and “evaluate”, that are considered to be core critical thinking skills, were extensively used in the frameworks, albeit not clearly defined. Professional bodies are crucial when creating a more mature demand for critical thinking acumen in graduates and workplace professionals. The researchers therefor advocate better agreement among accounting educators and professional bodies about the definition of critical thinking.

O101 - Embedding critical thinking within a Bachelor of Midwifery curriculum

The application of critical thinking to midwifery practice is essential in the provision of evidence based, safe, high quality woman centred care. Yet, critical thinking in midwifery is rarely explicitly articulated, taught, or measured in undergraduate midwifery programs. To develop, test, embed, and scaffold resources and processes to promote critical thinking within an undergraduate midwifery program. The multi-method approach involved (1) development and testing of two tools that measure critical thinking in undergraduate midwifery students; (2) a systematic review of the literature to inform a conceptual model of critical thinking in midwifery practice to guide decision making in teaching and midwifery practice; (3) a Delphi study with 32 international midwifery experts to develop a consensus definition of critical thinking. The two tools measured critical thinking in midwifery practice through self-assessment and preceptor rating annually. The scales demonstrated good internal reliability and validity. Within the Delphi study 14 habits of mind and 12 skills that are at the core of critical thinking in midwifery practice were identified. The tools, consensus definition and conceptual model were then embedded within a Bachelor of Midwifery curriculum. A scaffolded approach was applied to the articulation, teaching, measurement and facilitation of the development of critical thinking in undergraduate midwifery students. The use of well-developed critical thinking skills to inform midwifery decision making is vital in the provision of midwifery care that is evidence based, woman centred and of high quality. The scaffolding of an evidence-based definition of critical thinking, sophisticated tools and models throughout a Bachelor of Midwifery curriculum will develop these skills and ensure graduates can navigate the complex decision making in midwifery practice.

Critical thinking in the preschool classroom - A systematic literature review

Critical thinking is acknowledged as a 21st century skill that allows humans to make considered and informed decisions based on the information available to them. Studies exploring critical thinking during the early years are of particular significance because they enable researchers to refine a general view of critical thinking and situate it in the context of young children. Current opinion regarding critical thinking is founded on years of international research in various fields, including primary and secondary education, higher education institutions and industry. This paper reports on a systematic literature review of 25 empirical studies which address various ways of teaching for thinking focusing on children attending early years services. The review aims to gain insights that lead towards a definition of critical thinking in an early years context. To this end, research conducted during 2015–2021 is examined for characteristics of critical thinking in early childhood and teaching strategies developed to support thinking in the early years' classroom. The methodology draws from the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA). Despite the small number of articles sourced which address the review questions, there was a reasonable weight of evidence to suggest the most common characteristics of critical thinking explored in young children are reasoning skills and problem solving. The findings suggest effective mediators in drawing out critical thinking skills include (1) classroom interactions including dialogue and questioning techniques, (2) the use of thinking language, and (3) story-based approaches. The cases in which critical thinking are investigated in early years environments were surprisingly few. The paper concludes with a summary of the implications of the findings for the future of learning and teaching and recommendations relevant to advancing teaching for thinking with young children.

Demonstrating critical thinking in accounting: applying a competency framework

ABSTRACT Supporting students to demonstrate critical thinking skills while studying accounting is challenging. Researching how to do this is made more difficult because ‘[t]here is no single, agreed-upon definition of critical thinking within accounting education … ’ [Wolcott, S. K., & Sargent, M. J. 2021. Critical thinking in accounting education: Status and call for action. Journal of Accounting Education, 56, 100731. https://doi-org/10.1016/j.jaccedu.2021.100731; p. 2]. Terblanche and De Clercq [2021. A critical thinking competency framework for accounting students. Accounting Education, 30(4), 325–354. https://doi-org/10.1080/09639284.2021.1913614] have proposed a critical thinking competency framework for accounting students (TDC framework) that can be used to support research in this area. This framework involves certain skills and dispositions using terms and language grounded in the critical thinking literature. This study applies the TDC framework to a study of a first-year accounting unit at an Australian university, involving 101 students from five offerings of the unit over three years (2019–2021). Using phenomenography, evidence is provided of students demonstrating critical thinking skills and dispositions at an introductory level. The cognitive skills displayed are Interpretation, Analysis, Evaluation, Making inferences, Explanation, Self-regulation, and Challenge assumptions. The dispositions displayed are Confident in own ability to reason, Inquisitive, and Open-minded about divergent world views. This study used an integrated set of interventions grounded in the scholarship of learning and teaching. It provides evidence about how to support students to demonstrate critical thinking skills while studying accounting at university.

