The effects of curricular programs on aspects of critical thinking as applied to writing.

摘要

Critical thinking skills are necessary components of school achievement and standards-based instruction. Authors have defined critical thinking as the types of classroom behaviors that students exhibit while performing academic tasks. Bloom et al.'s (1956) continuum of thinking skills and the resulting Bloom's Taxonomy has been adapted and expanded over the years to introduce students to challenging tasks. Finding the best approach to teaching critical thinking to all students will benefit students and school systems in meeting federal requirements and performance assessments.;The purpose of this study was to determine if there were differences in the effects of curricular interventions on the critical thinking skills of fourth grade students. A quasi-experimental pre-post test assessment study was designed to answer three research questions related to this purpose. An experimental group participated in a critical thinking program that emphasized more explicit instructional techniques and expectations for the students. The comparison group participated in a critical thinking program that emphasized infused instructional techniques.;Analysis of Covariance with two covariates (pretest and poverty) was used to study mean posttest scores and account for differences between the groups. Critical thinking posttest scores in each of three critical thinking areas was measured by the Stanford Writing Assessment Program, and assessed by trained scorers.;There were statistically significant differences between the scores of the experimental and control groups on each of the three Research Questions. R squared figures demonstrated that one-third of the variance in each of the posttest scores was accounted for by the variables of group and poverty. An analysis of posttest critical thinking scores indicated that the method of instruction was an important factor in the determination of students' critical thinking. Poverty could not be ruled out as having had an effect upon students' test-score performance. Traditional factors that were previously thought to influence critical thinking, such as participation in a gifted and talented program and prior student achievement were less influential than the curriculum, professional development for teachers, and the means of assessment.