Submitted in fulfillment of the requirements of the Master of Accounting Degree: Management Accounting, Durban University of Technology, Durban, South Africa, 2015. / Empirical evidence highlighted the problem of underprepared graduates who lack critical thinking skills required in the work environment. Institutions of higher learning have been mandated to provide graduates with these critical thinking skills. However, in order to achieve this mandate, teaching, and, in particular, assessment practices at institutions of higher learning would need to be rethought and transformed. Integrated assessments that mirror real life situations are particularly useful in the development of critical thinking skills. The purpose of this study is to investigate whether the integrated assessment conducted with the first-year ECP students in the Department of Management Accounting at the Durban University of Technology has enhanced the critical thinking skills of these students. This descriptive and inferential study employed a quantitative strategy, with a quasi-experimental, pre-test, post-test, non-equivalent group design and it was longitudinal in nature. The target population consisted of two groups: all the first-year students registered on the Extended Curriculum Programme in the Department of Management Accounting in 2014, which was approximately 40 students (experimental group); and all the first-year students registered on the Extended Curriculum Programme in the Department of Financial Accounting in 2014, which was approximately 40 students (control group). All five categories of the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal UK edition were administered to both the control and experimental groups in a pre-test and post-test measure. However, only the experimental group was exposed to the integrated assessment. The aim was to measure the change, if any, in the students’ critical thinking skills over a period of time. The findings revealed a statistical significance in the overall post-test scores in favour of the experimental group. The norm group comparisons also revealed that, after the completion of the integrated assessment, the experimental group’s post-test mean scores were higher than the US grade 12 students and were closely matched to the US first year of 4 year colleges. In addition, the experimental group’s pre-and post-test mean scores were closely matched to the SA norm group. These results suggested that the experimental group experienced gains in their critical thinking ability in the post-integrated assessment. It is, therefore, recommended that integrated assessments, which are based on real world problems, should be conducted in the first year and in subsequent years. It is not always possible for universities of technology to offer cooperative education/ in-service training to all students. Contextualized integrated assessments, therefore, bridge this gap by allowing students to experience workplace requirements without physically being in the work environment.

published_or_final_version / Psychology / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

This qualitative case study research examined how constructivist problem-based learning facilitated higher level thinking, increased interest in art, and affected attitude toward on-line courses in an undergraduate philosophical aesthetics and interpretation of art criticism course. The research conducted for this study suggests that constructivist problem-based learning does facilitate higher level thinking and increases student interest in art and in on-line classes. Active learning assignments, along with the constructivist collaborative class atmosphere, encouraged students to think more deeply about their personal values concerning art and to consider alternative views. Problem-based learning in this class acted as a scaffold to aid in understanding the material and then in applying the material to unique and real-life situations. Each subject came to the course with certain thinking skills and left with increased knowledge about art but also with increased critical thinking skills for critically examining and discussing art. Participants completed the course with more confidence in their critical thinking ability and in dealing with visual art images. Data was gathered from seven study participants in the form of highly-structured interviews, an early and final critical writing analysis, a major problem assignment and its reflection journal, a beginning survey, and two final surveys. The final major problem involved an individual proposal followed by a collaborative group proposal. Group collaboration constituted the most frustration and problem within the constructivist design of the class. This research took a relativistic viewpoint in gathering data and interpreting meaning.

