Hello to all,
I wonder if there is a validated instrument that can measure critical thinking in secondary senior students. This will be used to demonstrate a pedagogical method efficacy which is intended to raise students critical thinking. If there is need of more data, please, I will appreciate it.
Here is a method we have used to evaluate critical thinking. I think it would work for any age group.
Data Content Analysis of Critical Thinking
Here are a few resources. The first is a review paper authored by specialists at ETS. It focuses mainly on higher education, but some of the measures reviewed can be used on the secondary level. The second is a commercially published measure, the Test of Everyday Reasoning, that purports to do exactly what you want. The third describes another such measure, published by a nonprofit group: the College & Work Readiness Assessment (CWRA). I am not so familiar with these two tests as to feel confident in reviewing them, but they are at least carefully constructed by people who have the right kind of expertise.
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ets2.12009/pdf
https://www.insightassessment.com/Products/Products-Summary/Critical-Thinking-Skills-Tests/Test-of-Everyday-Reasoning-TER
http://cae.org/images/uploads/pdf/Introduction_to_CWRA_Plus.pdf
Thank you for your kindness Stephen. I am sure they´re valuable resources.
Yrma
Hello Yrma:
The best work on this subject is:
Liu, O. L., Frankel, L., & Roohr, K. C. (2014). Assessing Critical Thinking in Higher Education: Current State and Directions for Next‐Generation Assessment. ETS Research Report Series.[MT1]
. . . which has references to different kinds of critical thinking test. According to my research there are basically three approaches 1) the IQ school 2) educational and 3) philosophical, as manifested in the works of Paul and Elder, (see biblio). Unfortunately the philosophical school has had too much influence on the education school. In any event, here's the bibliography, and the IQ school tends to be racist:
Critical Thinking can be defined by IQ Tests theory
Burbules, N. C., & Berk, R. (1999). Critical thinking and critical pedagogy: Relations, differences, and limits. Critical theories in education: Changing terrains of knowledge and politics, 45-65.
Herrnstein, R. J., & Murray, C. (2010). Bell curve: Intelligence and class structure in American life. Simon and Schuster.[MT1]
Critical Thinking can be measured by standardized tests theory
Benjamin, Robert; Chun, Marc (2003). "A new field of dreams: The Collegiate Learning Assessment Project". Peer Review 5 (4), 26–29.
Hyytinen[MT2] , H., Nissinen, K., Ursin, J., Toom, A., & Lindblom-Ylänne, S. (2015). Problematising the equivalence of the test results of performance-based critical thinking tests for undergraduate students. Studies in Educational Evaluation, 44, 1-8.
The McGraw Hill Multiple Choice Questionnaire (MCQ) can be retrieved at: http://highered.mheducation.com/sites/0767417399/student_view0/chapter5/multiple_choice_quiz.html
Liu, O. L., Frankel, L., & Roohr, K. C. (2014). Assessing Critical Thinking in Higher Education: Current State and Directions for Next‐Generation Assessment. ETS Research Report Series.[MT3]
Other Educational (Constructivist?)
Halpern, D. F. (2014). Critical Thinking Across the Curriculum: A Brief Edition of Thought & Knowledge. Routledge.
Weigel, V. B. (2002). Deep Learning for a Digital Age: Technology's Untapped Potential To Enrich Higher Education. Jossey-Bass, [MT5]
Philosophical approaches
For Paul and Elder’s humanist and philosophical approach including ethical values
Paul, R., & Elder, L. (2013). Critical thinking: Tools for taking charge of your professional and personal life. Pearson Education.
See Website
http://www.criticalthinking.org/pages/center-for-critical-thinking/401
Testing instrument: International Critical Thinking Essay Test
http://www.criticalthinking.org/store/products/international-critical-thinking-essay-test/185[MT4]
Wow! Thank you Michael for taking your time. It is really a lot of information you provide me that I will start right away to read them. I am sure they will help a lot in my interest.
Kind regards,
Yrma
The Liu et al. piece to which Michael refers is the ETS report I mentioned. I notice now that the link I provided for that one does not function. But here is a copy of the full article.
I am glad to see these resources on critical thinking. This is a subject I am interested in.
Critical thinking is a soft skill and also categorized as a lifelong skill.Though this may be quite a challenge to measure, THE CRITICAL THINKING COMMUNITY on line should be able to shed light for some validated instruments or where you can derive an idea should you decide to devise an instrument to measure critical thinking. Since critical thinking has many components, it is best to have an extensive literature on critical thinking where you can base your choice of items and constructs in the validated instrument that are suited for secondary senior students. Ideally, not more than 50% should be deleted nor added in the validated instrument. Acknowledging the source is vital.
It's delightful to find professionals that share their own experience-based perspectives and their plenty of knowledge on the topic. Thank you Andrew. You have brought up a point that I think should be addressed carefully. I will regard it.
I would say that critical thinking is domain specific, so it would be impossible to only have one measure of critical thinking. Critical thinking in music is essentially different than critical thinking in language arts.
Critical thinking can be assessed by using the national exams, which are standardized to a certain point. However, they are domain-specific and do not measure critical thinking alone. You can also use standardized neuroscintific tests, such as the Cogmed test, to measure critical thinking. You can find free test versions of it on the internet.
A CHEAP AND EASY METHOD FOR "TEACHING" CRITICAL THINKING IN A DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY COURSE
http://www.sdbonline.org/sites/archive/SDBEduca/dany_adams/critical_thinking.html
An interesting tool to assess and develop students' critical thinking
https://www.macat.com/critical-thinking-educators
The interplay between reflective thinking, critical thinking, self-monitoring, and academic achievement in higher education
Afsaneh Ghanizadeh
Higher Education 74 (1), 101-114, 2017
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10734-016-0031-y
This one is validated for assessing divergent thinking in Spanish secondary education students: Artola, T., Barraca, J., Martín, C., Mosteiro, P., Ancillo, I. and Poveda, B. (2008). PIC-J. Prueba de Imaginación Creativa para Jóvenes. Madrid: TEA Ediciones.
Hi, I would like to highlight this recent methodology that sounds very promising for native English speakers: Article “Forward Flow”: A New Measure to Quantify Free Thought and P...
One of the authors is Yoed Kenett, who worked extensively also on networks of free associations for quantifying high and low creativity levels across individuals.
I would suggest looking at these:
https://www.researchgate.net/post/Open-source_instruments_to_assess_critical_thinking_skills_of_Grade_4_students2
https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1757-899X/349/1/012066/pdf
Critical thinking is unique to each discipline, so I would say that there is not a universal assessment of critical thinking. See McPeck, J. E. (1981) Critical thinking and education. Oxford: Martin Robertson and Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences.
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