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.

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.

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

The purpose of this study was to determine whether Socratic questioning, an approach that builds critical thinking skills and fosters learning by constructing new knowledge, was an effective tool for improving student perceptions of the writing process. The main research question that was examined in this study was: How can Socratic questioning improve students' perceptions of writing and the writing process? Qualitative research methods were used as a framework for the design of this study as well as purposeful student sampling, triangulation of three data sources, and an extensive coding process. Findings from the study support that Socratic questioning can positively impact students: the first major finding was that student perceptions of the writing process improved, and the second major finding was that student perceptions of their own identities as writers improved as well. After the study, students found that being an effective writer was possible and that evaluation of one's writing was a vital part of becoming a better writer. Most importantly, after participating in this study, students believed themselves to be writers.

M.Cur. / Critical thinking is the ideal of a democratic citizenry of a country. Intellectual liberation is the characteristic of the human mind, but it is learned as the individual takes a conscious step into developing his/her critical thinking skills. The virtues of a critical thinker are open-mindedness, intellectual integrity, intellectual empathy, intellectual courage, accommodation for ambiguity, ability to metacognise and acceptance of one's faults in thinking and a willingness to adapt one's beliefs and values. The nursing profession has a dire need for critically thinking practitioners, who will be able to make calculated judgements that brings about life-saving decisions. Nursing education need to adopt an educational approach that integrates development and facilitation of critical thinking in students. Scholars support the ideal of development and facilitation of critical thinking in the classroom as well as in practice. The purpose of this study is to describe strategies that can be used to overcome obstacles in the facilitation of critical thinking in nursing education. To realize this purpose the researcher undertook a qualitative, exploratory, descriptive and contextual research approach (Mouton 1998). The research design is conducted in 2 phases. The recommendations arising out of the study are based on the findings that there is an urgent need to make a concerted effort to facilitate critical thinking in students and further research on how to integrate critical thinking in the curriculum as well as appropriate evaluation of the skills.

M.Ed. (Education) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

Master of Science in Mathematics Education 2017 / This study focused on mathematical teachers’ beliefs about teaching critical thinking and how these beliefs informed teaching mathematics in practice. Two sets of interviews were conducted that investigated what conceptions of critical thinking, teaching strategies and tasks, and assessment methods, teachers believed promoted critical thinking in their mathematical classroom. Qualitative methods of inductive analysis were used to analyse teachers’ responses based on grounded theory where categories were constructed and re- organised into themes. The study found that teachers had a limited understanding of critical thinking and their beliefs about teaching critical thinking skills in mathematics did not appear to be reflected in practice. These newly qualified teachers demonstrated that they need assistance in developing and using teaching strategies and tasks that promote critical thinking skills in mathematics. / MT 2018

The study explores perceptions of critical thinking and knowledge by New Senior Secondary Liberal Studies teachers in Hong Kong. The insights in this study have implications for the curriculum development and pedagogy, particularly regarding how we can improve the teachers training of critical thinking. Seven Liberal Studies teachers (with various levels of teaching experience and differing backgrounds) were invited to in-depth interviews about their experience teaching Liberal Studies, and particularly regarding critical thinking and knowledge, as well as their pedagogies and views of this subject. Factors such as work experience, personality, school training, and cultural identity affect ways of seeing ‘critical thinking’ and ‘knowledge’. Also, these interviews provide insights into a better pedagogy in high order thinking. We can gain understanding of the difficulties and constraints of teaching critical thinking in Liberal Studies. The research is also a critical thinking process, which is explored in conversations with participants. The study asked them to reflect on what they thought and had experienced. The participants gave useful insights and suggestions. / published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / abstract / toc / Education / Master / Master of Education