Science Teachers and Student-Teachers’ Perceptions of Challenges in the Development of Critical Thinking Skills: South African Secondary Schools

2014 ◽  
Vol 20 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Thelma de Jager
Keyword(s):  
Critical Thinking ◽  
Secondary Schools ◽  
Student Teachers ◽  
South African ◽  
Science Teachers ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Critical Thinking Skills ◽  
Teachers Perceptions

scholarly journals Development of a Science Module on Temperature and Heat Topics to Improve Critical Thinking and Collaboration Skills

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 285
Author(s):  
Mohamad Nor Aufa ◽  
Sutarto Hadi ◽  
Syahmani Syahmani ◽  
Rusmansyah Rusmansyah ◽  
Muhammad Hasbie ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Critical Thinking ◽  
Data Analysis ◽  
Small Group ◽  
Science Teachers ◽  
Design Research ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Critical Thinking Skills ◽  
Literature Study ◽  
Educational Design ◽  
Educational Design Research

This study aims to produce a science module based on mobile-collaborative-based science learning (m-CBSL) with the topic of temperature and heat and describe the resulting module's validity and practicality. The research design was Educational Design Research (EDR). The data collection techniques used were literature study, walkthrough, interview, and questionnaire. The instrument used in this study was a questionnaire of validity and practicality. Data analysis techniques include descriptive data analysis, validation sheets, and questionnaires. Module validation sheets were given to 5 validators. In contrast, practicality sheets were given to 9 students of class VII SMP Negeri 12 Banjarmasin (small group) and 62 students and three science teachers at SMP Negeri 6 & 12 Banjarmasin field test. The validity questionnaire analysis results concluded that the validity of the module was 3.71 "very valid" categories. The practicality level based on the teacher's questionnaire scored 87.04 in the "very practical" category. The small group questionnaire scored 85.19 in the "very practical" category, and the field trial questionnaire scored 86.42 in the "very practical" category. It means that the m-CBSL based science module is valid and practical in the learning process to improve critical thinking skills and collaboration.

scholarly journals BUILDING CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS THROUGH LITERARY TEXTS IN EFL CLASSES

2021 ◽  
pp. 13-23
Author(s):  
Viktoriia Osidak ◽  
Nataliia Nesterenko
Keyword(s):  
Critical Thinking ◽  
Secondary Schools ◽  
Cognitive Processes ◽  
Personal Growth ◽  
Cognitive Learning ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Literary Text ◽  
Critical Thinking Skills ◽  
Literary Texts ◽  
Practical Implementation

Background: The chapter argues that building critical thinking skills and enhancing students’ cognitive processes has become a primary goal of teaching in secondary schools. It is generally agreed that the relationship between learning and reading literature has always been very close. Also, literature is widely recognised as an effective, motivating and enjoyable facilitator for work on critical thinking skills through challenging students’ cognitive processes by means of comparing and contrasting of and differentiating between the specific events of the plot, analysing main characters, interpreting the meaning created by the author’s choice of words etc. For these reasons this chapter investigates the efficacy of literary texts in building critical thinking skills in secondary schools. Purpose: The main focus of the chapter was on designing effective and feasible critical thinking model of teaching instruction that incorporates literary text in EFL classroom to stimulate students’ cognitive processes. Results: Many methods have been suggested to teaching reading literary texts. For the purpose of this study the authors adopted personal growth model developed by Lindsay Clanfield. The model draws heavily on learners’ involvement in reading with the aim of explaining the implied message of the literary text through employing crucial critical thinking skills such as problem solving, decision making, interpretation, logical reasoning, and metacognition. The critical thinking model consists of the three stages defined as “challenge – comprehension – reflection”. Each of the defined stages focuses on utilising some of the six levels of Bloom’s taxonomy of cognitive learning objectives through activities that promote these cognitive processes. For example, to complete activities of the ‘challenge’ stage students rely heavily on their knowledge; cognitive levels of comprehension, application and synthesis are essential at the ‘comprehension’ stage; finally, at the ‘reflection’ stage students are involved in evaluation ideas of moral and social aspects discussed in the text and appraising of their acquired experience. Drawing on this conclusion, the article presents a practical implementation of the model with the focus on cognitive processes and development of critical thinking skills in teaching English through literary texts. Discussion: In further research, it is necessary to experimentally verify the effectiveness of the critical thinking model in building critical thinking skills through literary texts in EFL classes.

