Week 2 Critical Thinking Measures PDF

MPU2222: CREATIVE AND 1 CRITICAL THINKING CHAPTER 5: CRITICAL THINKING MEASURES  1) Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal (WCTGA) CRITICAL THINKING MEASURES 2) Cornell Critical Thinking Test...

MPU2222: CREATIVE AND 1 CRITICAL THINKING CHAPTER 5: CRITICAL THINKING MEASURES  1) Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal (WCTGA) CRITICAL THINKING MEASURES 2) Cornell Critical Thinking Test 3) New Jersey Test of Reasoning Skills 4) CAAP Critical Thinking Test 2  The Watson-Glaser WATSON- Thinking Appraisal (WCTGA) is the GLASER world’s most widely used instruments of CRITICAL critical thinking THINKING APPRAISAL There are 5 subtests in the (WCTGA) WCTGA and it consists of a total 80 statements of fact 6. The second sub-test is “recognition of assumptions” which consists of 6 short statements ❑ Each of the statement is followed by several proposed assumptions ❑ The respondent is asked to make a decision to determine whether a person in making the given statement is really making that assumption that is taking it for granted, justifiably or not ❑ For each assumption, the respondent is asked to choose the appropriate answer 6  8. The fourth sub-test is ‘interpretation’ which consists of 6 short paragraphs followed by several suggested conclusions The respondent is asked to judge whether or not For the purpose of this each of the proposed test, all of the conclusions logically statements in the follows beyond a paragraph have to be reasonable doubt from regarded as true the information given in the paragraph 8 9. The fifth sub-test is named ‘Evaluation of arguments’ It consists of 5 questions Each question is followed by several arguments The respondent is asked to determine whether it is strong or a weak argument 9 10. The advantage of the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal is its application to measure critical thinking in classroom settings The actual test items have high face validity in that they draw upon classroom and general life situations Besides that, various norms and various occupational norms 10  CORNELL CRITICAL THINKING TEST There are 3 types of Cornell critical thinking test The Cornell Class Reasoning Test, The Cornell Conditional Reasoning Test, and the Cornell Critical Thinking test 2. The Cornell Critical Thinking Test is a philosophically based critical thinking test 11 3. The test was designed to measure the following skills: ❑ Deduction ❑ Induction ❑ Semantics ❑ Credibility ❑ Prediction in planning experiments ❑ Definition ❑ Identification 12 4. The test is available in two level, X and Z 5. Level X is appropriate for secondary school (grade 7) and beyond while Level Z is primarily for college students 6. Level X has 71 questions while Level Z has 52 questions 7. Both Level X and Z have a time limit of 50 minutes. 8. Level X contains 4 sections 9. The first section contains items asking for the bearing, if any of information on a hypothesis 13 10. The hypothesis is in every case a general statement 11. Examinees must indicate whether a particular hypothesis is warranted by the data 12. The second section measures the ability to judge the reliability of information on the basis of its source and the conditions under which it is obtained 13. The third section measure students ability to judge whether a statement follows from its premises and the fourth section involves 14 14. Level Z contains 7 sections. It measures the examinees’ ability to: ❑ Indicate whether a statement follows from its premises ❑ Detect equivocal arguments ❑ Evaluate reliability of observations and authenticity of sources ❑ Judge the direction of support, if any, for a given hypothesis ❑ Focus on choosing of useful predictions for the hypothesis testing ❑ Define terms ❑ Spot gaps in arguments 15 15. Norms for both levels of the Cornell Critical Thinking Test are available in various groups 16  NEW JERSEY TEST OF REASONING SKILLS 1. The third philosophically based test is the New Jersey Test of Reasoning Skills 2. The test was developed by Shipman 17 3.This test is a 50 items inventory purporting to measure 22 different skills, converting statements, translating into logical form, inclusion-exclusion, recognising improper questions, avoiding jumping to conclusions, analogical reasoning, detecting underlying assumptions, eliminating alternatives, inductive reasoning, reasoning with relationships, detecting ambiguities, discerning causal relationships, identifying good reasons, recognising symmetrical relationships, categorical syllogistic reasoning, distinguish differences of kind and degree, recognising translative relationship, recognising dubious authority, reasoning with four-possibilities matrices, contradicting statements, whole-part and part-whole reasoning and conditional syllogistic reasoning 18 4. The test is highly verbal 5. however, the weakness of the test is the examinees need to have a fairly high level of verbal comprehension to understand and score high in the test 6. According to Sternberg, the test is highly verbal loaded and one might well wonder as to the extent that what they measure is separable from general verbal skills. 19  CAAP CRITICAL THINKING TEST 1.The CAAP Critical Thinking Test is a 32-item, 40-minute test that measures students' skills in clarifying, analyzing, evaluating, and extending arguments. 2. An argument is defined as a sequence of statements that includes a claim that one of the statements, the conclusion, follows from the other statements. 