Concept Of Critical Thinking Research Articles

What does critical thinking mean? Examination of pre-service teachers’ cognitive structures and definitions for critical thinking

This study aims to determine pre-service teachers’ cognitive structures and conceptual definitions for the concept of critical thinking, thereby revealing their perceptions about it. Document analysis, one of the qualitative research approaches, was employed in the study. The study group consists of 161 pre-service teachers from different departmental programs of a state university in Turkey (primary school teaching, mathematics education, science education, Turkish education, social sciences education and psychological counseling and guidance education) enrolled in the ‘Critical and Analytical Thinking’ elective course in the fall and spring semesters of the 2021–2022 academic year. A form consisting of open-ended questions prepared by the researchers was used as a data collection tool. The first part of the form consists of a word association test used to reveal pre-service teachers’ cognitive structures about critical thinking and the relations between the concepts in this structure while the second part involves an open-ended question in response to which they can write their original definitions for critical thinking. Content analysis method was used to analyze the data obtained from the form. The analysis showed that the pre-service teachers had rich cognitive structures for the definition and content of critical thinking, that they preferred to describe the concept of critical thinking as skill-based in their definitions and did not include critical thinking dispositions in their definitions as much as skills, although they emphasized many critical thinking dispositions in the word association test, that their definitions were consistent with the definitions in the literature, and that their perceptions of critical thinking were relevant to the nature of critical thinking.

Analyzing the Impact of Socio-Cultural Status on Critical Thinking among University Students

Imparting the skills of the 21st century in students is the most important task of all academicians. Critical thinking is an integral skill that plays a major role in students' skill development. (Alessandra, et al. 2020). This study aims to predict the Impact of Sociocultural Status on Critical Thinking among University Students in Karachi. Literature reported that the concept of Critical thinking was never addressed from the perspective of socio-culture (Maulana & Putra, 2022) at the tertiary level in progressing countries like Pakistan. This study will be carried on by employing Mix Methodology (Quantitative and Qualitative) paradigm. Sampling was drawn through a purposive Sampling technique Based on 20 students 10 students each from Either institution. The number of respondents for the quantitative paradigm of the study was 80 to collect data. A set of Activities and tasks were designed for measuring the Critical Thinking of Students. Findings suggested a significant difference in CT ability between the Public and private sector students. The study suggests more research on Curriculum mapping.

Modern technology for developing critical thinking skills in future teachers

This article highlights the meaning and essence of the concept of critical thinking, and gives examples of the pedagogical and psychological views of representatives and researchers of the world education field on critical thinking. It is shown the specific advantages of thinking critically, and useful aspects of developing critical thinking in students, including future teachers. This article also describes organizing the educational process in higher education on the basis of “Blended –learning” technology and using one of its models “Flipped classroom” as well as its aspects in improving the quality and effectiveness of education.

A systematic review of critical thinking instructional pedagogies in EFL writing: What do we know from a decade of research

This article critically reviews 23 empirical studies on how to teach critical thinking (CT) in English as a foreign language (EFL) writing class from 2013 to 2022. Through a systematic process of a micro and macro view, two main parts are identified respectively, namely, 1) main elements that need to be considered for CT-integrated research (macro settings), e.g., CT-related models, teaching implementations and assessments, and 2) main features of CT instructional implementation in EFL writing (micro settings), e.g., types of CT instruction, the nature of CT cultivation and the way teachers provided instruction. Besides, a piece of methodological information is also summarized. To gain insights into how to integrate CT in writing, six predominant techniques that engaged during the process are also concluded: a. explicit CT concepts teaching, b. creating a social learning environment, c. appropriate scaffolding materials, d. questioning techniques, e. teacher or peer feedback, and f. online technological techniques. This review sheds light on the gap between pedagogical rhetoric and classroom practices due to the lack of CT attention in current language education. It also provides implications for future research for conducting CT-integrated pedagogies in EFL writing.

