Use Of Critical Thinking Research Articles

Initiative Games in Physical Education: A Practical Approach for Teaching Critical Thinking Skills—Part II

Often students have a difficult time when asked to use critical thinking skills to solve a problem. Perhaps students have a difficult time adjusting because teachers frequently tell them exactly what to do and how to do it. When asked to use critical thinking skills, students may suddenly become confused and discouraged because the teacher no longer directly leads tasks nor accepts rote memorization. Instead, teachers who foster the development of critical thinking skills challenge their students to think for themselves. By creating a learning environment that facilitates critical thinking and problem solving, children can become more familiar and comfortable with engaging in activities and problems that require higher-order thought processes. One way to foster the use of critical thinking in physical education is through initiative games. The purpose of this article is to describe a five-step process that includes identifying a problem, brainstorming possible solutions, working to solve the problem, evaluating whether the plan is working, and explaining how the problem was solved. To practice the five-step problem-solving process, four different initiative games are provided with the following information: activity name, description, rules and conditions, equipment, organizational layout of the problem, and safety considerations.

Reasoning Critical Thinking: Is It Born or Made?

There is a heated debate over whether critical thinking can be taught in the educational field for the reasons that its definition is seldom comprehensively given and universally accepted by the academia, as well as its value and impacts on the development of learners’ critical thinking skills. Focusing on the practical use of critical thinking, the main concern in this paper is whether critical thinking can be taught, particularly in an EFL classroom. The reflection on several conceptions and characteristics of critical thinking will be firstly introduced. When discussing these accounts, the reasons that why it is challenging to teach critical thinking as well as why it can be taught in previous relevant literature will be presented. Then the current situations of critical thinking skills taught in the classroom, taking a Chinese EFL classroom for an example, will be illustrated and finally the reasons why it is popular as a tool in teaching and learning will be discussed.

Reconsideration of Language Assessment is a MUST for Democratic Testing in the Educational System of Iran

Recently, there has been a change from traditional language testing approaches, with a focus on psychometric properties towards critical language testing (CLT) with its social practice nature. CLT assumes tests not as neutral devices but as instruments of power and control which are related to authorities’ policy agendas to shape individuals’ and groups’ lives. Test consequences are not restricted to washback issues concerning teaching, learning, and instructional improvement. Rather, it goes far beyond educational context by illuminating issues such as values, ethics, biases, fairness, and test takers’ rights. With respect to CLT principles, this study attempts to critically examine the current status of language testing in Iranian education system. Two prominent high-stakes tests of Sampad Entrance Exam (SEE) and Nation-wide University Entrance Exam (NUEE) were used to uncover power relations, interpretations as well as the hidden intentions and consequences of tests in the educational system of Iran. Thus, teachers, administrators, test-takers and parents were selected (15 males/17 females) based on purposive sampling to participate in the research and semi-structured interview was adopted to gather in-depth data. The oppressive nature of tests, the marginalization of powerless testing parties, the asymmetrical power relationships, and the broader detrimental consequences and impacts of tests were obtained through Strauss and Corbin’s (Basics of qualitative research: techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory, SAGE, Thousand Oaks, 1998) constant comparative method of data analysis. To counterbalance negative consequences of the high-stakes tests, they all agreed on multiple assessment sources of the construct and a dialogically-based assessment system to provide social justice and equal world while knowledge and power are shared by all testing parties. It was also suggested that the use of critical thinking and raising the stake holders’ consciousness can be used as the strategies against the test abuses, power, and its consequences.

