scholarly journals Self-Assessment of Critical Thinking Skills in EFL Writing Courses at the University Level: Reconsideration of the Critical Thinking Construct

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arab World English Journal ◽  
Youssef Nadri ◽  
Adil Azhar
Keyword(s):  
Critical Thinking ◽  
Formative Evaluation ◽  
Evaluation Process ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Two Dimensions ◽  
Critical Thinking Skills ◽  
Assessment Practices ◽  
Metacognitive Skills ◽  
Self Assessment ◽  
Efl Writing

The Critical Thinking (CT) component has by now secured a key place within EFL curriculum aims and objectives. The integration of a CT dimension into the teaching of the writing skill in particular has received considerable attention in research. However, research has also pointed to the failure of assessment practices to evaluate CT development. It is within this context that the present work advocates a standard based approach to the assessment of CT in EFL writing that aligns assessment criteria to the critical abilities articulated in the learning outcomes (i.e., standards). This fosters a conception of CT measures that associates components of CT with higher order writing skills. Accordingly, the first objective of the study is to empirically test the relationship between CT dispositions and metacognitive strategy use in an attempt to establish a model of writing (self-)assessment that combines these two dimensions. As assessment is viewed as a formative evaluation process subservient of learning, the study also targets the students’ self-assessment strategies during the writing process. To this purpose, a questionnaire has been designed, and administered to 100 students at the Faculty of Letters and Human Sciences in Rabat to tap their perceptions and use of CT skills. The data analysis revealed that critical thinking development and assessment are metacognitive in nature; it follows that metacognitive skills such as planning, self-evaluating and reflecting are to be used as an essential vehicle in the development of Critical Thinking skills. This points to the paramount role of CT-informed formative (self-)assessment practices in benefiting ELT writing learners.

Fostering Critical Thinking Using Instructional Strategies in English Classes

2019 ◽  
pp. 299-316
Author(s):  
Şenol Orakcı ◽  
Mehmet Durnali ◽  
Osman Aktan
Keyword(s):  
Critical Thinking ◽  
Learning Strategies ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Critical Literacy ◽  
English Language ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Critical Thinking Skills ◽  
English Language Teaching ◽  
Self Assessment ◽  
English Classes

The aim of the chapter is to provide both theoretical and practical ideas about critical thinking development within English language teaching contexts. Encouraging language learners to be critical thinkers is important in teaching English as a foreign language. However, achieving the goal remains a challenge. Using various strategies together seem to be effective when properly implemented. Therefore this chapter outlines these strategies which include communicative language tasks, using authentic meaningful texts, using critical literacy, being aware of whole-brain learning, adopting a reflective teaching, enabling students to become autonomous, using explicit instruction, teacher questioning, using active and cooperative learning strategies, using literature in English classes, using creative drama, and adopting self-assessment. Teachers can enable learners to have critical thinking skills and more efficient English lessons by combining these strategies in a new way or by designing critical thinking activities in the classroom.

Formative Evaluations of Teaching

2017 ◽  
pp. 101-118
Author(s):  
Gina Mariano ◽  
Frank Hammonds ◽  
Sheridan Chambers ◽  
Gracie Spear
Keyword(s):  
Critical Thinking ◽  
Student Learning ◽  
Evaluation Process ◽  
Student Learning Outcomes ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Critical Thinking Skills ◽  
Multiple Perspectives ◽  
Student Evaluations Of Teaching ◽  
Assessment And Evaluation ◽  
Improve Student Learning

Students engaging in the assessment and evaluation process is becoming increasingly popular because it helps students become active participants in their own learning. In this chapter we discuss ways to involve students in the assessment and evaluation process in the classroom. It brings together multiple perspectives on critical thinking, metacognition, interteaching and student evaluations of teaching (SETs). The commonality between these four key elements is the importance of engaging students to become active participants in their own learning because they can help improve student learning outcomes. This chapter goes on to examine how these assessments and evaluations play a role in developing critical thinking skills and metacognition in students.