Utilization of a Learning Management System to Develop Critical Thinking Skills

The concept of a Learning Management System (LMS) is a dynamic concept of critical thinking. This research aims to explain using LMS to develop critical thinking skills. This type of research is qualitative with a literature review. The data sources used secondary data from journals, books, and references. Data collection techniques were carried out with documentation, while data analysis was through content analysis. Learning Management System (LMS) can improve students’ critical thinking skills because it will familiarize students with problem-solving and/or learning from problems, as well as the educators in developing thinking skills. It was concluded that the Learning Management System (LMS) based discussion method could improve undergraduate students' critical thinking skills.

Adapting or adopting? Critical thinking education in the East Asian cultural sphere: A systematic integrative review

Confucian culture influences the teaching effect of critical thinking (CT). Although education systems have taken measures to revise curricula and instruction, the lack of CT among students in some countries belonging to the East Asian cultural sphere is widely criticized, and it is generally believed that their education systems fail to develop CT skills in their students. Given these challenges, this study aims to analyze how the concept, assessment and instruction of CT has been included in education in these countries using an integrative systematic review. Based on a series of inclusion criteria, 62 articles were included, and their quantitative and qualitative characteristics were analyzed. Although cultural influence has been emphasized, researchers and educators generally adopt Western definitions of the concepts of CT without questioning their transferability. With regard to assessment, researchers rarely develop local instruments, and it is more common to adopt authoritative tools developed in Western countries without adaptation and without examining their reliability and validity. With regard to instruction, researchers rarely adapt teaching strategies based on local conditions, although culture and language affect teaching efficacy. The review provides a critical analysis of the contextualization of CT in the literature and outlines new directions for interested researchers and educators in the field of CT teaching.

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.

The effects of implicit CT training on EFL learners’ L2 writing performance

This paper investigates the influence of critical thinking (CT) training on the development of second language (L2) writing skill of EFL learners. For the study, the researchers employed an infusion approach to CT training with an effort to teach CT implicitly and compared its influence with a no-CT training condition. Though explicit CT instructions have been investigated by previous studies, no study has employed an implicit approach to CT in L2 writing through one-to-one feedback sessions. The participants were B1+ EFL learners (n=12) enrolled in the preparatory program of an EMI state university in Türkiye. The results indicated no significant difference in the CT integration into L2 writing performance of the participants in the experimental group. Yet, the interviews conducted with the experimental group participants indicated a higher awareness of the concept of CT in L2 writing for these participants in comparison to their peers from the control group. Thus, this paper suggests that though CT treatment given to EFL learners yield positive results in rising EFL learners’ awareness of CT concept in L2 writing, longer-term instructional methods that give explicit training on CT are needed for helping learners to internalize and apply CT in their L2 writing.

Undergraduate Students’ Conceptualization of Critical Thinking and Their Ideas for Critical Thinking Acquisition

Higher education institutions are responsible for preparing and equipping undergraduate students with the skills required by the labor market, such as critical thinking. However, academics should consider students’ pre-existing ideas before designing and implementing an instructional intervention regarding critical thinking. Drawing on the literature for conceptual change, the current study aimed to map students’ conceptualization of critical thinking and their ideas regarding the acquisition of critical thinking. In total, 243 first-year social sciences students participated in the study. To explore students’ ideas, the authors constructed an instrument with 20 scientific and non-scientific statements about critical thinking. The instrument was a two-tier questionnaire, and participants indicated their level of agreement with each statement using a 5-point Likert scale as well as their confidence in their answers. Students’ ideas were categorized into six groups depending on their endorsements for the statement and their level of confidence in their decision. Results revealed that students had insufficient conceptualization of critical thinking, and their ideas regarding how critical thinking might be acquired were not consistently aligned with those of academics. Implications for instruction are discussed considering students’ ideas on critical thinking.