A Systematic Approach To Teaching Critical Thinking Skills To Electrical And Computer Engineering Undergraduates

Coursework that instills patterns of rigorous logical thought has long been a hallmark of the engineering curriculum. However, today’s engineering students are expected to exhibit a wider range of thinking capabilities both to satisfy ABET requirements and to prepare the students to become successful practitioners. This paper presents the initial results from a systematic effort to incorporate broader critical thinking instruction and assessment into electrical and computer engineering education as part of a university-wide quality enhancement program. All incoming freshmen are given explicit and implicit instruction in critical thinking in ENGR 100: Introduction to Engineering and other engineering fundamentals courses, using the Paul-Elder framework of critical thinking to define and operationalize critical thinking. This critical thinking foundation is reinforced later in the disciplinary courses so that students integrate critical thinking with the basic principles and practices of engineering. In the Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) program, at the sophomore level, students use critical thinking skills which were developed during their engineering fundamentals courses, to analyze requirements and constraints which would apply in real-world design projects. At the junior level, similar use of critical thinking is applied in an introductory computing methods course; and at the senior level, critical thinking skills are again strengthened and assessed in the capstone design course and in the professional issues and current topics seminar. The latter course emphasizes understanding of professional ethics and current topics in electrical and computer engineering. Initial data from this pilot implementation indicates statistically significant improvement in critical thinking skills in ECE students who have progressed through this sequence, and as a side benefit, it appears that writing skills also improve.

Association Between Dental Student‐Developed Exam Questions and Learning at Higher Cognitive Levels

New dental accreditation standards emphasize that graduates must be competent in the use of critical thinking (a high cognitive-level skill). Despite this new standard, most written assessments in dental school courses are still based on low cognitive-level questions. The aim of this study was to determine if an exercise that allows students to collaboratively write exam questions would help cultivate higher cognitive levels of learning. To evaluate this exercise at one U.S. dental school, the cognitive level (according to Bloom's taxonomy) of multiple-choice exam questions and students' scores across two cohorts in a cariology course were compared. This evaluation took place using a control group in which questions were instructor-generated and an intervention group in which students worked in groups to develop questions. All students in one first-year class participated in the intervention group (n=104); all students in the first-year class two years earlier served as the control group (n=106). Among students in the intervention group, the response rate to a post-intervention survey measuring students' attitudes about the experience was 70% (N=73). The results showed that the students generating their own assessments developed higher cognitive-level exam questions than the instructor-generated assessments. The intervention group (with student-generated assessments) also performed as well or better on tests compared to the control group (with instructor-generated assessments). In the intervention group survey, the vast majority of students agreed that the exercise was helpful for their overall learning experience, but working in teams was said to be the least valuable component of the activity for their learning. This study suggests that student-driven, collaborative assessments can be an important tool for building critical thinking skills in dental classrooms and that it may be worthwhile to expand this type of exercise into other courses.

The Use of Critical Thinking in Teaching Geometric Concepts in Primary School

The article presents the modalities of using critical thinking in the process of forming geometric concepts at the young pupil.In the first part, the stress is laid on the presentation of the general aspects of critical thinking, as a complex process of assimilating knowledge, of acquiring various operations and mental processes of argumentation and of completing some appropriate types of behavior. The second part of the article highlights the modalities in which the teacher uses critical thinking in teaching geometric concepts, namely how it can stress those essential and specific features. In the end, there is a presentation of some conclusions regarding the importance of using the modalities of critical thinking in teaching geometric concepts in primary school.

Commentary: Promoting healthy adolescent development through comprehensive sexuality education

