Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal Research Articles

Education challenges in developing digital competence and critical thinking skills in a post-information age / Desafíos educativos en el desarrollo de la competencia digital y el pensamiento crítico en la era de la posinformación

Today’s post-information world dictates the necessity of investigating the limits and objectives of compulsory teacher education. This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of digital competency formation in teachers with different pedagogical experience through critical thinking skill assessment. The investigation relied on the TRACK-21 self-assessment tool and Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal (W-GCTA). The tests were administered to fifth-year pedagogy students and teachers with various years of experience (five, 10 and 15 years). The survey was conducted in three higher education institutions in the People’s Republic of China: Sichuan University of Arts and Sciences (Dazhou, China), Sichuan University (SCU), and Chengdu University of Technology. Time frame: September 2021. The study group included 103 students and 302 faculty members (401 people). The analysis of respondents’ techno-pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK-21) showed the strong leading position of fifth-year students (Group A) in digital competence distribution among all the respondents. Teachers with 15 years of professional experience (Group D) generally demonstrated lower digital competence. This study can be useful for specialists and managers of higher pedagogical institutions, graduate students, teachers and centres of professional development. The paper describes the distribution of critical thinking skills between teachers with different years of experience by assessing their digital skills.

Assessment of Critical Thinking Ability in Science Learning Using Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal (WGCTA)

Students must have critical thinking skills in order to be able to face various personal and social problems in their lives. Critical thinking ability is the ability to think reflectively and reason in making decisions. This research is a qualitative descriptive study with the aim of designing an assessment of critical thinking skills in accordance with the concept of the critical thinking test model developed by Watson and Glaser with the title Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal (WGCTA). In this article there are 5 indicators discussed in science learning, namely indicators: Drawing Conclusions (Inference), Assumptions (Recognizing Assumptions), Deduction (Deduction), Interpreting Information (Interpretation), Analyzing Arguments (Evaluation Argument).

Measuring Critical Thinking Ability of Respiratory Therapists Working in Critical Areas in King Abdullah Specialized Children’s Hospital, King Abdulaziz City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia

Aim: The aim of this study was to assess the critical thinking ability of respiratory therapists working in critical care areas from King Abdullah Specialized Children Hospital (KASCH), Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
 Methods: The study's design was cross-sectional. Prior to the start of the research, the protocol was reviewed and given the approval by King Abdullah International Medical Research Center in Saudi Arabia. The study was conducted in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, at the King Abdullah Specialized Children's Hospital (KASCH). The research included all the 45 respiratory therapy ICU staff members. The critical thinking skills of the respiratory therapy staff were evaluated using the Watson Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal (WGCTA) short form. The evaluation consisted of a total of 40 questions broken down into five distinct categories: assumptions, arguments, deductions, inferences, and information interpretation. Excel was used to enter the acquired data before it was exported to the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) (version 22).
 Results: The results showed that most RTs (77.42%) were male and (22.58%) were female. Regarding educational level, it shows that (87.09%) had bachelor's degree. Additionally, it shows that majority (58.06%) had 3-6 years of experience. Nearly two thirds (64.52%) of RTs aged between 26 to 30 years. The critical thinking skills level among respiratory therapists in the screened hospital was average.
 Conclusion: This study revealed no correlation between respiratory therapists' critical thinking abilities and age, gender, experience, or education.
 Recommendations: ICU respiratory therapists should continuously improve their critical thinking skills. This research will help managers and supervisors understand respiratory therapists' critical thinking and build programs to improve staff skills and prepare them to manage ICU situations. The study also recommends conducting further studies to accurately measure the staff's critical thinking skills. These recommendations aim to foster a culture of critical thinking and contribute to informed decision-making within the organization.

