Traditional teacher-centered methods of lectures and PowerPoint presentations are commonly used when teaching secondary social studies, yet these methods continually prove to be boring for most high school students and neglect to teach critical thinking skills. Student-centered methods are different than teacher-centered methods because these methods incorporate several learning styles, cooperative activities, and even technology in order to engage the student and promote critical thinking skills. Critical thinking is important for students to master because it gives them the skills to move past the obvious and make individual connections with the text. The intent of this thesis was to explore the effectiveness of integrating student-centered methods in high school social studies classrooms as a means of promoting critical thinking skills. All students were given the same pretest and posttests. Students were divided into three groups: one was taught using student-centered methods, one was taught using teacher-centered methods, and one was the control group and was not directly taught by anyone. Based on analyzing students' posttest scores compared to their pre-test scores, student-centered teaching produced a higher average score increase, though all methods had students who scored higher, and students whose scores remained constant. Evidence and student feedback showed that continued future research should be conducted to see if student-centered methods should be used throughout all secondary social studies classrooms to promote critical thinking.

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Данное диссертационное исследование посвящено вопросу развития критического мышления при обучении иностранному языку подростковой аудитории и разработке учебной программы по изучению английского языка с включенным комплексом упражнений на развитие навыков критического мышления. Актуальность исследования определяется рядом причин: требованиями ФГОС 3-го поколения, несоответствием законодательно утвержденной учебно-методической базы требованиям ФГОС; необходимостью организации методической помощи преподавателям иностранного языка в условиях реализации ФГОС нового поколения. Цель исследования – на основе анализа теоретических положений разработать и апробировать рабочую учебную программу с комплексом упражнений для формирования и развития навыков критического мышления у подростковой аудитории на уроках иностранного языка. В главе 1 рассматриваются теоретические, психолого-педагогические и методические основы проблемы развития критического мышления. В главе 2 проводится опытно-экспериментальная разработка и апробация учебной программы для формирования и развития навыков критического мышления у подростковой аудитории на базе УМК “Get Involved A2+”, и приводятся результаты проведения финального проекта, которые могут выступать в качестве образца для создания учебных программ по иностранному языку как для общеобразовательных учреждений, так и для организаций дополнительного образования. / This dissertation research is devoted to the development of critical thinking in teaching a foreign language to a teenage audience and the development of a curriculum for learning English with an included set of exercises for the development of critical thinking skills. The relevance of the study is determined by a number of reasons: the requirements of the 3rd generation of the Federal State Educational Standard, the inconsistency of the legislatively approved educational and methodological framework with the requirements of the Federal State Educational Standard; the need to organize methodological assistance to foreign language teachers in the conditions of the implementation of the new generation of the Federal State Educational Standard. The purpose of the study is to develop and test a working curriculum with a set of exercises for the formation and development of critical thinking skills in a teenage audience at foreign language lessons based on the analysis of theoretical provisions. Chapter 1 discusses the theoretical, psychological, pedagogical and methodological foundations of the problem of the development of critical thinking. In Chapter 2, the experimental development and testing of the curriculum for the formation and development of critical thinking skills in a teenage audience is carried out on the basis of the method “Get Involved A2+”, and the results of the final project are presented, which can serve as a model for creating foreign language curricula for both general education institutions and for organizations of additional education.

In the world of research, the decolonial perspective is not a field to study but a way of thinking and to exist in the world. This perspective sees the current form of "research" as something linked to European imperialism and colonialism in history that, until this day, still overshadows other ways of knowing and creating information (Liebel, 2017).In this qualitative research, we explored how aware of coloniality are international sports students in the Dutch context since Europe was the epicenter of colonialism. What do students know about colonialism and the decolonial perspective? Moreover, do these students consider it necessary to reflect their own knowledge through decolonial perspectives if they have a concept of it? This research aims to investigate the level of awareness among international undergraduate Sport studies science students regarding colonialism and its effects on their education. It further explores to what extent these students are being taught decolonial approaches and critical thinking skills to unbiasedly scrutinize the current world of academia. The research uses an exploratory research design employing a qualitative research method, in-depth semi-structured interviews to collect the data. Semi-structured interviews use a blend of closed and open-ended questions, leaving room for follow-up and how questions and through that can reveal unexpected insights and information throughout the interview (Adams, 2015). The collected data is analyzed by adapting the composite narratives approach by mapping similar information together from various interviews and creating two different story narratives using fictional characters (John and Nicol). The stories are then interpreted based on the theoretical framework of the research, which draws upon a critical perspective on the house of modernity, and epistemological violence. The results revealed that students lack the basic understanding and awareness of the concept of colonialism and its effects on their current education. The Sport studies Bachelors' level education program under investigation is not inclined to go outside the borders of the status quo and does not encourage their students to explore other ways of interpreting information such as the Decolonial perspective and others.

”You can scroll but you can’t hide - a qualitive study of three age groups critique and resistance against sponsored posts on Instagram” Author: Sofia PetterssonCourse: Applied strategic communications The aim of this study is to investigate and try to make sense of the critical thinking and following resistance by three age groups against sponsored posts on Instagram. The theoretical background of the study includes Stuart Halls model of encoding/decoding, and Michel Foucaults abstract theories of power/knowledge. The investigative method through which the empirical materials have been gathered is three focus group interviews with three different age groups — 12-16 years old, 19-29 years old and 30-55 years old. To analyze the statements gathered in the focus group interviews, the method of discourse psychology have been applied to the material. The aim of this was to bring forth the repertoars which the groups use to construct reality according to them, and to try and understand how they construct their own identities, both within the group but also the individual.The results were somewhat inconclusive. The study shows that though the older the more consequential the groups think, the method for resistance varied a lot. The youngest group showed some critical thinking and shows tendencies to avoid the advertisements by leaving Instagram. The problem with this group is that they don’t really know why they do this. And they don’t display any deeper understanding as to why they think the way they do. The group 19-29 years showed a more complex understanding of consequences and their critical thinking is more well rounded. In spite of this, this group doesn't show much resisting behavior. The oldest group was the most critical, and talked about more consequential subjects and problems with this kind of advertising. Furthermore, the oldest group had the most knowledge about the technical structures that the sponsored posts are made of and therefore has the best position for resisting the marketing techniques in place. The study is 42 pages long.

This study examines students' perceptions and ability to think critically within the framework of social studies education. With increasing concern for the survival of democracy and the rapidly changing media landscape, it is increasingly important to understand and promote students' critical thinking skills. The study aims to contribute to an increased understanding of students' critical thinking in social studies teaching and points to the need to develop more differentiated and challenging teaching methods to promote students' ability to think critically in different contexts. It also emphasizes the importance of integrating critical thinking discussions into a broader context of media and information literacy to equip students to navigate the media landscape and contribute to healthy democratic societal development.   Through a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods in a survey, the student's knowledge of critical thinking in different contexts and their ability to apply it in practice were explored. The results showed that students generally had a basic understanding of critical thinking, but had difficulty reaching more advanced levels of critical thinking. When it comes to being able to explain critical thinking in theory, a majority have a basic understanding, mainly related to source criticism. The result of applying it in practice was that a majority could reach a more multifaceted understanding of critical thinking. Specifically, it emerged that the students found it more difficult to apply critical thinking in complex situations and that their ability was to some extent situational depending on the subject. In addition, the results showed challenges students articulated related to navigating through the large flow of information and sifting relevant information from irrelevant or misleading sources.