The ICPD Programme of Action and many intergovernmental agreements since have agreed that all adolescents, in and out of school, have a right to and must have access to comprehensive sexuality education (CSE). This CSE must include not only human biology and HIV, but must also address puberty, sexuality, where and how to access sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services, including referral when needed, and skills development for relationships based on gender equality, respect for human rights and for diversity, and the use of critical thinking (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization [UNESCO], 2009). Promising interventions exist in a number of countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, across Latin America, in Pakistan and in some states of India. These programmes are provided to both boys and girls, either separately or together, recognising that fundamental improvements in the lives of girls and young women require changes in the attitudes and behaviours of boys and men that perpetuate gender inequality and power imbalances. Although ‘gold standard’ evaluations of the impacts of such programmes are few, a number of qualitative studies, including the examples below, suggest that interventions delivered according to the UNESCO standards increase awareness and change attitudes on gender equality and power structures, at least in the short run. Regardless of the paucity of impact assessments, every child and adolescent from the earliest possible age has a right to information and education (Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, 1990) about these key aspects of their lives. Examples of promising programmes include: School-based sexuality education programmes for boys and girls in three cities in Brazil, which, in addition to the sexuality and health education curriculum, are strongly linked to health centres and specially trained health care providers, as well as outlets for creative and cultural activities. These programmes have shown improvements in awareness of SRH, attitudes towards gender roles and citizenship, as well as increases in reported contraceptive use (Diaz et al., 2005). The ‘Family Life and HIV Education’ curriculum delivered to girls and boys in junior secondary high schools in Lagos State, Nigeria, includes information on human sexual development and sexual health, skills for negotiating personal and intimate relationships, and promotion of gender equitable attitudes, although some locally contentious topics such as condoms and masturbation are not included. Compared to those with no exposure, adolescents who underwent the programme for three years showed greater awareness of SRH, expression of gender equitable attitudes, confidence about saying no to pressures to have sex, and among boys, a commitment not to pressure girls to engage in sex (Action Health Incorporated, 2010). The Girl Power Initiative in four sites in southeast Nigeria has invested in girls ages 10–18, aiming to build their sense of confidence and self-esteem, agency and negotiating skills in relationships with friends, parents and others, and their knowledge about SRH and rights (Madunagu, 2003). Girls who complete the programme report new and increased ability to relate to parents, teachers and peers, and to avoid risky situations. Many have completed secondary school and avoided harmful practices such as child marriage and female genital mutilation. Programme H, in several Latin America and Caribbean settings with adaptations in India and elsewhere, have indicated that peer group work on self-care, and on prevention of STIs as well as pregnancy, helps adolescent boys to adopt gender equitable norms and to reduce risk behaviours and perpetration of violence against women (Barker, Ricardo, & Nascimento, 2007; Verma et al., 2008). Such programmes can also be cost-effective platforms for information and skills building in order to prevent non-communicable disease risk factors (such as tobacco and other substance use, being overweight and experiencing a lack of physical exercise); to encourage avoidance of other risky behaviours; and to refer young people to health care, including SRH services and mental health support.

Does self-reflection and peer-assessment improve Saudi pharmacy students’ academic performance and metacognitive skills?

Background: The patient-centered focus of clinical pharmacy practice which demands nuanced application of specialized knowledge and skills targeted to meeting patient-specific therapeutic needs warrant that the training strategy used for PharmD graduates must empower with the ability to use the higher level cognitive processes and critical thinking effectively in service delivery. However, the historical disposition to learning in the Middle East and among Saudi students appeared heavily focused on rote memorization and recall of memorized facts. Objectives: To assess the impact of active pedagogic strategies such as self-reflection and peer assessment on pharmacy students’ academic performance and metacognitive skills, and evaluate students’ feedback on the impact of these active pedagogic strategies on their overall learning experience. Method: An exploratory prospective cohort study was conducted among 4th year students at the College of Clinical Pharmacy, King Faisal University, Saudi Arabia to assess the impact of self-reflection and peer-assessment in a semester-wide assessment tasks in two compulsory first semester 4th year courses (Therapeutics-3 and Pharmacoeconomics). An end-of-course evaluation survey with a pre-tested 5-item open-ended questionnaire was also conducted to evaluate students’ feedback on the impact of active pedagogic strategies on their overall learning experience. Result: Male students (study group) constituted 40.7% of the cohort while 59.3% were females (control group) with mean±SD age of 23.2±5.6 and 22.1±4.9years respectively. The mean±SD scores for quizzes, mid-term and final exams, and the overall percentage pass were significantly higher in the study group for both courses (P<0.001). The majority of the students in the study group opined that the exposure to active pedagogic strategies enabled them to improve their use of critical thinking, facilitated deeper engagement with their learning and improved their clinical decision-making and discussion skills. Conclusion: The use of active pedagogic strategies such as self-reflection and peer-assessment appeared to significantly improve examination performance, facilitate deep and constructive engagement with learning and fostered students’ confidence in the use of critical thinking and clinical decision-making.

