The Critical Thinking Skills of Prospective Teachers: Investigating their Systematicity, Self-confidence and Scepticism
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Date
2020-05-03
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Elsevier
Abstract
Recently, researchers have shown an increased interest in studying about Critical Thinking Skills
(CTSs). Indeed, the theme has become one of the most significant current discussions amongst
many other international agendas. Given the perceived importance of CTSs in this 21st century,
we investigated the CTSs of prospective teachers. The aim was to investigate the extent to which
prospective teachers possess CTSs. Moreover, the study examined factors influencing CTSs of
prospective teachers. The study sample (n = 965) was comprised of first, second and final-year
students from one of the teacher education universities in Tanzania. The CTSs were measured
using three dimensions—systematicity, self-confidence and scepticism. Overall, the results in dicated that prospective teachers had higher mean scores in systematicity and scepticism, but
significantly lower mean scores in self-confidence. Also, factors such as parents’ education,
parents’ occupation and year of study were significantly related to at least one dimension of CTSs.
For instance, father’s education positively and significantly predicted prospective teachers’ scores
on scepticism. These results have far-reaching implications for policy and future research.
Description
Keywords
Critical thinking skills Prospective teachers Self-confidence Scepticism Systematicity
Citation
Kavenuke, P.S., Kinyota, M., & Kayombo, J.J. (2020). The Critical Thinking Skills of Prospective Teachers: Investigating their Systematicity, Self-confidence and Scepticism. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 37, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tsc.2020.100677.