scholarly journals Critical thinking in college students: evaluation of their beliefs in popular psychological myths

Author(s):  
Gustavo Gonzalez-Cuevas ◽  
Marcos Alonso Rodriguez ◽  
Valeria Nogales Cuellar

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the degree of acceptance of psychological myths in undergraduate students in Health Sciences. Our results showed that first-year Psychology students believed more myths than did the other first-year Health Sciences students (Medicine, Dentistry, and Optics and Optometry). Third-year Psychology students drastically reduced their beliefs in myths in comparison with first-year Psychology students (Cohen’s d=1.7). Overall, we found a gender effect, being women less gullible than men in believing in myths. Age did not account for differences in myth acceptance. All in all, these results suggest that beginning Psychology students seem to accept more myths than other first-year Health Sciences students regarding psychological misconceptions. However, college exposure in Psychology students may favor critical thinking by diminishing myth beliefs.

Author(s):  
Johanna F. de Vos ◽  
Herbert Schriefers ◽  
Kristin Lemhöfer

Abstract We investigated whether the language of instruction (Dutch or English) influenced the study success of 614 Dutch and German first-year psychology students in the Netherlands. The Dutch students who were instructed in Dutch studied in their native language (L1), the other students in a second language (L2). In addition, only the Dutch students studied in their home country. Both these variables could potentially influence study success, operationalised as the number of European Credits (ECs) the students obtained, their grades, and drop-out rates. The L1 group outperformed the three L2 groups with respect to grades, but there were no significant differences in ECs and drop-out rates (although descriptively, the L1 group still performed best). In conclusion, this study shows an advantage of studying in the L1 when it comes to grades, and thereby contributes to the current debate in the Dutch media regarding the desirability of offering degrees taught in English.


Author(s):  
Didem Koban Koç

The present study investigated gender differences in the use of linguistic features as well as the social meanings attached to those differences. Academic essays, written by 44 (22 male, 22 female) first-year undergraduate students enrolled in the English Language Teaching program at a government university were analyzed with respect to the use of linguistic features (adjectives, empty adjectives, intensifiers, linking adverbials) as well as the number of words and sentences used by the students. The results showed that, in comparison to males, females used more adjectives, intensifiers, and words. Males, on the other hand, used more empty adjectives and linking adverbials than females. Based on the results, pedagogical implications are discussed, and recommendations are provided in order to increase teachers' awareness of gender differences and improve students' writing skills.


2020 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
pp. 244-250
Author(s):  
Brandy Weidman ◽  
Helen Salisbury

Objective: Critical thinking is an important skill that sonographers must develop beginning in educational programs and into professional practice. Critical thinking requires students to reflect on information, use judgment skills, and engage in higher levels of thinking, including analysis, interpretation, inference, evaluation, and explanation, to formulate reliable decisions. Methods: Current research related to critical thinking has focused on medicine, nursing, physical therapy, pharmacy, and dental programs, but there has been no description of assessing sonography students. The Dreyfus model has been used as a framework to describe acquired skills that reflects students’ progress from novice to expert clinicians. This model illustrates specific cognitive abilities that students develop as they advance in education. Results: This review of the literature describes critical thinking skills coupled with a framework to understand different levels of cognitive thinking, as well as how it can be assessed. Conclusion: To understand differences between undergraduate sonography students and experts, the Dreyfus model is an excellent model to recognize progression. It can be used with the Health Sciences Reasoning Test, which is a nationally recognized critical thinking examination that can ascertain different levels of health sciences students’ critical thinking skills.


1987 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 47-56 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael J. Boivin ◽  
Harold W. Darling ◽  
Terry W. Darling

The relationship between Christianity and racial prejudice was evaluated by means of a questionnaire which included the Shepherd Scale, the Christian Conservatism Scale, and the Multifactor Racial Attitude Inventory. The instrument was administered to two groups of college psychology students, one predominantly Christian and the other predominatly non-Christian (low scorers on the Christian scales). Although the Christian group scored significantly higher on the Shepherd and Christian Conservatism Scales, no significant differences were found between the two groups with respect to racial prejudice. Furthermore, the dimension of Christianity and the dimension of racial prejudice were independent of one another with respect to correlational measures and a principal components factor analysis.


2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 178 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tammy Jordan Wyatt ◽  
Sara B Oswalt ◽  
Yesenia Ochoa

The prevalence and severity of mental health issues are increasing among college students, and such issues pose a threat to health and academic performance. Responses from 66,159 undergraduate students about mental health and academics from the American College Health Association-National College Health Assessment II were examined using regression analyses. Differences in mental health diagnoses were found by classification with first-year students reporting higher rates of self-injury and seriously considering suicide. Upperclassmen reported higher rates of academic impact from mental health factors. Findings indicate one’s first-year of college as the prime time to promote awareness of and strategies to prevent mental health issues or negative academic effects; implications for first-year experience programs are discussed. 