20 DETAILS OF CAAP TEST 1.Format – CAAP is a paper and pencil test. Students are provided with a question booklet and separate answer sheet to fill in the answers. The answer sheets of the multiple choice tests are OMR sheets that are scored by the computer. 21 2. Number of CAAP Tests – There are six test modules. The colleges have a choice of administering those modules which suit their goals and educational programs. Hence, they may or may not conduct all the six of them. 22 3. Testing Time – Each test module is conducted in 40 minutes. If all the six tests are conducted, the total testing time comes up to 4 hours. However, since colleges conduct only those modules that they require, the testing time can vary accordingly. 4. Testing Dates – The testing dates are decided by the institutions that administer the test on their campuses. There are no national dates released by ACT. Therefore, you must contact the concerned colleges for information regarding testing dates. 23 TYPES OF QUESTIONS – Five out of six modules consist of multiple choice questions, while one contains essay writing questions. 24 DESCRIPTION OF CAAP TEST MODULES 1. Reading – This is a reading comprehension test with 36 multiple choice questions based on four prose passages. The content of the passages is taken from prose fiction, humanities, social studies and natural sciences. The questions are either direct or indirect and must be answered according to the information given in the passages. Direct questions measure the referring skills of students whereas indirect questions measure their reasoning skills. 25 2.Writing Skills – There are 72 multiple choice questions in this module. The questions are based on usage and mechanics and rhetorical skills. The questions test the knowledge of students in punctuation, grammar structure, sentence structure, strategy, organization and style. 26 3.Writing Essay – This module consists of two essay writing questions. The question is in the form of a prompt that describes an issue. The student is supposed to write an essay presenting his point of view regarding the issue by providing suitable examples. The student must exhibit effective usage of language and intelligent handling of the issue, along with representing good essay writing skills like formation of a logically connected piece of writing. 27 4.Mathematics – This Math test consists of 35 multiple choice questions in all. The questions are based on prealgebra, elementary algebra, intermediate algebra, coordinate geometry, college algebra and trigonometry. It tests the skills of students in solving mathematical problems. Only permitted calculators can be used by students. 28 5.Science – The Science module contains 45 multiple choice questions. These questions are taken from the content areas of biology, chemistry, physics and physical science. Students are presented with information in the form of passages which may be in the form of data representation, research summaries or conflicting viewpoints. Students must possess the skills to understand, analyze and generalize this information. 29 6. Critical Thinking – There are 32 multiple choice questions in this module. The questions are in the form of a passage that contains sub-arguments and a general conclusion. The questions pertain to analysis, evaluation and extension of the argument. 30 ABOUT THE CAAP TEST 1.It is used for assessing students for their capabilities and achievements. 2.It helps to highlight their strengths and weaknesses for helping students with remedial studies. 31 3.However, for an evaluation system to be complete it should also evaluate the quality of education being imparted amongst students and point out the underlying weaknesses and shortcomings that provide scope for improvement. 4.The results of such a system can therefore help to bring up the level of education by working upon the shortcomings. 32 5.Unlike the usual common entrance tests, this one is not used to enroll candidates, but is conducted to assess the potential of candidates studying in an institution. 33 USEFULNESS OF CAAP 1.The evaluation system is helpful in the following ways. 2.CAAP helps to evaluate students and measure their capabilities at various levels. 3. It helps to judge them individually, in a group, or nationally. 34 4.With the scores it is possible to trace the developmental graph of students. It is possible to note the change in the level of achievement over a period of time. 5.This test helps to identify the subject areas in which the students are lacking. 6.Hence, it is possible to recognize their weaknesses through the test and guide them to improve their skills. 35 7.The result of CAAP maybe used for determining the readiness of students for courses of higher levels. 8.CAAP helps to determine the success or failure of an educational program along with giving insights into the areas that need improvement. 9. Hence, it evaluates the quality of education being imparted amongst the students of an institution. 36 Summary of the Study The most effective way to measure critical thinking is to use a validated critical thinking skills test to assess the skills used to solve problems and make decisions AND to use a critical thinking mindset measure to assess the level of the person's consistent internal motivation or willingness to use his or her critical thinking skills when it counts in decision making 37 Reference All the lecturer notes are taken from Rod Judkins. (2016). The Art of Creative Thinking: 89 Ways to See Things Differently. TarcherPerigee Debra L. Welkley 7 Jr. Santos Torres. (2015). Critical and Creative Thinking. 2nd edition. Cognella Academic Publishing. 38