Teaching Methodologies Used for Learning Critical Thinking in Higher Education: Pakistani Teachers' Perceptions

Zamir, Samina; Yang, Zhang; Sarwar, Uzma; Maqbool, Samra; Fazal, Kiran; Zafeer, Hafiz Muhammad Ihsan; Arif, Anshra

:: International Transaction Journal of Engineering, Management, & Applied Sciences & Technologies

http://TuEngr.com

ISSN 2228-9860
eISSN 1906-9642
CODEN: ITJEA8

FEATURE PEER-REVIEWED ARTICLE

Vol.12(5) (2021)

Teaching Methodologies Used for Learning Critical Thinking in Higher Education: Pakistani Teachers' Perceptions

Samina Zamir, Zhang Yang, Uzma Sarwar, Samra Maqbool, Kiran Fazal, Hafiz Muhammad Ihsan Zafeer (School of Education, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an, 710062, P.R. CHINA),
Anshra Arif (Government Zainab Degree College for Women, Multan, PAKISTAN).

Disciplinary: Higher Education (Teaching Methodologies, Learning Critical Thinking Study).
➤ FullText

doi: 10.14456/ITJEMAST.2021.90

Keywords: Teaching method; Teaching technique; University teaching; University learning; Pakistan higher education; Storytelling; Professor's perception; Telling lecture; Critical thinking concepts; Presentations (verbal reports and speeches); Writing assignments; Argumentation; Effective teaching strategy; Discussion.
Abstract

Critical thinking is a type of ability that students need in their personal and professional life. Therefore, universities must do their utmost to include it in the syllabus, curriculum, and programs. However, since there is no clear definition of this ability, there is still much work to be done, and new positive methods need to be strengthened to develop this ability. This article first reviews the main methods used to teach this ability and then analyzes the main methods used in the classroom by 600 university teachers from Pakistan and the methods they believe are more effective for developing critical thinking. This information contrasts with these teachers' critical thinking concepts and is based on twelve different conceptual categories that have been discovered in previous studies. Chi-square test and Cohen's Kappa test were used for data analysis. The research results show that there are three main methods that teachers practice and cogitate the most helping: Telling lecture, storytelling, discussion; Argumentation, presentations (verbal reports and speeches), and Writing assignments, essays; no matter what, kind of critical thinking they have. There are some other tendencies observed in critical thinking, despite the difference in methodology and concepts. Also, the teachers use and find the most effective methods have a significant relationship between them. Finally, this research proposes the enlightenment of critical thinking on curriculum design and its implementation.

Paper ID: 12A5F

Cite this article:

Zamir, S., Zhang, Y., Sarwar, U., Maqbool, S., Fazal, K., Zafeer, H. M. I., and Arif, A. (2021). Teaching Methodologies Used for Learning Critical Thinking in Higher Education: Pakistani Teachers' Perceptions. International Transaction Journal of Engineering, Management, & Applied Sciences & Technologies, 12(5), 12A5F, 1-10. http://doi.org/10.14456/ITJEMAST.2021.90