scholarly journals Critical Thinking Skills Development: Secondary School Science Teachers’ Perceptions and Practices

sjesr ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 21-30
Author(s):  
Muhammad Jamil ◽  
Dr. Yaar Muhammad ◽  
Dr. Naima Qureshi
Keyword(s):  
Critical Thinking ◽  
Public Schools ◽  
Education Policy ◽  
Science Teachers ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Critical Thinking Skills ◽  
Skills Development ◽  
Classroom Observations ◽  
Second Phase ◽  
Policy Documents

This multiple case study aimed to develop an understanding of science teachers’ interpretations and enacted practices about policy documents’ recommendations for developing critical thinking skills among secondary students in public schools. Four public secondary schools were selected through the purposive sampling technique. Data were collected in three different phases. First, four education policy documents, including National Education Policy (2009) and National Curriculum for Physics, Chemistry, and Biology Grades IX-X (2006), were analyzed. In the second phase, 12 science teachers from four public schools (3 from each school teaching Physics, Chemistry, and Biology) were interviewed. Besides, these 12 science teachers were observed (every six times) while teaching in a real-life context through video-recorded classroom observations and reflective field notes. With the facilitation of NVivo 11, qualitative content analysis was used to analyze the data obtained from all sources. The findings revealed that critical thinking was emphasized in all policy documents, and different pedagogical practices for developing critical thinking were suggested to be used in science classrooms. Analysis of interview data revealed that teachers had some awareness about critical thinking. Furthermore, the classroom observations revealed that they were mainly using the lecture method with some other pedagogies without focusing on critical thinking. A top-down change is also recommended for the implementation of the policies. The assessment system might also be revised, focusing on critical thinking skills development.

scholarly journals The Effect of using the 5E Instructional Strategy in developing critical thinking skills for third-grade intermediate students in the jurisprudence course: أثر استخدام استراتيجية دورة التعلم الخماسية في تنمية مهارات التفكير الناقد لدى طالبات الصف الثالث المتوسط في مقرر الفقه

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (47) ◽  
pp. 124-95
Author(s):  
Ahlam Merji Al- Muhammadi Ahlam Merji Al- Muhammadi
Keyword(s):  
Critical Thinking ◽  
Science Teachers ◽  
Instructional Strategy ◽  
Study Groups ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Third Graders ◽  
Critical Thinking Skills ◽  
Control Group ◽  
And Control ◽  
Experimental Group

This study investigates the effect of the 5E Instructional strategy on the development of critical thinking skills of intermediate third graders through Jurisprudence course compared to the normal way of teaching. In order to achieve this goal the researcher adopted a pre- post two- group (experimental and control) quasi- experimental research methodology. The tool of the study was a critical thinking skills test based on Mary McFarland's strategy. After the validation and calculation of the tool's reliability, the researcher piloted the tool at a random sample consisting of (63) female intermediate third graders in thirtieth Medina School. The study used a number of appropriate statistical analyses which included: means of scores, standard deviation, alpha Cronbach coefficient reliability test of critical thinking skills, and T- test for independent samples to ensure group homogeneity of study groups, and to see the effect of using the 5E Instructional strategy on developing the critical thinking skills of the students. The obtained results indicated that there are statistically significant differences at the level of significance (a = 0.05) between the mean scores of experimental group and control group students in the critical thinking skills test in favor of the experimental group. In the light of these results, a number of recommendations have been made, namely: religious science teachers should be supervised towards more attention to the development of critical thinking skills; paying attention to the involvement of the student in the learning process; encouraging students to express their opinions and being able to defend their point of view in order to increase the level of critical thinking skills and finally to employ the 5E Instructional strategy in teaching jurisprudence course. Based on the findings of the study, a group of suggestions for future studies have been made that can be considered as extension to the current study.