Student motivations as predictors of high-level cognitions in project-based classrooms

It is well established that active learning helps students engage in high-level thinking strategies and develop improved cognitive skills. Motivation and self-regulated learning research, however, illustrates that cognitive engagement is an effortful process that is related to students’ valuing of the learning tasks, adoption of internalized goal orientations, and development of personal agency. In this study, we test these relationships by generating multiple regression models that use motivational variables to predict college students’ use of elaboration and critical thinking in project-based courses. We find that elaboration strategies are significantly and positively predicted in regression models based on task value and intrinsic goal orientation or on task value and self-efficacy. Regression analyses illustrate that models based on task value and intrinsic goal orientation, in combination with either self-efficacy or extrinsic goal orientation, described students’ use of critical thinking strategies. These findings support prior research that shows that student motivations are significantly tied to their use of cognitive strategies. The findings extend the existing research base by illustrating the extent to which student motivations may be used to predict cognitive engagement in active, project-based environments.

Teaching CSD Graduate Students to Think Critically, Apply Evidence, and Write Professionally

The purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness of teaching modules designed to enhance the use of critical thinking (CT), evidence-based practice (EBP), and professional writing (PW) skills by graduate students in communication sciences and disorders. Three single-session teaching modules were developed to highlight key features of CT, EBP, and PW. Participants were presented with one module per week during the first month of their 2-year graduate program. Each participant’s performance was assessed four times by analyzing his or her written responses to clinical scenarios during the first fall semester and the last spring semester of the program. Results demonstrated that the EBP teaching module was effective in improving the participants’ application of EBP principles. The CT and PW teaching modules were not as effective, suggesting that instruction in these areas requires more than a single-session teaching module.

Digital Storytelling Revisited

AbstractDigital storytelling has emerged as an innovative practice that allows students deeper engagement with content while encouraging the use of critical thinking and technological skills needed to navigate the ever changing digital terrain of the 21st century. The integration of traditional and new literacy practices is evident throughout the process of creating a digital story. Students use and enhance their reading and writing skills during the creation of a story that ultimately plays out as a digital movie. Within this article, the authors describe how a traditionally trained fifth grade teacher moved beyond her initial avoidance of technology and reframed literacy instruction in her classroom to incorporate digital storytelling. The article provides an illustration of how traditional literacy practices can be merged with new literacy practices to enhance teaching and learning.

To what extent do culture-related factors influence university students’ critical thinking use?

This study sought to elucidate some aspects of the relationship between culture and critical thinking by examining whether a number of culture-related factors might relate to university students’ reported use of critical thinking. The participants were 363 undergraduate university students from Kyoto and Okinawa in Japan, and Auckland in New Zealand. They completed a questionnaire that assessed critical thinking use and the following factors: study self-efficacy, regulatory mode (assessment/locomotion), and self-construal (independence/interdependence). Critical thinking use was found to correlate with study self-efficacy, locomotion, assessment, and independent self-construal. The Auckland students scored higher than both Japanese student groups in those factors, except for assessment (in which the groups did not differ). In contrast, the Okinawa students scored higher than the other two groups in interdependent self-construal. No differences were found between the groups on reported critical thinking use. A model, which produced an acceptable fit to the data, is proposed in which self-construal influences regulatory mode and study self-efficacy, and these in turn influence critical thinking. Together, these findings suggest that culture-related factors (self-construal, regulatory mode, self-efficacy) do influence students’ critical thinking use, but that differences in those factors need not necessarily equate to locational group differences in critical thinking use.

Critical Thinking WOCNCB APN Examination

This feature from the WOCNCB is linked to supplemental digital content (Supplemental Digital content 1, http://links.lww.com/JWOCN/A21) discussing the use of critical thinking when taking a WOCNCB examination.

Epistemic climate and epistemic change: Instruction designed to change students' beliefs and learning strategies and improve achievement.

The purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness of an intervention designed to foster epistemic change over the course of 1 semester. The intervention was based on constructivist teaching practices that incorporated teacher modeling of critical thinking of content, evaluation of multiple approaches to solving problems, and making connections to prior knowledge. Sixty-three students across 2 classrooms (one intervention [n = 31], one control [n = 32]) participated and completed questionnaires 5 times over the semester. Questionnaires measured students' epistemic beliefs, learning strategies, and levels of motivation for their statistics class. Results revealed that for students in the intervention class, their epistemic beliefs shifted midway through the semester, whereas students in the control group maintained a consistent level of beliefs throughout the semester. Intervention students' self-reported use of critical thinking and elaboration strategies also significantly increased midway through the semester, as did their levels of self-efficacy for learning statistics. In contrast, students in the control group maintained a consistent level of strategy use and self-efficacy. Finally, students in the intervention group had a significantly higher final grade compared with those in the control group.