From critical thinking to criticality and back again

ABSTRACTThis paper assesses the prospects of combining the distinctive strengths of the two major educational research programs of critical thinking and critical pedagogy—or, described more accurately, overcoming their shared limitations—in a new and superior educational objective called criticality. Several recent proposals explore the possibilities of engaging in bridge-building between these camps. The plan is that the distinctive strengths of these paradigms—the logical and epistemological precision of critical thinking together with the socio-political consciousness of critical pedagogy—could complement each other, while the associated adjustments to the overall picture could also help us to address their shared shortcomings. This gives us a new and more grounded educational goal of criticality, as suggested and developed independently by a growing number of thinkers. This article joins the ongoing conversation but provides a more counterreactionary tone by striving to vindicate the traditional mainstream conception of critical thinking. I maintain that despite their admirable ambitions, the various expressions of criticality do not succeed in combining the best parts of critical thinking and critical pedagogy, since on a deep metatheoretical level these two paradigms have irreconcilable core principles. First, I argue that the depiction of the failures of critical thinking used to motivate criticality is to a large degree a straw man: in actuality, the existing conceptualization of critical thinking can already do the desired extra socio-political educational work, so there really is no pressing need for the suggested augmentations. Second, the traditional worries of indoctrination, which have followed critical pedagogy since the inception of this educational movement, still remain unresolved within criticality. The only way to address this concern successfully is to lean on critical thinking as the core of our educational theory, bringing us right back to where we started.

Utilizing strategies the Critical Think-ing to Face the Contemporary Intellectual Misconceptions

The current research Utilizing strategies the Critical Thinking to Face the Contemporary Intellectual Misconceptions aims to apply, aims to use some critical thinking strategies to face the contemporary intellectual misconceptions by following the most prominent critical thinking strategies that can be used in confronting through the inductive approach. Moreover, the analytic approach shall be used to scrutinize the misconception and construe for refuting it. This research contains an introduction, a preface, two chapters, and a conclusion. The preface explores the concepts of critical thinking and contemporary intellectual misconceptions., thus the first section discusses O'Reilly's Strategy (defining the proof and its assessment) to face the contemporary intellectual misconceptions. The second section focuses on Smith's strategy (Evaluating the authenticity of information sources) to face contemporary intellectual misconceptions. The results of the research emphasize the importance of critical thinking to avoid being affected by contemporary intellectual misconceptions. Moreover, it assures rejecting any claim without evidence, and if evidence is found, it must be analyzed and examined to ensure the validity and reliability of the source of the information. The results also, assert the importance of having a critical mindset to avoid any impact by contemporary intellectual misconceptions. The research recommends the importance of practicing critical thinking skills for children to have the faculty of critical that protects them from deviation when they face misguided ideas. It is also recommended to increase critical thinking courses and pay attention to practice in the real life. Furthermore, joining theoretical and practical aspects of critical thinking is urgently needed by applying its strategies to the distorted news and ideas which are prevalent in society, especially via social networks.

The Impact of the Critical Thinking on Cognitive Building


 
 
 
 ABSTRACT
 
 The study aims to identify the impact of the critical thinking on human cognitive construction, highlight the concept of critical thinking, clarify its characteristics, interpret knowledge theories of critical thinking, identify the dimensions of critical thinking in cognitive construction, and identify critical thinking skills that must be available to learners, the importance of the research stems from its importance to highlight the critical thinking in cognitive development, achieving the desired renaissance of societies, and the ability of critical thinking to free students' thought from dependence on the ideas of others.
 This study relied on the descriptive approach and the analytical approach. Some of the important results were reached, including that critical thinking helps to reach the truth in a scientific way, and that critical thinking has two dimensions: the cognitive dimension and the emotional dimension, and that there are cognitive skills for critical thinking, such as: interpretation. The study showed that the critical thinker has major personal dimensions, including: understanding the rules of logic, and the ability to interpret. The study stated some recommendations, including: the necessity of teaching critical thinking and its importance in schools and universities, and preparing training courses for teachers and learners to qualify them to use critical thinking in the educational process.
 