Assessing ChatGPT’s Educational Capabilities and Application Potential

Purpose ChatGPT is a generative artificial intelligence (AI) technology that can solve multiple complex tasks. ChatGPT-4 can facilitate educational empowerment in China through technology to understand and generate Chinese text. Although ChatGPT's benefits have been widely discussed, its educational capabilities have not been systematically assessed. This study provides evidence of and insights into the educational applications of AI tools in China. Design/Approach/Methods This study uses various tests to systematically assess the latest iteration of the AI chatbot ChatGPT-4, including the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal (WGCTA), Five Core Competencies Questionnaire, and written test of China's 2022 National Teacher Certificate Examination (NTCE). Findings The WGCTA results suggest that ChatGPT requires strong critical thinking. Compared with the other four competencies, the tool showed a lower aptitude for creativity. Regarding its educational applications, ChatGPT performed well on the 2022 NTCE written test. As technology enhances, ChatGPT and similar AI tools have potential applications in China for lesson planning, student self-learning, classroom interaction, and checking assignments. Originality/Value This study systematically tested ChatGPT at a logical level and assessed its core competencies and educational applications. The study innovatively used 2022 NTCE data to test ChatGPT, with results providing support for the application of generative AI in future curricula and instruction in China.

Predictors of academic success among undergraduate medical programs: The roles of divergent and convergent thinking

Over the past two decades, researchers in the medical field have attempted to predict academic success in undergraduate medical programs. Existing literature indicates that factors such as metacognitive awareness, motivation, and emotional intelligence predict academic success among Doctor of Medicine (MD) students. However, the impact of divergent thinking (DT) and convergent thinking (CT) on MD students’ academic success remains uncertain. Moreover, most definitions and theories of giftedness focus on K-12 education, leaving a knowledge gap regarding gifted post-secondary learners, particularly in specialized fields like medicine. The present study aimed to bridge this gap by investigating the role of DT and CT in predicting academic success among 84 gifted post-secondary MD learners. Three assessments were administered: (a) Raven's Advanced Progressive Matrices Test, (b) the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal (WG-III), and (c) the Alternative Uses Test. Cluster analysis revealed a distinct three-cluster solution. Correlational and multiple regression analyses showed that the originality dimension of DT and the Drawing Conclusions and Recognizing Assumptions subscales of the WG-III were significantly associated with and predictive of the academic success of gifted undergraduate MD students. Notably, IQ was not significantly correlated with students’ grade point average. Recommendations for future research are also discussed.

Critical Thinking Ability as a Correlate of Students’ Mathematics Achievement: A Focus on Ability Level

This study investigated the correlation between critical thinking ability and academic achievement in mathematics among 200 Senior Secondary School Two (SS2) students in Orlu Education Zone in Imo State, Nigeria. The researchers utilized a correlational design and employed a multi-stage but simple random sampling technique to select the sample. Data were collected using two instruments: the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal (WGCTA) and the Mathematics Achievement Proforma (MAP). The validity of the WGCTA instrument was ensured through expert suggestions and guidance. The study addressed three research questions and tested three null hypotheses using the Pearson Product Moment correlation coefficient at a significance level of 0.05. The findings of the study indicated a low positive and significant correlation between critical thinking ability and academic achievement in mathematics for all students. However, there was no significant relationship between critical thinking ability and achievement among high achievers, while there was a significant but negligible positive relationship between critical thinking ability and achievement among low achievers. The study recommended that mathematics teachers should incorporate critical thinking development in their classroom instruction to enhance the critical thinking ability of students, which can lead to improved academic achievement, especially among low achievers.

Exploring the Progression of University Students' Critical Thinking Skills Across Academic Years

This study aimed to assess and compare the critical thinking skills of university students. The study employed a convenient sampling method for selecting universities, while student participants were chosen randomly. Data were collected from 475 students across five public universities. The Watson Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal (WGCTA) was utilized to measure participants' critical thinking skills. The research questions were addressed by applying descriptive statistics and one-way ANOVA. The study's outcomes indicated that many university students exhibited a moderate level of CTS. Furthermore, the analysis revealed that the progression in studies had a small effect on the critical thinking skill levels among the students. Policymakers, curriculum developers, teachers, and administrators may learn from the study that they have a role to play in developing the CTS of their students to contribute meaningfully to society. Changes in curriculum, pedagogy, etc., may be possible due to the study's conclusions.