Exploring First Semester Changes in Domain-Specific Critical Thinking

Critical thinking is a common aim for higher education students, often described as general competencies to be acquired through entire programs as well as domain-specific skills to be acquired within subjects. The aim of the study was to investigate whether statistics-specific critical thinking changed from the start of the first semester to the start of the second semester of a two-semester statistics course, where the curriculum contains learning objectives and assessment criteria related to critical thinking. The brief version of the Critical Thinking scale (CTh) from the Motivated Strategies of Learning Questionnaire addresses the core aspects of critical thinking common to three different definitions of critical thinking. Students rate item statements in relation to their statistics course using a frequency scale: 1 = never, 2 = rarely, 3 = sometimes, 4 = often, and 5 = always. Participants were two consecutive year-cohorts of full-time Bachelor of Psychology students taking a two-semester long statistics course placed in the first two semesters. Data were collected in class with a paper-pencil survey 1 month into their first semester and again 1 month into the second. The study sample consisted of 336 students (ncohort 1 = 166, ncohort 2 = 170) at baseline, the follow-up was completed by 270 students with 165 students who could be matched to their baseline response. To investigate the measurement properties of the CTh scale, item analysis by the Rasch model was conducted on baseline data and subsequently on follow-up data. Change scores at the group level were calculated as the standardized effect size (ES) (i.e., the difference between baseline and follow-up scores relative to the standard deviation of the baseline scores). Data fitted Rasch models at baseline and follow-up. The targeting of the CTh scale to the student sample was excellent at both timepoints. Absolute individual changes on the CTh ranged from −5.3 to 5.1 points, thus showing large individual changes in critical thinking. The overall standardized effect was small and negative (−0.12), with some variation in student strata defined by, gender, age, perceived adequacy of math knowledge to learn statistics, and expectation to need statistics in future employment.

Critical Thinking Process and Its Effect on Engineering

Critical thinking is the efficient and active process of synthesizing, analysing, integrating, conceptualizing, or/and evaluating knowledge produced or obtained by communication, reason, reflection, experience, or observation as a guide to action and belief. The effect of one point is determined by the reactions of others. When building arguments, highly practicing thinkers see the invalidity of their theories as a result of criticisms of others as well as possible refutations of their own. Communication, both external and internal, is a process that makes someone new while undergoing development. This technique can help to clarify the definition of critical thinking as a theoretical concept, a quantitative skill, as well as an educational objective, and therefore as a theoretical concept, a quantitative skill, and an instructional objective. We examined several perspectives and stages of critical thinking, such as observation, analysis, and communication, in this study. Critical thinking is an intellectual endeavour in which students learn to identify or construct an argument, use evidence to substantiate that argument, draw appropriate conclusions, and use knowledge to solve problems.

Critical Thinking: Two Theses from the Ground Up

This paper analyses a set of widely held beliefs concerning our understanding and teaching of critical thinking, a notion which is increasingly adopted by universities as their main educational goal. Existing scholarship on critical thinking throws up a vast heterogeneous collection of definitions of critical thinking. I propose a ‘meta-definition’ of critical thinking—or, what I call the cluster concept of critical thinking—to show that there is unity in an otherwise messy conceptual terrain. A second aim of this paper is to offer a plea for the intellectual virtues in general and that of humility in particular as a means of fostering critical thinking. This paper concludes by presenting a series of pedagogical implications for instructors in tertiary education in the business of designing modules that aim to promote critical thinking.

International consensus definition of critical thinking in midwifery practice: A Delphi study

ProblemCurrently there is no discipline-specific definition of critical thinking in midwifery practice. BackgroundCritical thinking in midwifery practice is the cornerstone for safe, evidence based, and woman centred clinical decision-making. Available definitions of critical thinking in other disciplines do not align with midwifery practice which is distinctive, multidimensional and complex. AimTo develop an international consensus definition of critical thinking in midwifery practice. MethodsA two round Delphi study was used. Thirty-two international midwifery experts contributed to the first round which was qualitative in nature. Twenty one of these experts then ranked the relevance and clarity of concepts from round one. FindingsA consensus definition of critical thinking in midwifery practice was achieved. The expert panel identified and defined 14 ‘Habits of Mind’ and 12 Skills that are the core of critical thinking in midwifery practice. Skills included; analysis, constructive application and contextualisation of best available evidence, problem solving, discriminating, predicting, evaluation of care, collect and interpret clinical cues, collaboration/ negotiation, reflexivity, facilitates shared decision-making, communication, and transforming knowledge. Habits of Mind included; intellectual curiosity, reflective, holistic view, intellectual integrity, flexibility, questioning/challenging, participatory, open mindedness, listening with understanding and empathy, cultural humility, woman centred, being brave, confidence, and creativity. Discussion/conclusionThis study is an international first and delineates characteristics of critical thinking in midwifery. Development of a consensus definition provides a common and shared understanding of the skills and attributes required for critical thinking in midwifery practice and can also be applied in education and research.

Enhancing critical thinking and media literacy in the context of IVET: a systematic scoping review

PurposeThe alignment between the labour market and initial vocational education and training (IVET) is placing always more importance on technical knowledge and skills, whilst metacognitive competences such as critical thinking and media literacy are increasingly neglected. In the context of IVET, this results in authors and practitioners paying always more attention to how to devise possible training interventions, with the double aim of implementing their educational pathways and enhancing students’ critical thinking and media literacy. This paper aims to report the state of the art concerning such processes of enhancement in IVET students.Design/methodology/approachThe study adopted the method of systematic scoping review to address the research questions on how to enhance critical thinking and media literacy in the context of IVET.FindingsThe paper presents the analyses of the n = 19 contributions collected. Then, it proposes an initial conceptualization of the dimensions of critical thinking and media literacy. Moreover, by combining evidence from various contributions, the review proposes implications for educational practices and strategies. Around these pieces of knowledge, further avenues of research and practice are proposed.Research limitations/implicationsThis study contributes to the literature on critical thinking and media literacy in the context of IVET by advancing initial comprehensive conceptualizations of the two dimensions. Moreover, the study advances initial practical implications for teachers and trainers for the development of training interventions.Originality/valueThe originality of the present review rests in its proposal of definitions of critical thinking and media literacy; moreover, it widens the discussion of practices on how to enhance such metacognitive competences. Indeed, the study identifies the teaching and training practices meant to enhance critical thinking and media literacy and proposes applied implications in the context of IVET.