 
 

Развитие критического мышления студентов технического вуза при изучении языковых дисциплин

The article is devoted to the actual problem of the development of critical thinking of students of a technical university in the study of the disciplines “Russian language and business communications”, “Russian language and ethics of business communication”. Critical thinking is considered as a component of the professional competence of an engineer and an indicator of the development of creative engineering thinking; it is emphasized that it is at the stage of transition to a special format of education at the university in the junior years that the disciplines of the language cycle have unique opportunities for systematizing and streamlining the thinking process. The article analyzes approaches to the concept of critical thinking in Russian and foreign psychological and pedagogical literature, gives its generalized definition, and, based on monitoring the activities of the teacher and students, generalizes the features of the organization and possibilities of classes that contribute to the development of critical thinking. It is emphasized that the process of critical reflection is based on the ability to handle information: perceive, systematize, highlight the main thing, reproduce taking into account rethinking; At the same time, such quality as independence in working with information acquires special importance. The qualities that contribute to the formation of critical thinking are also determined: self-confidence, tolerance for other people's opinions, the ability to work in a team. The article emphasizes the need to organize learning as a two-way process, the efforts of both sides of the educational process, the presence of a challenge from the teacher in each lesson, its acceptance by students and joint reflection.

Conspiracy Theory Belief and Education: A Critical Social Analysis

Research on conspiracy theories has revealed a significant association between conspiratorial thinking and education. The relationship is complex, however, and has so far been limited primarily to investigations of personal psychological attributes. This paper argues, instead, in favour of a broader social research perspective, specifically, one informed by a dialectical materialist philosophy. A secondary analysis of publicly available international data sourced from economic institutions and other organisations on conspiratorial belief, educational performance measures, unemployment, inequality and corruption perception was carried out. Conspiratorial belief was taken as a collective public epistemological phenomenon across countries, to explore the role of contemporary education systems across societies, and the degree to which they are successfully nurturing an effective form of critical thinking. A dialectical materialist philosophical approach was instrumental in formulating the study scope and interpreting the findings, given the use of countries as the fundamental unit of analysis. Multiple regression analysis was used to examine the relationship between belief in conspiracy theories and education, taking into account social context using unemployment, inequality, and corruption as control variables. The findings showed that the relationship between conspiratorial thinking and education held at the societal level, and was mediated by additional social factors. The paper goes on to argue, by virtue of the nature of the mediators, that education systems generally tend to fall short of effective and socially-engaged forms of critical pedagogy.

Profil Pembelajaran Biologi Di SMA Kabupaten Jeneponto

This study aims to find out the Biology learning profiles of SMA Kab. Jeneponto. This research is a qualitative research with a survey method. Data collection was carried out using a questionnaire instrument. Respondents in this study were high school biology teachers in Kab. Jeneponto. Data were analyzed descriptive . The results of the study showed that in the implementation of learning, Biology teachers at SMA Kab. Jeneponto always prepares learning plans consisting of teaching materials (83.33%), syllabus (75%), lesson plans (95.83%), learning media (62.5%), worksheets (45.83%), evaluation sheets students (70.83%), and student observation sheets (50%). Regarding critical thinking skills, 79.16% of biology teachers are familiar with the concept of critical thinking, 75% of teachers practice critical thinking skills in learning, and 45.83 use learning models in empowering critical thinking skills. In general, high school biology teachers in Kab. Jeneponto develops learning tools and empowers students' critical thinking skills in learning.

A teachers’ based approach to assessing the perception of critical thinking in Education university students based on their age and gender

In the 21st century, critical thinking (CT) is regularly presented as one of the most important competences to be developed by a majority of educational institutions. Teachers are expected to change and enrich their teaching and learning methodologies so that students could face future challenges. Nonetheless, few are the instruments that measure the perception of critical thinking based on teachers’ conception. The aim of this study is to design and validate an instrument for the assessment of CT in university students based on the conception of CT that university teachers have. For this study, a total of 312 Spanish university students have participated. Based on a good model fit from a Confirmatory Factor Analysis and good reliability indices, the results provide strength to the theoretical model to evaluate critical thinking in university students formed by six dimensions (Analyzing/Organizing; Reasoning/Argumenting; Questioning/Asking oneself; Evaluating; Positioning /Taking decisions, and Acting /Committing oneself) and 42 items. Similarly, age was not a predictor variable for the different dimensions; while gender was statistically in favor of women in some of the dimensions, and tendentially, the dimension of Positioning/Taking decisions, in favor of men. However, despite these differences, the model guaranteed its factorial invariance. These findings have important pedagogical implications for universities in particular, and educational institutions in general, when developing curricula and teaching plans that focus on the development of students’ critical thinking.