Quality Enhancement of Pre-Service Teacher Education Using Philosophy for Community (P4C) as a Teaching Maneuver

The study's aimed to identify the effect of the P4C teaching maneuver on the critical thinking skills (CTS) of teacher candidates by using a quantitative, quasi-experimental approach. The population comprised of teacher candidates of B.Ed. (Hons) programmes of University of Education whereas the sample was intact two sections of 5th-semester candidate teachers in Division of Education, UE Lahore. CTS were assessed through Watson Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal (WGCTA). The results of the t-test suggested that P4C significantly improved the CTS (Inference and Overall CTS) of teacher candidates in the experimental group as compared to the control group. However, both groups' teacher candidates were equally skilled in the remaining WGCTA sub-scales (Recognize Assumptions, Deduction, Interpreting Information, and Evaluation of Arguments). It is suggested that a comparable study be carried out at all educational levels (primary, secondary, higher education) in both public and private sectors as well as in other disciplines by adopting a mixed-method approach.

Critical Thinking, The Skills that Urgent to Increase

This study describes the profile of students' critical thinking skills during the covid-19 pandemic at the Faculty of Education, State University of Surabaya. The data collection instrument used was a critical thinking ability test developed by Hariastuti by adopting the WGCTA (Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal) model. respondents obtained through accidental sampling because the instrument is distributed in google form. The results showed that the critical thinking category of students was still in moderate condition so that efforts were needed to improve students' critical thinking skills.

Interactive environment for music education: developing certain thinking skills in a mobile or static interactive environment

ABSTRACT The study aims to investigate the dynamics of forming critical and creative thinking of music students in static or mobile interactive learning environments. Two experimental groups were formed: 48 music students during the study used predominantly static interactive learning environments for education; 49 music students during the experiment used predominantly mobile interactive learning environments. The level of critical and creative thinking of students was determined at the beginning and at the end of the academic semester using valid psychodiagnostic techniques: Guilford Test; Torrance Tests of Creative Thinking (TTCT); Remote Associates Test; Duncker's Candle Problem; Personality Questionnaire; Divergent Association Test; Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal (W-GCTA); The Critical Thinking Assessment Test (CAT). At the end of the semester in both groups there was a statistically significant increase in creativity indicators, and it was slightly more pronounced in the group where mobile interactive environments were used. A connection between the indicators of creative and critical thinking is confirmed by the Pearson correlation coefficient, which for the experimental group that used static interactive learning environments was 0.694 (marked connection), and for the experimental group that used mobile interactive learning environments was 0.812 (high connection).

University Students’ Critical Thinking Skills with Reference to their Age and Gender

The aim of this quantitative study was to survey the critical thinking skills of university students studying at different public universities in Lahore based on their gender and age. The sample was chosen using a multi-stage sampling technique. Data gathered from 475 students enrolled in various semesters at five public universities. Watson Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal (WGCTA) was used to assess students’ critical thinking abilities. T-test was employed to evaluate data in order to answer the study questions. The results of study are evident that variable of age had a small effect on students’ critical thinking skills whereas these skills did not differ regarding their gender. The study is beneficial to further explore the reasons for differences with progression in the age. The policymakers and experts can plan to inculcate curriculum at the lower level of education for the enhancement of critical thinking. The study might also help them to make relevant and desirable changes in curriculum and pedagogy.

RETRACTED: Developing critical thinking skills in a digital educational environment

• There is a need to develop online learning courses to promote critical thinking. • The current study aims to examine the preferred learning styles. • The study shows a correlation between learning styles and levels of critical thinking. There is a need to develop effective online learning courses or programs that promote critical thinking as a key competence of higher education. The purpose of this study is to examine the preferred learning styles of students as predictors of critical thinking development in online learning. The study involved 489 random third-year students enrolled in different faculties at [BLINDED] University and [BLINDED] Institute. The mean age of respondents was 21 years. This research used the Felder- Soloman's Index of Learning Styles, the 2011 version of the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal (W-GCTA) test, and a Critical Thinking Test (Level 1) developed by Nikita Nepryakhin. Statistical data processing was done using an online calculator. An effectively designed online course that promotes critical thinking should take into account various factors that influence learners’ perception of course material, such as individual styles of learning. To adapt to online learning, students must have a balanced learning profile. This study shows a correlation between preferred learning styles and levels of critical thinking, which must be considered when developing the online learning curriculum and online lesson plans. The results of the study will enable students to better organize their own learning. Teachers can use this information to optimize the course design.

