Purposely Teaching for the Promotion of Higher-order Thinking Skills: A Case of Critical Thinking

Abstract

This longitudinal case-study aimed at examining whether purposely teaching for the promotion of higher order thinking skills enhances students' critical thinking (CT), within the framework of science education. Within a pre-, post-, and post-post experimental design, high school students, were divided into three research groups. The experimental group (n=57) consisted of science students who were exposed to teaching strategies designed for enhancing higher order thinking skills. Two other groups: science (n=41) and non-science majors (n=79), were taught traditionally, and acted as control. By using critical thinking assessment instruments, we have found that the experimental group showed a statistically significant improvement on critical thinking skills components and disposition towards critical thinking subscales, such as truth-seeking, open-mindedness, self-confidence, and maturity, compared with the control groups. Our findings suggest that if teachers purposely and persistently practice higher order thinking strategies for example, dealing in class with real-world problems, encouraging open-ended class discussions, and fostering inquiry-oriented experiments, there is a good chance for a consequent development of critical thinking capabilities.

The Relationship between Higher Order Thinking Skills and Academic Performance of Student in Mathematics Instruction

“…In the classroom, abilities and skills that include the use of HOTS are complex thinking that goes beyond basic recall of fact, such as evaluation and invention, enabling students to retain information and to apply problem-solving solution to real-world problems. Barak, David, and Uri (2007), stated that HOTS is composed of three components: critical, systems, and creative thinking, while according to Wang and Wang (2011), there are three main components in HOTS, i.e. critical thinking skills, thinking design and systems thinking.…”

“…critical thinking skills, thinking design and systems thinking. Based on these two statements, then the creative thinking skills proposed by Barak et al (2007) similar to design thinking skills proposed by Wang and Wang (2011). Thus there are three components in HOTS, namely: (1) critical thinking skills, (2) creative thinking skills, and (3) systems thinking skills.…”

Increasing Critical Thinking Skill Through Class Debate

“…When life goes, a supposedly able to make rational decisions based on critical thinking instead of accepting the authority. Therefore, students must be prepared to question the axioms, raises doubts, investigate the situation, and the investigation of alternative, in the context of two schools (colleges) and everyday life [14]. Critical thinking skills is an ability that is essential for life, work and function effectively in all other aspects of life [20] [21] [19] [11] [28] [6].…”

Prospects of Problem-Based Learning in Building Critical Thinking Skills among Technical College Students in Nigeria

“…Zhou, Huang, and Tian (2013), CTS are such an integral part of modern education that one cannot be separated from the other. CTS are an indispensable instrument in modern society, enables students to effectively face the challenges in building new ideas, making correct selections, and understanding the world around them (Miri, David, & Uri, 2007;Shakirova, 2007;Snyder & Snyder, 2008;ZOLLER, 2001;Zoller & Pushkin, 2007). Furthermore, Snyder and Snyder (2008) posits that, CTS are learned skills and a product of education, training and practice that must be developed, practiced; and constantly integrated into the curriculum in order to engage students in active learning.…”

“…To overcome these challenges, Miri et al (2007); and Zoller et al (2000) suggested that, CTS should be integrated into the students' training in order to serve as a catalyst toward the analysis of unfamiliar objectives); and assessment and evaluation (selecting and implementing the methods that will be used to determine whether and how well the objectives have been achieved and interpreting the results) (Felder & Brent, 2003). These domains are illustrated in figure 1.…”