scholarly journals INDONESIAN STUDENT TEACHERS’ CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS IN TEXT ANALYSIS WITH CDA APPROACH

2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 424-431
Author(s):  
Dwijani Ratnadewi ◽  
Sofi Yunianti
Keyword(s):  
Critical Thinking ◽  
Student Teachers ◽  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Text Analysis ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Critical Thinking Skills ◽  
Communication Analysis ◽  
Critical Skills ◽  
Political Speeches ◽  
The Impact

Purpose of Study: The present study investigated the impact of critical discourse analysis (CDA) on Indonesian students teachers’ critical thinking skills in their final projects. Methodology: The study analyzed four final projects of student teachers text analysis. It was a qualitative meta-study applying four stages of Brengtsson'scontent analysis. These student teachers analyzed the world leaders’ political speeches and lawyers’ arguments in court using the CDA approach. Results: The result of the analysis indicated that 58.3% of the students got the Proficient Level achievement, spreading from the critical skills of communication, analysis (interpretation) and synthesis. Implications/Applications: The result illustrates that text analysis with CDA devices positively influenced the student teachers’ critical thinking skills. Meanwhile, 75% of them were at low achievement, at the Emergent level, for Reflection (Self-regulating) skills, due to the fact that these students were not accustomed to observing their own analysis.

scholarly journals The contribution of argumentation and critical thinking skills on students’ concept understanding in different learning models

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (1) ◽  
pp. 80-91
Author(s):  
Neni Hasnunidah ◽  
◽  
Herawati Susilo ◽  
Mimien Irawati ◽  
Hadi Suwono ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Critical Thinking ◽  
Science Teachers ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Critical Thinking Skills ◽  
Learning Models ◽  
Training And Education ◽  
Concept Understanding ◽  
Skill Test ◽  
Basic Biology ◽  
Support Students

We investigated the correlation between argumentation and critical thinking skills simultaneously on students’ understanding of basic biology concepts in classes taught by Argument-Driven Inquiry (ADI) and conventional learning models. This study involved 180 pre-service science teachers (18-19 years old) who undertook the basic biology course in the Faculty of Teacher Training and Education, University of Lampung. Argumentation skills were measured using the Argumentation Skill Test and critical thinking skills were measured using the Critical Thinking Test, whereas understanding of basic biology concepts was measured using the Concept Understanding Test. Hierarchical multiple regressions revealed prospective effects of argumentation and critical thinking skills to support students’ understanding of basic biology concepts. In addition, the strong correlation between predictors simultaneous to the criteria found in ADI compared to conventional learning models. The lecturers should consider the empowerment of argumentation and critical thinking skills of students through the application of appropriate learning models.

scholarly journals The Effectiveness of Teaching Science By Using A Model Based on Constructive Learning in Developing Critical Thinking Skills and Achievement of Second Intermediate Students in Bishah, Saudi Arabia: فاعلية التدريس بنموذج قائم على التعلم البنائي في تنمية مهارات التفكير الناقد والتحصيل في مادة العلوم لدى طالبات الثاني المتوسط في بيشة بالمملكة العربية السعودية

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (33) ◽  
Author(s):  
Asma Hussein Muhammad Al- Awaid
Keyword(s):  
Critical Thinking ◽  
Science Teachers ◽  
Study Groups ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Teaching Science ◽  
Critical Thinking Skills ◽  
Second Grade ◽  
Constructive Learning ◽  
Model Based ◽  
Before And After

