Title from PDF of title page (University of Missouri--Columbia, viewed on Feb 15, 2010). The entire thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file; a non-technical public abstract appears in the public.pdf file. Dissertation advisor: Dr. James Laffey Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2001. / Study conducted with college students in Hawaii, using items from the California Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory (CCTDI) and the Self-Construal Scale (SCS). Includes bibliographical references (leaves 146-171). Also available on microfiche.

Thesis--PlanB (Ed. Spec.)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references.

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Science in Information Technology in Education

The dialogical theory of critical thinking I develop in this thesis portrays critical thinking fundamentally as a social practice. Yet in saying this I am not suggesting that critical thinking is a form of practical reason - to be contrasted with some notion of theoretical or pure reason - rather, I shall be seeking to do away with the dichotomy. In this sense the thesis falls within the domain of the postmodern, reflecting a general reappraisal of the relationship between mind and body, thinking and experience, individual and community. One of the central issues I seek to address is the way in which critical thinking is connected to personal identity on the one hand and to general principles and constraints on the other. These constraints will be both epistemic and moral. In characterizing critical thinking as a form of human activity, I suggest that critical thinking needs to be grounded not only in a theory of epistemology, but in a theory of persons. In characterizing critical thinking as a reflexive activity - involving reflection and deliberation - I suggest that we also need to ground it in a theory of self. In suggesting that persons and selves have uniqueness or autonomy, I suggest that a dialogical conception of critical thinking needs to accommodate plurality. Finally, in seeing critical thinking as a value, and not merely as a utility, I come to characterize critical thinking in terms of virtues.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--University of Nebraska--Lincoln, 1993. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--Illinois State University, 1988. / Title from title page screen, viewed September 13, 2005. Dissertation Committee: John V. Godbold (chair), Dennis G. Kelly, Patricia H. Klass, Walter D. Pierce. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 100-108) and abstract. Also available in print.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Tennessee Technological University, 2007. / Bibliography: leaves 49-55.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1947. / Typescript. Vita. eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 205-210).

This one-semester pretest-posttest case study of 3rd and 5th year female preservice teachers at the University of Victoria in British Columbia (N = 8) involved teaching for critical thinking and an evaluative view of knowledge in elementary social studies. Philosophical and psychological perspectives of critical thinking provided an evaluative view of knowledge, intellectual resources, and cognitive tasks for responses to critical challenges about belief and action (Bailin, Case, Coombs, & Daniels, 1993; Facione, 1991; Siegel, 1992). This integrated conception of critical thinking guided instruction, instrument selection, and interpretation of qualitative evidence. Instruction utilized an interactive constructive approach that involved social and pedagogical challenges appropriate to adults students but related to the elementary social studies curriculum. Multiple measures of critical thinking dispositions, view of knowledge, and argument proficiency revealed moderate dispositional strength toward critical thinking, mixed views of knowledge, mixed argument proficiency, and small positive gains over the duration of instruction. Pretest-posttest measures included Facione and Facione's (1992) California Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory (CCTDI), Kuhn's (1991) interview protocol for view of knowledge and argument proficiency, and a written argument paralleled the posttest interview evidence. Most changes aligned with the nature of instruction and instrumentation. CCTDI entry-level results were aligned with results reported for samples from other college and university studies whereas exit-level results displayed more positive change than reported in other studies. Posttest views of knowledge were mixed (evaluativists = 4, multiplists = 1, absolutists = 3), largely consistent with the pretest, and exhibited more evaluativism than reported in other studies. Proficiency in argument was somewhat less than found in other studies, but increased slightly, particularly the generation of alternative theories over the duration of the study. Compared with interviews, written arguments revealed stronger rebuttals and somewhat weaker use of evidence. Inconsistencies across qualitative results and formal results aligned with the nature of the instruction, assessment tasks, evaluation criteria, and some problematic aspects of instrumentation. Participants stated that interactive constructivism; justification of ideas against explicit criteria, an early emphasis on developing a rationale for teaching to an evaluative view of knowledge; the use of examples, non-examples, and borderline examples to generate criteria for key ideas; and instructor-student interaction to monitor and adjust instruction to maximize clarity were positive features of instruction. An excessive concept load and inadequate compatible prior learning experiences were identified as impediments to clarity. / Graduate