Analysis of critical-creative thinking styles and their implications on self efficacy teacher pree service

Critical-creative thinking styles and self-efficacy are important things in facing the 4.0 industrial revolution. This study conducted to analyze the critical-creative thinking style and its implications for prospective teachers’ self-efficacy. The method used is a survey method. The instrument for creative-critical thinking using Yanpiaw Creative-critical Styles (YCCS) test. The YCCS instrument has standardized with critical-creative thinking skills tests such as WGCTA (The Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal) and TTCT (Torrance Test Creative Thinking). The results of the analysis show that (1) student-teacher prospective teachers do not have a supercritical or super creative thinking style, (2) prospective pre-service teacher are more dominant in having an intermediate thinking style, (3) pre-service teacher with a higher critical-creative thinking style have more significant implication for self-efficacy, compared intermediate thinking style.

Process Writing and Enhancement of Critical Thinking Ability: Is Writing a Vehicle or an Ingredient of Critical Thinking?

The study aimed to investigate the relationship between process writing (PW) and critical thinking (CT) ability of Iranian EFL learners. Furthermore, the role of PW in the enhancement of CT was investigated. In so doing, 65 upper-intermediate language learners were selected from Rasht Islamic Azad University based on convenience sampling. The results of the pretests indicated that participants were homogeneous regarding language proficiency as determined by Babel test, CT by Watson-Glaser critical thinking appraisal (W-GCTA), and writing ability by a writing test. By implementing a quasi-experimental design, the participants were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. The experimental group received a step-by-step process of teaching CT and utilized CT skills in developing an essay. The control group, in contrast, merely practiced PW. After applying the non-parametric Spearman rank-order correlation, the results revealed that there was a significant correlation between PW and CT (rs =.632, p<.05). The results of the non-parametric Mann-Whitney U test substantiated that there was a significant difference in CT ability of control and experimental groups (U=.000, p<.05), revealing that PW is a vehicle of CT, not an ingredient.

Studying the impact of critical thinking on the academic performance of executive MBA students

Developing critical thinking abilities is an essential aspect of education that has been the endeavor of many instructors throughout the years, as it is believed that it can lead to higher academic performance. The present paper aims to analyze the impact of critical thinking on the academic performance of executive Master of Business Administration (MBA) students. We perform multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) to analyze the impact of critical thinking on the academic performance in a sample of 1620 executive MBA students, in each of four academic areas (i.e., Operations, Marketing, Finance, and Strategy & Leadership). The critical thinking variable is measured using the Watson Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal (WGCTA) test and the academic performance variable is measured by the average grades obtained by the MBA students. In terms of findings, it is reasonable to advance that critical thinking has a positive impact on the average academic performance of MBA students. The analysis and interpretation capabilities are involved in the planning process, while the evaluation of arguments, inference, and deduction are important for decision-making. Both sets of skills are trained in the Marketing and Strategy & Leadership courses, with better results than those obtained in the Operations and Finance courses that demand more mathematical-analytical capabilities, verification of information, and capacity for decision-making, and with a view to solving problems in a more structured way. Critical thinking, broadly defined as the objective analysis and evaluation of an issue in order to form a judgement, has not been previously studied, to the best of our knowledge, in relation to the academic performance of MBA students. We also aim to contribute to the literature with evidence from the Peruvian arena. Implications for practice are provided.

Learning to Learn: Critical Thinking Skills to Help Students for Life

With the last two decades, critical thinking has become imperative for integrated students at the workplace. Critical thinking includes the component skills of analyzing arguments, making inferences using inductive or deductive reasoning, judging or evaluating, making decisions or solving problems. Involves both cognitive skills and dispositions, which can be seen as attitudes or habits of mind, include flexibility, a propensity to seek reason, a desire to be well informed, a respect for and willingness to entertain different viewpoints. This paper describes a study to investigate the impact of critical thinking strategies applied to work with students, to develop critical thinking skills. The research was conducted about 6 months, in a technical university, focuses on developing critical thinking skills in part by using complex contextualized problems. Upon conclusion of the study and analysis of the data, we observed significant gain in those skills, measured with the standard instrument: Watson Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal (WGCTA). The WGCTA has been used to compare students on entry and exit program, make comparisons between different levels and investigate the correlation between critical thinking and variables. All test items include problems and arguments based on situations experienced in the daily workplace, classrooms, social media and others. The tool has five subsets designed to evaluate different elements of critical thinking, comprise deduction, inference, the relevance of assumptions, interpretation, and evaluation of arguments.