This study aimed to reveal the effectiveness of teaching science by using a Model-based on constructive learning in developing critical thinking skills and achievement of second grade intermediate. The sample of the study consisted of (40) students randomly distributed into two groups: experimental group and the number of its members (20) students studied the third unit of the book of science for the first semester, entitled: (human body organs), using a teaching model based on structural education and the group The officer and the number of members (20) students studied using the usual method of teaching, to achieve the objectives of the study, the lessons of the unit were taught using a constructive learning model. The researcher prepared a critical thinking scale and an achievement test. The two study tools were applied before and after the study groups. Skills of critical thinking and raising the level of educational attainment of second-grade students in science. The study concluded with a set of recommendations, the most important of which are: Developing the programs of preparing teachers of scientific materials and pre-service science, and trying to add courses of teaching methods in the plan of students of the College of Education and the curriculum and methods of teaching science in Saudi universities and holding practical workshops for science teachers at the level of education administration in Bisha governorate. On how to apply the principles of constructive learning in classroom situations.

scholarly journals Enhancement of Students’ Biological Literacy and Critical Thinking of Biology through Socio-Biological Case-Based Learning

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 213 ◽  
Author(s):  
H. Suwono ◽  
H. E. Pratiwi ◽  
H. Susanto ◽  
H. Susilo
Keyword(s):  
Critical Thinking ◽  
Student Teachers ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Critical Thinking Skills ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Biology Student ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Case Based Learning ◽  
Case Based ◽  
Biological Literacy

<p>Biology is a leading science and a foundation in everyday life for all people. Biology student teachers need to be equipped with biological literacy and critical thinking skills in order to teach biology in the future. This research is aimed at determining the effect of socio-biological case-based learning on biological literacy and critical thinking skills of biology student teachers compared with the traditional learning (lecture-based learning). Socio-biological case-based learning is a model of problem-based learning by placing biological cases as a problem to be explained and solved through a series of investigative activities. This research was a quasi-experimental conducted at the Department of Biology, Universitas Negeri Malang. The research samples were the first year students who programmed the General Biology course, consisting of 29 students as a control group and 33 students as experimental group. This research was conducted in September-December 2015. The data of biological literacy and critical thinking were collected from pre-test and post-test. The data were analyzed using ANCOVA test. The research showed that there was a significant difference of biological literacy and critical thinking skills between the students taught by using socio-biological case-based learning and those taught by using lecture-based learning. The research indicated that the socio-biological case-based learning could enhance the biological literacy and critical thinking skills of biology students teachers.</p>

scholarly journals Examination of Critical Thinking Skills of Preservice Science Teachers: A Perspective of Social Constructivist Theory

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 179 ◽  
Author(s):  
Umit Demiral
Keyword(s):  
Preservice Teachers ◽  
Critical Thinking ◽  
Grade Point Average ◽  
Science Teachers ◽  
Grade Level ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Critical Thinking Skills ◽  
Grade Point ◽  
Preservice Science Teachers ◽  
Significant Difference

The purpose of this study is to examine the critical thinking skills of preservice science teachers in terms of various variables (gender, grade level, academic grade point average, participation in activities) and their opinions. In the research, sequential explanatory design, which is one of the mixed method research designs, was used. The study was carried out with 200 preservice teachers studying at Science Education Department of a state university chosen at Cappadocia region of Turkey. Interviews were conducted with low-level (f=7) and high-level (f=7) preservice teachers selected by means of purposive sampling method from these pre-service teachers participating in the study. Regarding the quantitative and qualitative data obtained; it has been determined that the critical thinking skills of the preservice teachers did not show any significant difference according to gender, grade level and academic grade point average, but there was a significant difference in terms of the activities performed. Preservice teachers expressed that their family structures, social environments in which they interact, and characteristic features were said to be effective in the development of critical thinking skills. Regarding the findings, it has been concluded that trainings that will evoke higher level skills such as critical thinking skills in universities can be effective, but the social and cultural background of the preservice teachers are also effective on these skills. It is recommended to prepare contents that enhance higher level skills such as critical thinking skills as well as education for pedagogy or content knowledge given at universities.

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