To improve students’ scientific literacy and their general perceptions of chemistry, I enacted critical chemistry education (CCE) in two “regular level” chemistry classes with a group of 25 students in a suburban, private high school as part of this study. CCE combined the efforts of critical science educators (Fusco & Calabrese Barton, 2001; Gilbert 2013) with the performance expectations of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) (NGSS Lead States, 2013a) to critically transform the traditional chemistry curriculum at this setting. Essentially, CCE engages students in the critical exploration of socially situated chemistry content knowledge and requires them to demonstrate this knowledge through the practices of science. The purpose of this study was to gauge these students development of chemistry content knowledge, chemistry interest, and critical scientific literacy (CSL) as they engaged in CCE. CSL was a construct developed for this study that necessarily combined the National Research Center’s (2012) definition of scientific literacy with a critical component. As such, CSL entailed demonstrating content knowledge through the practices of science as well as the ability to critically analyze the intersections between science content and socially relevant issues. A mixed methods, critical ethnographic approach framed the collection of data from open-ended questionnaires, focus group interviews, Likert surveys, pre- and post unit tests, and student artifacts. These data revealed three main findings: (1) students began to develop CSL in specific, significant ways working through the activities of CCE, (2) student participants of CCE developed a comparable level of chemistry content understanding to students who participated in a traditional chemistry curriculum, and (3) CCE developed a group of students’ perceptions of interest in chemistry. In addition to being able to teach students discipline specific content knowledge, the implications of this study are that CCE has the ability to affect students’ critical science thinking in positive ways. However, to develop longer lasting, deeper critical insights that students use to participate in science-related issues outside of class, critical science education must be enacted longitudinally and across disciplines. Furthermore, it must be enacted in ways that either prompt or help students to transfer classroom learning outside of the classroom as they engage in critical issues in the classroom.

This thesis uses analytic philosophical inquiry and autobiographical narrative inquiry to identify a conception of critical thinking (CT) that is “most adaptable” for teaching History 12, and then discusses the strengths and limitations. The CT literature includes several conflicting conceptions of CT, and I use two specific types of analytic philosophical inquiry, (conceptual analysis and conceptual structure assessment), to identify which conception is “most adaptable” for teaching History 12. After considering the degree to which each conception meets the criteria developed for the “most adaptable” conception of CT, I conclude that the Critical Thinking Consortium’s (TC²) conception is the most adaptable. Of all the conceptions developed thus far, the TC² approach is unique because it is designed solely as a pedagogical model for embedding CT throughout the curriculum of each subject and grade level. In the second section of the thesis, I use autobiographical narrative inquiry to reflect on the strengths and limitations of the TC² model after using the model to teach History 12 for a year. One of the foundational principles of the TC² conception is the notion that embedding CT throughout the curriculum is a powerful way of improving understanding. I determine that this contention is accurate because students improved their knowledge of the curriculum, the epistemology of history, and the adoption of CT in their everyday lives. Furthermore, use of the TC² conception helped improve my planning and assessment practices, and initiated a positive change of my role in the classroom.

