ASSOCIATION OF CRITICAL THINKING AND CURRICULUM FOR COLLEGE STUDENTS; A CHALLENGE FOR DEVELOPING COUNTRIES TO ACHIEVE SDG FOUR
Abstract
Background: Present challenge for sustainable development goal four is quality of education for all. Critical thinking is the most important skill that an educational institute gives to students and it should be learning outcome at all levels of education. This study aimed to identify critical thinking and its association with curriculum among college students of Rawalpindi, Pakistan. Methods: It was cross-sectional study with 400 college students from federal and Cambridge system selected by multistage random sampling. Structured questionnaire was used with two sections, i.e., demographic and Cornell critical thinking version X. Cronbach's alpha was 0.85. Chi square test of association was used for overall and stratified data for inferential analysis. Results: Study showed that overall, 64% of students had high critical thinking (40.2±10.4). Chi-square test of independence showed significant relation of critical thinking with curriculum, family economic status, being first child, extra-curricular activities, availability of school playground and career counselling services to the students (p-value <0.05). Stratified analysis showed gender and availability of play ground to be associated with critical thinking for federal while for Cambridge system, living with single or both parents, working status of father, sports week and school playground were significantly associated. Conclusion: Overall results suggested that curriculum does have an effect on the critical thinking of students along with facilities available at school. There is need to synergize theoretical and practical approaches in all curriculums to reduce educational inequities. It is needed for growth of our students and to achieve SDG 4 (to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education) in true spirit.
Keywords: Critical thinking; Cornell critical thinking tool; Curriculum; Students; Cambridge system; Federal system; PakistanReferences
SDG Compass. Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote life-long learning opportunities for all. [Internet]. United Nations Global Compact; 2015 [cited 2018 Dec 25]. Available from: https://sdgcompass.org/sdgs/sdg-4/
Glaser EM. Defining Critical Thinking. California: [Internet]. The foundation for critical thinking 2019. [cited 2018 Sep 27]. Available from: https://www.criticalthinking.org/pages/defining-critical-thinking/766
Kelly AV. The curriculum: theory and practice. 5th ed. London; Thousand Oaks, Calif: Sage Publications, 2004; p. 255.
Hursen C. The impact of curriculum developed in line with authentic learning on the teacher candidate's success, attitude and self-directed learning skills. Asia Pac Educ Rev 2016;17(1):73-86.
Wiles JW. Leading curriculum development. Corwin press; 2008.
Ennis RH. Critical Thinking Across the Curriculum: A Vision. Springer 2018;37(1):165-84.
Dewey J, Null W. Kait, Kappa Delta Pi International Honor Society in education 1925. [Internet]. [cited 2018 Oct 1st]. Available from: https://www.kdp.org/aboutkdp/laureates/deweyjohn.php
Ennis RH. Critical thinking assessment. Theory Pract 1993;32(3):179-18.
Ennis RH. Critical Thinking and Subject Specificity: Clarification and Needed Research. Educ Res 1989;18(3):4-10.
HEC. Pakistan Qualification Frame Work. [Internet]. Higher Education Commission. [cited 2018 Nov 3]. Available from: http://hec.gov.pk/english/services/universities/pqf/Pages/default.aspx
Vazir N. Curriculum as practiced in Pakistan. J Educ Res 2003;6(1-2):177-83.
Heidari M, Ebrahimi P. Examining the relationship between critical-thinking skills and decision-making ability of emergency medicine students. Indian J Crit Care Med 2016;20(10):581-6.
Baki NU, Rafik-Galea S, Nimehchisalem V. Malaysian Rural ESL Students Critical Thinking Literacy Level: A Case Study. Int J Educ Lit Stud 2016;4(4):71-80.
Boucif M. Evaluating the Effects of School Curriculum on Students' Critical Thinking Skills. Dubai: The british University; 2014.
Mortellaro C. Exploring Factors Influencing Critical Thinking Skills in Undergraduate Nursing Students: A Mixed Methods Study. Seton Hall University; 2015.
Fook PT, Mustafa MC, Teck WK. The Relationships between Influencing Factors and Critical Thinking Skills among Undergraduates of Early Childhood Education in Public Tertiary Institutions. Int J Acad Res Bus Soc Sci 2018;8(2):610-22.
Myers BE, Dyer JE. The influence of student learning style on critical thinking skill. J Agric Educ 2006;47(1):43.
Kettler T. Critical Thinking Skills Among Elementary School Students : Comparing Identified Gifted and General Education Student Performance. Gift Child Q 2014;58(2):127-36.
Arslan R, Gulveren H, Aydin E. A Research on Critical Thinking Tendencies and Factors that Affect Critical Thinking of Higher Education Students. Int J Bus Manag 2014;9(5):43-59.
Huang L, Wang Z, Yao Y, Shan C, Wang H, Zhu M, et al. Exploring the association between parental rearing styles and medical students' critical thinking disposition in China. BMC Med Educ 2015;15:88.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Journal of Ayub Medical College, Abbottabad is an OPEN ACCESS JOURNAL which means that all content is FREELY available without charge to all users whether registered with the journal or not. The work published by J Ayub Med Coll Abbottabad is licensed and distributed under the creative commons License CC BY ND Attribution-NoDerivs. Material printed in this journal is OPEN to access, and are FREE for use in academic and research work with proper citation. J Ayub Med Coll Abbottabad accepts only original material for publication with the understanding that except for abstracts, no part of the data has been published or will be submitted for publication elsewhere before appearing in J Ayub Med Coll Abbottabad. The Editorial Board of J Ayub Med Coll Abbottabad makes every effort to ensure the accuracy and authenticity of material printed in J Ayub Med Coll Abbottabad. However, conclusions and statements expressed are views of the authors and do not reflect the opinion/policy of J Ayub Med Coll Abbottabad or the Editorial Board.
USERS are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles, or use them for any other lawful purpose, without asking prior permission from the publisher or the author. This is in accordance with the BOAI definition of open access.
AUTHORS retain the rights of free downloading/unlimited e-print of full text and sharing/disseminating the article without any restriction, by any means including twitter, scholarly collaboration networks such as ResearchGate, Academia.eu, and social media sites such as Twitter, LinkedIn, Google Scholar and any other professional or academic networking site.