Accumulation of Content Validation Evidence for the Critical Thinking Self-Assessment Scale

2017 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 156-170 ◽  
Author(s):  
Girija Gopinathan Nair ◽  
Laurie-Ann M. Hellsten ◽  
Lynnette Leeseberg Stamler
Keyword(s):  
Critical Thinking ◽  
Content Validity ◽  
Cognitive Skills ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Critical Thinking Skills ◽  
Assessment Instrument ◽  
Assessment Scale ◽  
Monitoring Methods ◽  
Self Assessment ◽  
Content Relevance

Background/Purpose: Critical thinking skills (CTS) are essential for nurses; assessing students’ acquisition of these skills is a mandate of nursing curricula. This study aimed to develop a self-assessment instrument of critical thinking skills (Critical Thinking Self-Assessment Scale [CTSAS]) for students’ self-monitoring. Methods: An initial pool of 196 items across 6 core cognitive skills and 16 subskills were generated using the American Philosophical Association definition of CTS. Experts’ content review of the items and their ratings provided evidence of content relevance using the item-level content validity index (I-CVI) and Aiken’s content validity coefficient (VIk). Results: 115 items were retained (range of I-CVI values = .70 to .94 and range of VIkvalues = .69–.95; significant atp< .05). Conclusion: The CTSAS is the first CTS instrument designed specifically for self-assessment purposes.

scholarly journals LESSONS FROM CRITICAL THINKING: HOW TO PROMOTE THINKING SKILLS IN EFL WRITING CLASSES

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mojgan Rashtchi ◽  
Babak Khoshnevisan
Keyword(s):  
Critical Thinking ◽  
Classroom Practice ◽  
Classroom Practices ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Critical Thinking Skills ◽  
Writing Classes ◽  
Efl Writing ◽  
Writing Courses ◽  
English Writing ◽  
Modern Education

<p>Critical thinking as an issue with on-going importance has an immense influence on modern education. However, it is not a natural disposition but is a potential that needs cultivation. Training individuals to become critical thinkers is not an easy task, but by adopting appropriate strategies and classroom practices, it is attainable. The present article aimed to show how English writing classes in EFL settings could facilitate the practice of critical thinking skills. This paper suggests that critical thinking can be implemented as a classroom practice in writing courses by using several tasks that integrate writing and thinking skills. The article starts with an introduction to the definitions of critical thinking. Then, it underlines the classroom procedures, which can be implemented by teachers. Following this, some sample tasks and writing topics are proposed to help teachers employ critical thinking practices in their classes.</p><p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/edu_01/0663/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>

scholarly journals PENGEMBANGAN PERANGKAT PEMBELAJARAN MELALUI MODEL PEMBELAJARAN BERBASIS KEARIFAN LOKAL KALIMANTAN SELATAN UNTUK MENINGKATKAN KETERAMPILAN METAKOGNITIF DAN BERPIKIR KRITIS PESERTA DIDIK KONSEP KLASIFIKASI MAKHLUK HIDUP

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 77
Author(s):  
Kultsum Munirah ◽  
Siti Ramdiah ◽  
Budi Prayitno
Keyword(s):  
Critical Thinking ◽  
Learning Process ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Learning Model ◽  
Critical Thinking Skills ◽  
Learning Tools ◽  
Metacognitive Skills ◽  
Contributing Factors ◽  
Learning Methods ◽  
Innovative Learning

<em>One of the problems in our education world is the weakness of the learning process, which has an impact on metacognitive skills and critical thinking skills of students. One of the contributing factors is that the teacher only provides existing material without any development related to the real world of students. Thus the effort that can be made is that before carrying out the learning process the teacher as an educator must have a learning plan, which is included in the learning tool. Because in a learning device a teacher can design learning methods and materials that are considered innovative when used. One of the innovative learning methods that can build active learning conditions for students is to use a local wisdom-based learning model. The research objective was to determine the validity of learning tools through a learning model based on local wisdom of South Kalimantan to improve metacognitive skills and critical thinking of students in the classification concept of living things. This study develops products in the form of RPP, LKPD and Questions. The development method used refers to 4-D development which has 4 stages, namely define, design, develop and disseminate. The type of data used is qualitative and quantitative data. The instrument used was a validation sheet that was declared valid based on the results of the expert team's assessment. Data analysis techniques were carried out by matching the results of empirical validation from experts with predetermined validity criteria. The results of this study indicate that local wisdom-based learning tools are worth trying out, because the scores obtained from the validation results show validity with a percentage of&gt; 67.19% which is considered valid enough and has no revised information</em>

scholarly journals Developing College EFL Writers’ Critical Thinking Skills Through Online Resources: A Case Study