The Development of Learning Tools to Improve Students’ Critical Thinking Skills in Vocational High School

The essential critical thinking skills are developed in order to address the challenges of modern education, global competition, and democratic life. Therefore it is necessary to create an atmosphere of learning that allows students to be able to think critically especially for Students of Vocational School through the preparation of learning tools with appropriate strategies and critical thinking instruments that are tested to be used by teachers. In this case, the purposes of this research are 1) to produce a preparation of learning tools in the form of a teaching plan based on Problem-Based Learning, and 2) valid and reliable critical thinking instruments. Based on the expert test and user test results, the instructional tools were eligible to be used in terms of both design and substance. The critical thinking instruments were based on Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal (WGCTA) with five dimensions: Inference, Recognition Assumption, Deduction, Interpretation and Evaluation of Arguments with thesubject of Pancasila and Civic Education. Instrument validity test using product moment Pearson’s correlation analysis, and factor analysis. While the instrument reliability test using Alpha Cronbach formula. This instrument was declared valid and reliable after it was tested on the then grade Students of Vocational School through three trials which resulted in 16 question items from 50 items prepared.

Exploring the Relationship between Burnout and Critical Thinking Skills among Iranian University Professors Teaching TEFL

The profession as a teacher involves experiencing a number of challenges which naturally lead to emotional tiredness and lack of reward, technically known as burnout (Colomeischi, 2015). The goal of the present study was to investigate the relationship between burnout and critical thinking ability. To this end, a sample of 40 professors of Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) filed at a number of universities in Iran was chosen. Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) was employed to assess the participants' burnout level, which is specifically evaluated by measuring three subscales of emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal achievement. In addition, the measures of the participants' critical thinking skills were obtained via Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal (WGCTA). The Pearson correlation coefficient analysis indicated that emotional exhaustion and depersonalization strongly and negatively correlated with critical thinking ability. However, a strong and positive relationship was found between personal achievement and critical thinking skills.

An Investigation of the State of Creativity and Critical Thinking in Engineering Undergraduates

The goal of an undergraduate engineering education is to provide students with the necessary knowledge and skills needed to solve real world problems. Creativity and critical thinking are two abilities essential for success in the workplace, and are highly sought after by employers. However, there is evidence of decreasing creativity and critical thinking in senior engineering students. This study sought to understand if freshman engineering students are measurably more creative, but less capable of critical thinking, than senior undergraduate engineering students. Creativity and critical thinking were measured using the Test for Creative Thinking-Drawing Production (TCT-DP) and the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal (WGCTA), respectively. The data suggest that freshman engineering students were significantly more creative than senior engineering students. However, senior engineering students were found to be no better at critical thinking than their freshman counterparts. When compared to normative data, the senior engineering students underperformed significantly compared to the general population of senior college students. With study limitations in mind, these findings may suggest that senior engineering students are not only less creative, but also less capable of critical thinking, than when they started their engineering program. If this is indeed the appropriate conclusion, then there is a need to understand the underlying issues driving the decline of creativity and critical thinking in engineering undergraduate students.

An examination of Vygotsky’s socio-cultural theory in second language acquisition: the role of higher order thinking enhancing techniques and the EFL learners’ use of private speech in the construction of reasoning

The present study investigates the impact of higher order thinking enhancing techniques as two post-reading strategies on the EFL students’ reasoning power as determined by their private speech production. Also, the relationship between the learners’ private speech production and their reasoning power is also investigated. In so doing, the study utilizes a quasi-experimental design with 30 participants in each control and experimental groups. The results of the pretest administration indicate that the participants of the two groups are homogenous regarding their language proficiency level as determined by the Babel Test, and their reasoning power as determined by the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal (W-GCTA). The participants in the experimental group are instructed in a way to enhance their reasoning power based on 6 reading comprehension texts. WGCTA’s two subtests of deduction and inference making which contain reasoning-gap tasks are utilized as the posttest. While the participants are engaged in carrying out such tasks, their private speech productions are recorded. Data analysis and transcription indicate that private speech which is categorized into 4 classes in this study has a positive and significant influence on the learners’ reasoning power. Higher order thinking enhancing techniques are also found to have impact on the experimental group in enhancing their private speech production and subsequently improving their reasoning. The detailed results, discussion, and conclusions of the research are further presented.