The critical thinking skills of prospective teachers: Investigating their systematicity, self-confidence and scepticism
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Date
2020-06-16
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Thinking Skills and Creativity
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 dimension—systematicity, self-confidence and scepticism. Overall, the results indicated 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
NIL
Keywords
Critical thinking skills, Prospective teachers, Self-confidence, Scepticism, Systematicity
Citation
APA 6th Edition