Working Inside the Box

One perspective of cognitive rigor is the extent to which classroom instruction demands students to use critical thinking skills. As schools attempt to increase academic outcomes, one area of interest is the potential for engaging students in learning by increasing the use of critical thinking. The present study analyses the effect of critical thinking on student engagement in ninth-grade students.

Critical Thinking

Nursing acknowledges critical thinking as an important guide to clinical decision making. Agreement on how to define, teach, and evaluate this skill is lacking. The purpose of this study was to evaluate critical thinking in practice using a survey that asked nurses to evaluate work-related factors that enhance or pose barriers to the use of critical thinking in practice. Results indicated that enhancers and barriers to practice included teamwork, staffing patterns, and staff and administrator support. A relationship with patients was the most satisfying factor, whereas paperwork was the least. Staff development educators must consider the work environment aspects that affect performance and create the life long learning needed for increased competency in practice.

Yoga in the Public Schools: Diversity, Democracy and the Use of Critical Thinking in Educational Debates

Teachers in the United States are using the practices of yoga as pedagogical tools to improve education and physical fitness. While not representative of all Christians, some Christian Americans view the inclusion of yoga as a violation of the separation of church and state; educators who value yoga in the schools often dismiss parent concerns rather than use them as a spring board to discuss multiple points of view. The author argues that a deeper understanding of the conflict regarding yoga's inclusion in K-12 public schools shines light on diversity, democracy and the use of critical thinking in educational debates.

Use of Critical Thinking in the Diagnostic Process

To demonstrate use of critical thinking in the diagnostic process in order to achieve accuracy of nursing diagnoses. The 7 cognitive skills and 10 habits of mind identified as important for nursing in a Delphi study by Scheffer and Rubenfeld are applied to the diagnostic process using a published case study of a woman with heart failure. Taking into account all data from the case study and using the concepts of critical thinking, two high-accuracy nursing diagnoses were selected to guide nursing interventions. Because the specific types of critical thinking needed for accurate diagnosing are not known, nurses should develop all 17 of the cognitive skills and habits of mind so these thinking abilities are available when needed. The 17 critical thinking concepts should be combined with domain knowledge, e.g., nursing diagnoses, to think about thinking, which will improve critical thinking processes.

The Critical Thinking Movement in Kazakhstan: A Progress Report

Having gained independence in 1991, Kazakhstan is making major adjustments in its educational system to meet the demands of its changing workplace. To that end, the Ministry of Education has mandated that critical thinking be incorporated into all levels. Given the importance of this goal, the authors surveyed teachers' understanding and use of critical thinking in their classrooms. This article reports the survey results, which provide a brief overview of the status of the teaching and learning of critical thinking in Kazakhstan today. The results point to a growing understanding of critical thinking among Kazakhstani teachers in this region. That said, 10 per cent of respondents plagiarized their surveys, suggesting that many feared looking incompetent, despite assurances of anonymity. The authors recommend the survey be conducted in other regions in Kazakhstan and the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) to assess the status of critical thinking.

A Descriptive Inquiry of the Definitions of Critical Thinking and Enhancers and Barriers Reported by Nurses Working in Long-Term Care Facilities

Critical thinking has been an outcome of nursing education since the 1980s. There remains a lack of agreement on definitions, methods of teaching, and methods of evaluation among practicing nurses. This study asked practicing nurses to define critical thinking. It also asked nurses to describe what work-related factors enhanced or posed barriers to the use of critical thinking in practice. Elements of the definitions presented were found to be consistent with current nursing definitions of critical thinking. Enhancers and barriers overlapped and were found to be consistent among the nurses at all facilities studied, with implications for continuing education and staff development.