References

Ahrari, S., Samah, B. A., Hassan, M. S. H. B., Wahat, N. W. A., & Zaremohzzabieh, Z. (2016). Deepening critical thinking skills through civic engagement in Malaysian higher education. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 22, 121-128.
Alwehaibi, H. U. (2012). Novel program to promote critical thinking among higher education students: Empirical study from Saudi Arabia. Asian Social Science, 8(11), 193.
Angel, B. F., Duffey, M., & Belyea, M. (2000). An evidence-based project for evaluating strategies to improve knowledge acquisition and critical-thinking performance in nursing students. Journal of Nursing Education, 39(5), 219-228.
Arslan, R., Gulveren, H., & Aydin, E. (2014). A research on critical thinking tendencies and factors that affect critical thinking of higher education students. International Journal of Business and Management, 9(5), 43.
Arum, R., & Roksa, J. (2011). Limited learning on college campuses. Society, 48(3), 203.
Bezanilla, M. J., Fernandez-Nogueira, D., Poblete, M., & Galindo-Dominguez, H. (2019). Methodologies for teaching-learning critical thinking in higher education: The teacher's view. Thinking skills and creativity, 33, 100584.
Cargas, S., Williams, S., & Rosenberg, M. (2017). An approach to teaching critical thinking across disciplines using performance tasks with a common rubric. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 26, 24-37.
Crenshaw, P., Hale, E., & Harper, S. L. (2011). Producing intellectual labor in the classroom: The utilization of a critical thinking model to help students take command of their thinking. Journal of College Teaching & Learning (TLC), 8(7), 13-26.
Duron, R., Limbach, B., & Waugh, W. (2006). Critical thinking framework for any discipline. International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, 17(2), 160-166.
Egege, S., & Kutieleh, S. (2004). Critical Thinking: Teaching Foreign Notions to Foreign Students. International Education Journal, 4(4), 75-85.
Franco, A. R., Costa, P. S., Butler, H. A., & Almeida, L. S. (2017). Assessment of undergraduates' real-world outcomes of critical thinking in everyday situations. Psychological reports, 120(4), 707-720.
Grohs, J. R., Kirk, G. R., Soledad, M. M., & Knight, D. B. (2018). Assessing systems thinking: A tool to measure complex reasoning through ill-structured problems. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 28, 110-130.
Gujjar, A. A., Naoreen, B., Saifi, S., & Bajwa, M. J. (2010). Teaching Practice: Problems and Issues in Pakistan. International Online Journal of Educational Sciences, 2(2).
Lauer, T. (2005). Teaching critical-thinking skills using course content material. Journal of College Science Teaching, 34(6), 34.
Lin, M., Preston, A., Kharrufa, A., & Kong, Z. (2016). Making L2 learners' reasoning skills visible: The potential of computer supported collaborative learning environments. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 22, 303-322.
Lloyd, M., & Bahr, N. (2010). Thinking critically about critical thinking in higher education. International journal for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, 4(2).
Makhene, A. (2017). Argumentation: A methodology to facilitate critical thinking. International Journal of Nursing Education Scholarship, 1.
Martyn, J., Terwijn, R., Kek, M. Y., & Huijser, H. (2014). Exploring the relationships between teaching, approaches to learning and critical thinking in a problem-based learning foundation nursing course. Nurse education today, 34(5), 829-835.
Moeti, B., Mgawi, R. K., & Moalosi, W. T. S. (2017). Critical Thinking among Post-Graduate Diploma in Education Students in Higher Education: Reality or Fuss? Journal of Education and Learning, 6(2), 13-24.
Noblitt, L., Vance, D. E., & Smith, M. L. D. (2010). A Comparison of Case Study and Traditional Teaching Methods for Improvement of Oral Communication and Critical-Thinking Skills. Journal of College Science Teaching, 39(5).
Nold, H. (2017). Using Critical Thinking Teaching Methods to Increase Student Success: An Action Research Project. International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, 29(1), 17-32.
Orique, S. B., & McCarthy, M. A. (2015). Critical thinking and the use of nontraditional instructional methodologies. Journal of Nursing Education, 54(8), 455-459.
Rashid, S., & Qaisar, S. (2016). Developing Critical Thinking through Questioning Strategy among Fourth Grade Students. Bulletin of Education and Research, 38(2), 153-168.
Saeed, T., Khan, S., Ahmed, A., Gul, R., Cassum, S., & Parpio, Y. (2012). Development of students' critical thinking: the educators' ability to use questioning skills in the baccalaureate programmes in nursing in Pakistan. Journal of the Pakistan Medical Association, 62(3), 200.
Sharples, J. M., Oliver, S., Oxman, A. D., Mahtani, K. R., Chalmers, I., Collins, K., Austvoll-Dahlgren, A., & Hoffman, T. (2017). Critical thinking: A core skill within education and healthcare. Profession, 18, 19.
Smolarek, B. B., & Hora, M. T. (2016). Examining How Faculty Reflect on Instructional Data: A Call for Critical Awareness and Institutional Support. WCER Working Paper No. 2016-4. Wisconsin Center for Education Research.
Wilson, K. (2016). Critical reading, critical thinking: delicate scaffolding in. Education, 32, 205-214.

Other issues:
Vol.12(4)(2021)
Vol.12(3)(2021)
Vol.12(2)(2021)
Archives

Call-for-Papers

Call-for-Scientific Papers
Call-for-Research Papers: ITJEMAST invites you to submit high quality papers for full peer-review and possible publication in areas pertaining engineering, science, management and technology, especially interdisciplinary/cross-disciplinary/multidisciplinary subjects.

To publish your work in the next available issue, your manuscripts together with copyright transfer document signed by all authors can be submitted via email to Editor @ TuEngr.com (please see all detail from Instructions for Authors)

Publication and peer-reviewed process:
After the peer-review process, articles will be on-line published in the available next issue. However, the International Transaction Journal of Engineering, Management, & Applied Sciences & Technologies cannot guarantee the exact publication time as the process may take longer time, subject to peer-review approval and adjustment of the submitted articles.