2021 ◽  
Vol 60 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Noparit Luksameevanish ◽  
Kwanhataikarn Krue-in ◽  
Guanoon Moonsawat ◽  
Pantritra Sriwongsa ◽  
Rawee Nopparatkailas ◽  
...  

Objectives To study differences in knowledge, risky behavior and attitudes related to sexually transmitted diseases in male undergraduate students from three faculties of Chiang Mai University. Methods This cross-sectional study surveyed 652 male undergraduate students from three faculties including 85 from Associated Medical Science (AMS), 480 from Engineering (ENG) and 87 from Economics (ECON) as representative of health sciences, science/technology, and social sciences/humanities, respectively. An online questionnaire was used to evaluate the students’ knowledge, risky behavior and attitudes related to sexually transmitted diseases (STDs). Descriptive statistics included one-way ANOVA and Spearman’s rank correlation coefficient. Results AMS male students had a higher average score for knowledge related to STDS than the other groups. There were, however, significant differences among AMS students to the questions, “Should parents teach appropriate sex education to their young children?” and “Do you think early STD screening is good?” (both p = 0.001). Positive correlations were found between self-reported alcohol drinking and visiting of entertainment places in all the groups (rAMS = 0.673, p < 0.001; rENG = 0.595, p < 0.001; rECON= 0.595, p < 0.001). Self-reported risky behavior was positively correlated with frequency of having sex during the past 2 months and alcoholic drinking (rAMS = 0.510 and = 0.409; rENG = 0.562 and = 0.345; rECON = 0.655 and = 0.259, respectively. All were p < 0.001) Conclusions Male health sciences students possessed higher knowledge, reported lower risk behaviors, and expressed more positive attitudes toward individuals with STDs than the other groups. Providing knowledge about STDs and encouraging abstinence from alcohol should be used to reduce the incidence of risky behavior and the incidence of STDs among male university undergraduates.


Author(s):  
Mohan A. Sunkad ◽  
Shivalingappa Javali ◽  
Yesudas Shivapur ◽  
Appasaheb Wantamutte

This study aimed to evaluate the educational environment of the health sciences programs of KLE University, Belgaum, Karnataka, India, to identify their strengths and weaknesses, and to suggest strategies to improve the educational environment to be on par with global standards. A cross-sectional study was conducted using the Dundee Ready Educational Environment Measure (DREEM) questionnaire, filled out by 914 of the 1,004 students (91.0%) who were majoring in medicine, dentistry, nursing, physiotherapy, and public health. The data were analysed according to the DREEM guidelines. Responses were received from 914 students, of whom 34.03% were men and 65.9% were women. The majority (67.1%) of students were 20-24 years of age. The mean overall DREEM score was 120.21±22.4 (maximum, 200) and approached the normal distribution (Lilliefors test, P<0.01). The DREEM scores of each group of students were as follows: dental, 125.0; medical, 122.4; public health, 121.0; physiotherapy, 117.0; and nursing, 116.3. Male students had more positive perceptions than female students (P<0.05), and postgraduate students had more positive perceptions than undergraduate students (P<0.05). The overall DREEM score (120.21) indicates that the educational environment was found to be more positive than negative.


Author(s):  
Multazam Fahreza Chandra ◽  
Laila Isrona ◽  
Emilzon Taslim ◽  
Ilmiawati Ilmiawati

Background: Collaboration between health professionals is needed to improve health services. The collaboration can be applied to the education system through the Interprofessional Education (IPE) concept. This study aimed to examine students’ perception on the IPE implementation.Methods: This was a descriptive study using cross-sectional method. The study sample were 300 undergraduate students in Medical Faculty Andalas University (MFAU). It consisted of 190 medical students, 72 psychology students, and 38 midwifery students. The sample was determined by proportionate stratified random sampling method. The research instrument used was Interdisciplinary Education Perception Scale (IEPS) questionnaire.Results:     The    252    students    (84%)     showed    positive    perception    on    IPE implementation. The highest percentage (90%) of the component of perception was actual cooperation and the component of understanding of others’ profession had the lowest percentage (51%). Midwifery students had the highest percentage of perception (92.1%), while the lowest percentage of perception was showed by psychology students (72.2%). The perception tended to increase in perception from first-year (85.7%) to second-year (89.9%) and declined in third-year students (76%).Conclusion: Students of MFAU having a good perception on the IPE implementation. However, there is a lack of understanding of others’ profession that needs to be addressed and improved.                   


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