SAGE Open ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 215824401882038 ◽  
Author(s):  
Xiaodong Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Critical Thinking ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Academic Writing ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Critical Thinking Skills ◽  
Online Resources ◽  
Writing Classroom ◽  
Efl Writing ◽  
Student Writers

This study reports on how the supplementation of online resources, informed by systemic functional linguistics (SFL), impacted English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) student writers’ development of critical thinking skills. Through qualitative analyses of student-teacher interactions, interviews with students, and students’ written documents, the case study shows that through 1 semester of intensive exposure to SFL-based online resources in a college Chinese EFL writing classroom, EFL writers were able to develop critical thinking skills in regard to the construction of effective academic writing, although it was a process of encountering and overcoming challenges. Through teacher mediation and their own efforts, they could adjust to the online resources-based classroom, exemplified by their utilization of SFL-related categories offered through online resources to analyze and evaluate the interrelationship between language features and the content manifested in valued texts, and regulate the content of their own academic writing.

scholarly journals Critical Thinking as a Dimension of Constructivist Learning in Social Studies Education: A Study of Teachers’ Attitudes in Secondary Education

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Ali Emad Muhammad
Keyword(s):  
Critical Thinking ◽  
Social Studies ◽  
Instructional Strategies ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Critical Thinking Skills ◽  
Social Studies Teachers ◽  
Self Assessment ◽  
Constructive Learning ◽  
Teachers Attitudes ◽  
Self Learning

This study examined social studies teachers’ attitudes towards critical thinking as a dimension of constructive learning. The purpose of this study was indeed to develop a better understanding of the use of instructional approaches by experienced teachers to enhance critical thinking skills and improve student learning of social studies. The study was conducted in the city of Erbil in Iraqi Kurdistan with 20 experienced social studies teachers in 8 public secondary schools. Qualitative approach was preferred for this study. The interview with each of the 20 teachers was conducted individually and their social studies classes are observed separately. The results of this study revealed that teachers have little knowledge and understanding of instructional strategies that foster critical thinking. The teachers believed that students can benefit from using self-learning, self-assessment, involving in peer learning, meaningful and reasonable response process and express curiosity through questioning how and why. This study also explored some obstacles when teachers practice instructional strategies that enhance critical thinking in learning social studies.

scholarly journals PENGEMBANGAN INSTRUMEN TES ESSAY KEMAMPUAN BERPIKIR KRITIS PESERTA DIDIK PADA MATERI IKATAN KIMIA KELAS X SMA/MA

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jumadi Sihombing
Keyword(s):  
Critical Thinking ◽  
Chemical Bonding ◽  
Formative Evaluation ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Critical Thinking Skills ◽  
Difficulty Level ◽  
Average Score ◽  
Average Value ◽  
Test Instrument ◽  
Addie Model

This study aims to produce an essay test instrument for critical thinking skills on chemical bonding material and to know the validity, reliability, distinguishing features, and the difficulty level of the test instrument. The research method uses the ADDIE model with five stages namely analyze, design, develop, implementation, & evaluation. In this research formative evaluation is done, meaning that the evaluation stage is carried out at the end of each stage. The test developed in the study consisted of eight essay items, referring to 10 indicators of critical thinking according to Ennis. Validation of items was done by three validators. Based on the validity according to the experts obtained an average of every aspect, namely 95% material, 96.87% construction and 91.15% language with an overall average score of 94.34% validation has a valid category. Eight valid questions were tested on 20 students. The calculation of the reliability coefficient (r11) with the Alpha Cronbach formula was obtained at 0.65 in the high category, the distinguishing power had an average value of 0.26 in enough categories and the difficulty level of the questions had an average value of 0.42 in the medium category. The developed test instrument is declared valid, reliable, has a good differentiating power, and the level of difficulty of the questions that are being made so that it can be used as a measuring tool to determine students' critical thinking skills.Key word: Research & development, critical thinking test instrument,chemical bonding

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