Canadian and Iranian Graduate Students' Conceptions of Critical Thinking: A Comparative Study

This study compares Canadian and Iranian international students’ conceptions of critical thinking during their graduate studies in Canada. Critical thinking is an essential skill in Canadian higher education. It enables students to make reasoned judgments from their observations and experimentation. This narrative inquiry using open-ended interviews describes the narratives of eight students from different master’s programs at a university in western Canada to examine their experiences and notions of critical thinking. The preliminary findings reveal that while all Canadian participants had knowledgeable perspectives about critical thinking, Iranian participants required more knowledge to build their critical thinking conceptualizations. Moreover, content knowledge, instructors’ competence, and teaching methods significantly influenced students’ critical thinking development. Results offer a comprehensive understanding of how Canadian higher institutions and curriculum developers need to provide appropriate opportunities and curricula for cultivating and developing critical thinking among local students while paying attention to Iranian students’ needs and academic preparedness.

Psychotherapy: A kind of clinical philosophy?

I will speak up for philosophy as a deep, questioning attitude and a form of critical thinking. I will argue that the development of this kind of attitude is not only necessary to the therapeutic endeavour, it is identical to it. The work of developing this attitude requires courage not only from the ones-who-come-for-help, but also the ones-who-try-to-help. Amongst other things, I will contest the idea of psychotherapy as ‘treatment’ that seeks to ‘cure’ ‘mental illnesses’. I will say something about how this way of thinking tries to inform the ethos of the group analytic programme in Bengaluru, India. I will draw on my understanding of ‘Eastern’ philosophies, and contrast them with my evolving philosophy of psychotherapy. In this task I will call on a range of philosophers from Wittgenstein to Hume, Mead, Gaita, Keats, Weil, and de Beauvoir.

Critical thinking conceptualization in K-12: A case study of middle school teachers

Research shows that teachers' conceptualization of critical thinking (CT) affects their classroom practices for incorporating CT instructional methods for young school children. However, there is limited evidence with respect to K-12 in-service teachers' beliefs about CT. This study investigates the conceptualization of CT among middle school teachers (n = 77) in the United States. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected. Based on Principal Component Analysis, we find three dimensions of CT conceptualization from the teachers’ responses: cognitive, affective, and knowledge dimensions. Further details of the findings are discussed, and suggestions for developing CT in K-12 education and future research directions are provided.

Nurturing Critical Thinking from Pre-School: Lessons for Early Years Educators

Education across the globe is under increasing pressure to prepare learners who are ready to address numerous problems and challenges facing humanity in the 21st century and beyond. One of the notable factors that has been advanced is the lack of adequate and competent teachers able to nurture critical thinking and innovation skills. This paper explores the importance of critical thinking and strategies to develop them from early years. The study discusses the role of constructivism as a theory advocating active participation of learners and assuring that learning is significant. This presentation addresses many possible features and forms of critical thinking and the pedagogies that support learners in acquiring new competencies and skills to tackle 21st century challenges. The study concludes that if the world is determined to meet 2030 goals, early years educators should ensure adequate caregiving, and schools are expected to offer adequate methodologies for the development of skills of creative thinking as early as possible. Keywords: Critical Thinking, Creativity, Constructivism, Early Years Learning. Aims Research Journal Reference Format: Awopetu, A. (2022) Nurturing Critical Thinking From Pre-School: Lessons For Early Years Educators. Advances in Multidisciplinary and Scientific Research Journal Vol. 8. No. 4. Pp 24-34. www.isteams.net/aimsjournal. dx.doi.org/10.22624/AIMS/V8N4P4x