AbstractResearch Purpose. This article examined critical thinking skills amongst senior-level undergraduate students in a Middle East setting, Kuwait. In addition, the study investigated the gender differences.Methodology. The subjects involved in this study comprised a convenience sample of 90 graduating seniors. The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of two motivational factors on the development of critical thinking skills. The analysis used the specific subsection about critical thinking skills, which is part of the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ). One factor relates the sense of entitlement that can arise in a welfare state, which heavily subsidises a wide range of things for citizens, including education. We examined differences between citizens and non-citizens, who do not have access to welfare benefits.Findings. The results supported the hypotheses that student groups have different levels of critical thinking skills. We found that expatriate students had more highly developed critical thinking skills than students who were Kuwaiti citizens. We also found that women had more highly developed critical thinking skills than men had.Practical Implications. The welfare state measures undertaken by the government of Kuwait may be counterproductive. The guaranteed employment of its citizens and generous monetary support whilst in school may discourage the development of critical thinking skills. Future research could focus on ways to motivate particular groups (e.g. Kuwaiti men) to enhance their critical thinking skills.
Increased numbers of minorities in the allied health disciplines are sought for a number of reasons. One approach to increasing minority graduates in allied health sciences is to ensure that minority applicants have the learning behaviors necessary to succeed in the academic setting. In this study, we sought to determine if self-regulated learning, assessed via a self-report inventory, was significantly related to Grade Point Average (GPA) in undergraduate students enrolled in a historically black college or university (HBCU). The Self Regulated Learning Inventory V. 5 (SRLI V.5) was distributed to undergraduate HBCU students enrolled in allied health majors. The inventory was completed by 134 undergraduate students who provided the data for the study. Results indicated that the SRLI was not significantly correlated with academic success (based on student GPA). Further investigation revealed that different methods used in calculating GPA and the inclusion of transfer students likely decreased the statistical power of the association between academic performance and self-regulation.
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