Abstract
"In this study, it was aimed to investigate the subscales of analysis, inference and evaluation of students’ critical thinking skills in terms of gender, attendance to nursery, number of siblings, birth order of siblings and classroom setting variables. It is a descriptive study in which the quantitative research method is used. The sample of the research consists of 617 students who are studying in fourth grade of 12 primary schools in Gaziantep in the academic year of 2016-2017. The Thinking-Friendly Class Scale developed by Doğanay and Sarı (2012) and the Critical Thinking Scale developed by Demir (2006) were used as data collection tools. T-test, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and correlation analysis were applied in the analysis of the data.
As a result; a significant difference was found in support of female students according to gender and in support of those attending kindergarten in the analysis sub-scale of critical thinking skill. Furthermore, when the sibling rank was examined, it was determined that there was an increase in awareness in support of those who were in the end of the rank. In the inference sub-dimension of critical thinking skills, it was found that there was a significant difference in support of those who went to the kindergarten. In the research, it was also found that the negative relationship between critical thinking and the compulsive student behaviors component of the classroom environment has a bigger effect on thinking than the positive one between critical thinking and the other components of classroom environment; that is, teacher and student behaviors that support thinking.