Understanding critical thinking: A comparative analysis between university students' and teachers' conception

Critical thinking is a key competence in higher education. However, little is known about the conception that students have of this competence. This study aims to analyze what university students understand by critical thinking and if these conceptions agree with those of university teachers analyze...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: María José Bezanilla (Author), Hector Galindo-Domínguez (Author), Lucía Campo (Author), Donna Fernández-Nogueira (Author), Manuel Poblete Ruiz (Author)
Format: Book
Published: Universidad de Deusto, 2023-05-01T00:00:00Z.
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Summary:Critical thinking is a key competence in higher education. However, little is known about the conception that students have of this competence. This study aims to analyze what university students understand by critical thinking and if these conceptions agree with those of university teachers analyzed in a previous study. A total of 263 participants took part in the study. The findings reveal that students tend to consider critical thinking as a competence related to reasoning/arguing and questioning/asking oneself. Also, that students' conception about critical thinking differs from that of teachers. Whereas students tend to consider critical thinking as related to reasoning/arguing, questioning/asking oneself and, to a lesser extent, to acting/compromising. Teachers, on the other hand, tend to consider critical thinking as related to analyzing/organizing and evaluating. No significant differences were found regarding students' gender and academic year. These results highlight the importance of considering students' views when designing the curricula and the learning activities to develop students' critical thinking. Received: 30 June 2022 Accepted: 6 March 2023
Item Description:10.18543/tjhe.2515
2340-8170
2386-3137