Critical thinking has received much attention among educators, yet remains largely undeveloped in traditional teacher-centred classrooms. Critical thinking is used in at least three major contexts: (1) the media and general public, (2) teacher pedagogy, and (3) academic discourse. Critical thinking must be better understood by individuals within all three levels. The purposes of this study were (1) to obtain an overall sense of what secondary school teachers believed critical thinking to entail; (2) to compare and contrast B.C. and Japanese secondary teachers' conceptions of critical thinking; (3) to investigate the nature of B.C. and Japanese secondary teachers' conceptions of critical thinking with respect to gender, age, teaching experience and subject taught; and (4) to determine whether critical thinking is a significant part of B.C. and Japanese teaching and the curriculum at the secondary level. Over 150 secondary teachers from B.C. and Japan were asked to (1) sort through 50 potential definers denoting possible attributes of critical thinking; (2) rank the 10 most significant to critical thinking; and (3) answer a questionnaire about the nature of critical thinking. The quantitative data, effectively reduced through factor analysis, yielded a five factor solution: Scientific Reasoning, Cognitive Strategizing, Conscientious Judgements, Relevance, and Intellectual Engagement. B.C. teachers conceptualized critical thinking through Cognitive Strategizing and Relevance, while Japanese teachers favoured Conscientious Judgements and Intellectual Engagement. From a synthesis of quantitative and qualitative data from teachers surveyed as well as expert opinion, critical thinking was found to be a process in which an individual is actively engaged in analyzing, reasoning, questioning, and creatively searching for alternatives in an effort to solve a problem or to make a decision or judgement. Teachers indicated that critical thinking was not rote memorization, demonstrating factual knowledge, comprehension or application. It was more than following a given algorithm or set of procedures. While over half the teachers surveyed indicated critical thinking was part of the curriculum and their teaching, many were unable to articulate how to teach it effectively. There were significant differences in teachers' conceptions of critical thinking. Culture accounted for more differences than gender, age, teaching experience, subject area, or the teaching of critical thinking. Using discriminant analysis, 27 definers distinguished between B.C. and Japanese teachers. While B.C. teachers tended to choose "Decision making," "Problem solving," "Divergent thinking," "Metacognitive skills," "Higher order thinking," "Deductive reasoning," and "Identifying/removing bias," Japanese teachers tended to chose "Fairness," "Adequacy," "Objective," "Consistency," "Completeness," Precision," and "Specificity." Over 96 percent of the teachers were correctly classified by culture. Further research is necessary on how to teach critical thinking across the curriculum and successfully integrate it with B.C. and Japanese educational reforms in areas such as curriculum development and teacher training. Critical thinking is a Western expression, yet the concept is not confined to the West. The author proposes the use of a new term for critical thinking with less emphasis on "critical" and more emphasis on "thinking"—kangaeru chikara or "powerful thinking" better encompasses the nature of critical thinking as it is conceived by B.C. and Japan's teachers. Teacher training must incorporate powerful thinking and teachers must model critical thinking, for any effort to reform the structure or organization of education ultimately depends on the effectiveness of the teacher.

This thesis uses analytic philosophical inquiry and autobiographical narrative inquiry to identify a conception of critical thinking (CT) that is “most adaptable” for teaching History 12, and then discusses the strengths and limitations. The CT literature includes several conflicting conceptions of CT, and I use two specific types of analytic philosophical inquiry, (conceptual analysis and conceptual structure assessment), to identify which conception is “most adaptable” for teaching History 12. After considering the degree to which each conception meets the criteria developed for the “most adaptable” conception of CT, I conclude that the Critical Thinking Consortium’s (TC²) conception is the most adaptable. Of all the conceptions developed thus far, the TC² approach is unique because it is designed solely as a pedagogical model for embedding CT throughout the curriculum of each subject and grade level. In the second section of the thesis, I use autobiographical narrative inquiry to reflect on the strengths and limitations of the TC² model after using the model to teach History 12 for a year. One of the foundational principles of the TC² conception is the notion that embedding CT throughout the curriculum is a powerful way of improving understanding. I determine that this contention is accurate because students improved their knowledge of the curriculum, the epistemology of history, and the adoption of CT in their everyday lives. Furthermore, use of the TC² conception helped improve my planning and assessment practices, and initiated a positive change of my role in the classroom.

The diploma thesis called RWCT in Teaching English discusses the possibilities of utilization of activating methods of the Reading and Writing for Critical Thinking programme in teaching English. The thesis is divided into two parts - the theoretic and practical. In the theoretic part, it presents the RWCT programme, the three-stage E - R - R learning cycle and different activating methods. In the practical part, it examines the application of the three-stage learning cycle into English lessons at elementary school. It is based on ten lesson plans and its aim is to show how the RWCT programme with the educational three-stage learning cycle E - R - R can be used in English classes.

