Critical Thinking and Effective Personality in the Framework of Education for Sustainable Development

According to UNESCO, critical thinking (CT) is a strategic skill for the 21st century, as it is associated with attitudes of personal and social change and improvement. Based on this, the objectives of this study were (1) to find out the possible relationships between CT and effective personality (EP) and (2) to determine the extent to which EP predicts the development of CT in children and adolescents. The research approach was quantitative, correlational and predictive. The sample consisted of 562 Spanish students. The measurement instruments were: (1) the Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory and (2) the Efficacy Personality Questionnaire. The main findings showed that there is a positive relationship between EP and CT, with the traits “being enthusiastic”, “developing positive self-esteem” and “having self-confidence” correlating most strongly with CT. The regression analysis shows that EP influences the development of students’ CT. There were no significant differences according to sex, and Primary Education students obtained higher CT scores. It is concluded that the better the promotion of EP, the greater the CT development will be. This suggests the need to design educational programmes for the improvement of EP, especially in adolescents.

National Webinar on Philosophy and Psychological Review of Thinking Disposition

In addition to the ability to think, students need a thinking disposition to succeed in learning. However, the results of preliminary research indicate that the knowledge of prospective teachers, teachers, and lecturers is still low on thinking dispositions. Therefore, this problem can be solved by conducting a national webinar on dispositions of thinking. Thus, the purpose of this service is to provide participants with an understanding of the philosophical and psychological dispositions of thinking. This service method is in the form of a national webinar, which is a seminar held online. This webinar activity is divided into three stages, namely the material presentation stage, the question and answer stage, and the community service evaluation stage. The results of this community service evaluation show that the percentage of the results of filling out the questionnaire is 81% which means that it is in the very high category. This means that this national webinar activity was very successful in understanding the participants towards a philosophical and psychological review of thinking dispositions. This success is supported by the availability of material, internet signals, and the ability of the presenters to convey the material. Apart from that, there are also inhibiting factors in this seminar activity, namely inadequate material delivery time, signal constraints, and too many presenters.

Critical thinking dispositions’ level among neophyte nursing students

Introduction: Critical thinking dispositions (CTD) are valued across the health professions disciplines being essential for decision-making, critical judgment and managing complex health situations. Promoting critical-thinking dispositions in undergraduate nursing students can support the students to utilize critical thinking during challenging patient care and problem-solving situations. Objective: This study aimed to assess the level of critical thinking disposition among neophyte nursing students in a private nursing college. Methodology: An analytical cross-sectional study design was adopted. Neophyte students (n=98) of the BSN program participated in the study. Critical Thinking Dispositions Scale (CTDS) of 54 items under seven constructs was utilized to assess CTD level. Data was analyzed at descriptive and inferential level using SPSS 23.0 version. Results: Overall, CTD among neophytes nursing students is at 75% a progressive level. Contextual and inquisitiveness construct of CTDs are at positive CTD level while other constructs are at the progressive level. Students have completed their matriculation from public 55(56.1%) while FSc (Faculty of Science) from private sector 57(58.2%). Mothers of most neophytes 73(74.5%) were housewives and fathers were working in private organization 32(32.7%). There was no statistically significant association between CTD’s construct with demographic variables (P-Value, >0.05). FSc marks showed a significant association with overall CTD scores, intellectual and inquisitiveness, while admission entry test scores associate significantly with intellectual construct. Conclusion: The CTD level of neophyte is at a progressive level which suggest that different teaching and learning strategies could be implemented to improve this level.

An investigation into the relationship between fiction and nonfiction reading exposure, and factors of critical thinking

Reading fiction has been associated with improved social and imaginative reasoning that could lead to improved critical thinking. This observational study investigated the relationship between fiction and nonfiction exposure, narrative transportation, and factors of critical thinking (critical thinking disposition, and epistemological orientation). Self-selecting participants (N = 335) completed an online survey including an author recognition test and self-report scales. Fiction scores were significantly associated with higher critical thinking disposition, while nonfiction had an inverse effect correlating with lower disposition. Fiction reading was associated with decreased absolutism, and nonfiction score conversely with higher absolutism. Total and nonfiction print exposure were associated with lower multiplism, with no significant association for fiction. Total and fiction print exposure were associated with higher evaluativism, with no significant association for nonfiction. Narrative transportation mediated some of these relationships. These findings provide a basis for further research into reading fiction and nonfiction, and critical thinking.

Critical Thinking and Its Relevant Factors among Undergraduates

To explore the present status of Critical thinking and its relevant factors among undergraduates.A stratified random sampling was used to select 1013 undergraduates from 7 full-time colleges in Guangdong province. They were investigated with California Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory-Chinese Version (CTDI-CV) and a Self-Compiled Personal General Information Questionnaire. ⑴ The total score of CTDI-CV was (254.16±38.80). The undergraduates in the four levels of critical thinking of comprehensive strong, relatively strong, contradictory scope and serious opposition accounted for 1.78%, 5.31%, 87.4% and 5.51% of this group, respectively. (2) Multiple stepwise linear regression showed that the total score of CTDI-CV was positively correlated with the following 10 factors such as grade, family economic status, part-time experience, the teaching method used most commonly, like reading logic books, like reading reviews or essays, father’s warmth, mother’s warmth, openness and responsibility (β=.142 to .701，all P<.05). The following 5 factors such as father’s negation, father’s overprotection, mother’s negation, mother’s overprotection and neuroticism were negatively correlated with the total score of CTDI-CV (β=-.381 to -. 616, all P < 0.05). The overall level of critical thinking among undergraduates is relatively low. College Students' critical thinking may be related to many factors such as family rearing, school education and personal characteristics.

Who Believes in Conspiracy Theories about the COVID-19 Pandemic in Romania? An Analysis of Conspiracy Theories Believers’ Profiles

The current COVID-19 pandemic has been accompanied by the circulation of an unprecedented amount of “polluted” information, especially in the social media environment, among which are false narratives and conspiracy theories about both the pandemic and vaccination against COVID-19. The effects of such questionable information primarily concern the lack of compliance with restrictive measures and a negative attitude towards vaccination campaigns, as well as more complex social effects, such as street protests or distrust in governments and authorities in general. Even though there is a lot of scholarly attention given to these narratives in many countries, research about the profile of people who are more prone to believe or spread them is rather scarce. In this context, we investigate the role of age, compared with other socio-demographic factors (such as education and religiosity), as well as the role of the media (the frequency of news consumption, the perceived usefulness of social media, and the perceived incidence of fake information about the virus in the media) and the critical thinking disposition of people who tend to believe such misleading narratives. To address these issues, we conducted a national survey (N = 945) in April 2021 in Romania. Using a hierarchical OLS regression model, we found that people who perceive higher incidence of fake news (ß = 0.33, p < 0.001), find social media platforms more useful (ß = 0.13, p < 0.001), have lower education (ß = −0.17, p < 0.001), and have higher levels of religiosity (ß = 0.08, p < 0.05) are more prone to believe COVID-19-related misleading narratives. At the same time, the frequency of news consumption (regardless of the type of media), critical thinking disposition, and age do not play a significant role in the profile of the believer in conspiracy theories about the COVID-19 pandemic. Somewhat surprisingly, age does not play a role in predicting belief in conspiracy theories, even though there are studies that suggest that older people are more prone to believe conspiracy narratives. As far as media is concerned, the frequency of news media consumption does not significantly differ for believers and non-believers. We discuss these results within the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.