A Study on High School Students’ Critical Thinking Skills

Abstract

The aim of this non-experimental quantitative study which employed a survey design was to determine the level of high school students’ CT skills and to investigate if high school students’ critical thinking (CT) skills differ by gender, father and mother’s educational background, age, and grade level. Critical Thinking Skill Test for High School Students was used to collect data in this study carried out with 603 high school students. As a result of the study, it was found out that students had high CT skills in terms of each sub-tests. Also, it was found out that students’ CT skills significantly differed by gender and educational background of their father and mother. Females and students who have a father and mother with higher educational degrees had higher CT skills. However, age and grade level did not significantly affect students’ each sub-test scores and total test scores. These results of the current study were confirmed by the huge body of previous literature.

Keywords

• Critical thinking skills
• gender
• age
• demographic variables
• high school students

Lise Öğrencilerinin Eleştirel Düşünme Becerileri Üzerine Bir Çalışma

Abstract

Tarama modelinin kullanıldığı deneysel olmayan bu nicel çalışmanın amacı lise öğrencilerinin eleştirel düşünme (ED) beceri düzeylerinin belirlenmesi ve bu beceri düzeylerinin cinsiyet, anne ve baba eğitim durumu, yaş ve sınıf düzeyi değişkenlerine göre farklılaşıp farklılaşmadığının incelenmesidir. 603 lise öğrencisi ile yürütülen bu çalışmada veriler Lise Öğrencileri için Eleştirel Düşünme Testi ile toplanmıştır. Çalışmanın sonucunda lise öğrencilerinin bütün alt testler açısından ED becerilerinin yüksek düzeyde olduğu bulunmuştur. Ayrıca, öğrencilerin ED becerileri cinsiyet ve anne ve babanın eğitim düzeyi değişkenlerine göre anlamlı bir şekilde farklılaşmaktadır. Kadın ve daha yüksek bir eğitim kademesinden mezun olmuş anne ya da babaya sahip öğrencilerin ED becerileri daha yüksektir. Ancak, yaş ve sınıf düzeyi öğrencilerin alt test ve toplam test puanlarını anlamlı bir şekilde etkilememektedir. Çalışmada elde edilen bu sonuçlar literatürde bulunan birçok çalışmanın sonuçlarıyla örtüşmektedir.

Keywords

• Eleştirel düşünme becerileri
• cinsiyet
• yaş
• demografik değişkenler
• lise öğrencileri

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