This thesis uses analytic philosophical inquiry and autobiographical narrative inquiry to identify a conception of critical thinking (CT) that is “most adaptable” for teaching History 12, and then discusses the strengths and limitations. The CT literature includes several conflicting conceptions of CT, and I use two specific types of analytic philosophical inquiry, (conceptual analysis and conceptual structure assessment), to identify which conception is “most adaptable” for teaching History 12. After considering the degree to which each conception meets the criteria developed for the “most adaptable” conception of CT, I conclude that the Critical Thinking Consortium’s (TC²) conception is the most adaptable. Of all the conceptions developed thus far, the TC² approach is unique because it is designed solely as a pedagogical model for embedding CT throughout the curriculum of each subject and grade level. In the second section of the thesis, I use autobiographical narrative inquiry to reflect on the strengths and limitations of the TC² model after using the model to teach History 12 for a year. One of the foundational principles of the TC² conception is the notion that embedding CT throughout the curriculum is a powerful way of improving understanding. I determine that this contention is accurate because students improved their knowledge of the curriculum, the epistemology of history, and the adoption of CT in their everyday lives. Furthermore, use of the TC² conception helped improve my planning and assessment practices, and initiated a positive change of my role in the classroom. / Education, Faculty of (Okanagan) / Graduate

Critical thinking has received much attention among educators, yet remains largely undeveloped in traditional teacher-centred classrooms. Critical thinking is used in at least three major contexts: (1) the media and general public, (2) teacher pedagogy, and (3) academic discourse. Critical thinking must be better understood by individuals within all three levels. The purposes of this study were (1) to obtain an overall sense of what secondary school teachers believed critical thinking to entail; (2) to compare and contrast B.C. and Japanese secondary teachers' conceptions of critical thinking; (3) to investigate the nature of B.C. and Japanese secondary teachers' conceptions of critical thinking with respect to gender, age, teaching experience and subject taught; and (4) to determine whether critical thinking is a significant part of B.C. and Japanese teaching and the curriculum at the secondary level. Over 150 secondary teachers from B.C. and Japan were asked to (1) sort through 50 potential definers denoting possible attributes of critical thinking; (2) rank the 10 most significant to critical thinking; and (3) answer a questionnaire about the nature of critical thinking. The quantitative data, effectively reduced through factor analysis, yielded a five factor solution: Scientific Reasoning, Cognitive Strategizing, Conscientious Judgements, Relevance, and Intellectual Engagement. B.C. teachers conceptualized critical thinking through Cognitive Strategizing and Relevance, while Japanese teachers favoured Conscientious Judgements and Intellectual Engagement. From a synthesis of quantitative and qualitative data from teachers surveyed as well as expert opinion, critical thinking was found to be a process in which an individual is actively engaged in analyzing, reasoning, questioning, and creatively searching for alternatives in an effort to solve a problem or to make a decision or judgement. Teachers indicated that critical thinking was not rote memorization, demonstrating factual knowledge, comprehension or application. It was more than following a given algorithm or set of procedures. While over half the teachers surveyed indicated critical thinking was part of the curriculum and their teaching, many were unable to articulate how to teach it effectively. There were significant differences in teachers' conceptions of critical thinking. Culture accounted for more differences than gender, age, teaching experience, subject area, or the teaching of critical thinking. Using discriminant analysis, 27 definers distinguished between B.C. and Japanese teachers. While B.C. teachers tended to choose "Decision making," "Problem solving," "Divergent thinking," "Metacognitive skills," "Higher order thinking," "Deductive reasoning," and "Identifying/removing bias," Japanese teachers tended to chose "Fairness," "Adequacy," "Objective," "Consistency," "Completeness," Precision," and "Specificity." Over 96 percent of the teachers were correctly classified by culture. Further research is necessary on how to teach critical thinking across the curriculum and successfully integrate it with B.C. and Japanese educational reforms in areas such as curriculum development and teacher training. Critical thinking is a Western expression, yet the concept is not confined to the West. The author proposes the use of a new term for critical thinking with less emphasis on "critical" and more emphasis on "thinking"—kangaeru chikara or "powerful thinking" better encompasses the nature of critical thinking as it is conceived by B.C. and Japan's teachers. Teacher training must incorporate powerful thinking and teachers must model critical thinking, for any effort to reform the structure or organization of education ultimately depends on the effectiveness of the teacher. / Education, Faculty of / Educational Studies (EDST), Department of / Graduate