Published Studies Using one or more of the California Family of Critical Thinking Skills or Dispositions Measures

Educational Success and Licensure Issues in the Health Sciences

Critical Thinking Dispositions, Leadership and Professional Judgment

Prediction of Clinical Ratings, Preceptorships and Professional Development

Assessment of Critical Thinking / Evaluating CT in Curriculum Revision

Teaching Strategies / Problem Based Learning / Concept Mapping

Relationship Between Critical Thinking and Research Utilization

Students' and Practitioners' Critical Thinking Dispositions

Learning Styles and Bilingualism

General Information about Tool Validation and Assessment Design

Critical Thinking Skills and Critical Thinking Dispositions - Facione & Facione Publications

 

Educational Success and Licensure Issues

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McCall KL, MacLaughlin EJ, Fike DS, Ruiz B. (2007). Preadmission predictors of PharmD graduates' performance on the NAPLEX. American Journal of Pharmacy Education, 15;71(1):5. The CCTST total score, is a prepharmacy predictor of successful licensure as a pharmacist (NAPLEX test). Age, advanced science education courses and previous BS or MS degree were not significantly correlated with NAPLEX.

Allen DD, Bond CA. (2001). This study examined predictors for prepharmacy students' success in pharmacy school: grade point averages, pharmacy college admissions test (PCAT), communication abilities, and critical thinking skills. Pharmacotherapy. 21(7):842-9. Critical thinking skills predict practice-based course success. Also, the CCTST and PCAT scores were closely related (Pearson r = 0.448, p < 0.001). The strongest predictors of practice-related courses and clerkship success were PCAT (r=0.237, p<0.001) and CCTST (r = 0.201, p < 0.001).

Williams KB, Schmidt C, Tilliss TS, Wilkins K, Glasnapp DR (2006). Predictive validity of critical thinking skills and disposition for the national board dental hygiene examination: a preliminary investigation. Journal of Dental Education, 70(5):536-44. The objective of this study was to determine if preexisting critical thinking skills and critical thinking disposition predict student performance on the National Board Dental Hygiene Examination (NBDHE). Hierarchical multiple regression analyses demonstrated that CCTST scores explained a statistically significant (p<.05) proportion of variance in students' multiple-choice and case-based NBDHE scores, above and beyond that explained by age, GPA or college credit hours at program entry. CCTDI did not predict licensure.

Giddens J, Gloeckner GW. (2005). The relationship of critical thinking to performance on the NCLEX-RN. Journal of Nursing Education, 44(2):85-9. CCTST total scores were higher in participants who passed the NCLEX-RN . Students did not significantly improve from entry to exit. (Authors of the CCTST: "In this case entry scores would have been predictive of NCLEX failure. We recommend a cut score of 12 as an indicator at entry that students are likely to fail the NCLEX if not remediated.")

Williams KB, Glasnapp DR, Tilliss TS, Osborn J, Wilkins K, Mitchell S, Kershbaum W, Schmidt C.(2003). Predictive validity of critical thinking skills for initial clinical dental hygiene performance. Journal of Dental Education, 67(11):1180-92. Students from seven Baccalaureate-level dental hygiene programs in the United States affiliated with a dental school participated (207 first-year dental hygiene students). CCTST scores explained a statistically significant (p<.05) proportion of variance in students' initial clinical reasoning scores, acquired knowledge scores, and faculty ratings, above and beyond that explained by age, GPA or college credit hours at program entry. CCTDI did not predict licensure. The CCTST is a good predictor of initial student outcomes and may have utility for student selection and retention.

Stewart S, Dempsey LF. (2005). A longitudinal study of baccalaureate nursing students' critical thinking dispositions. Journal of Nursing Education, 44(2):81-4. A longitudinal descriptive design was used to examine nursing students' dispositions toward critical thinking as they progressed from the Sophomore II to Senior II semester in a baccalaureate nursing program in the Midwestern United States. No relationship was found between passing the NCLEX-RN and CCTDI scores. Significantly higher CCTDI scores were achieved in the Junior I and Junior II semesters, but no significant differences were found when comparing the Sophomore II and Senior II semesters.

David E Colt. (2007). The relationship and predictive power of critical thinking skills scores to NATABOC certification examination for athletic training performance scores, Dissertation: Columbia, Mo:University of Missouri-Columbia, 2007.

Critical Thinking Dispositions, Leadership and Professional Judgment

BUSINESS: Godzyk, Karen E., D.M., (2008), Critical thinking disposition and transformational leadership behaviors. AAT 3354216. One of the greatest challenges confronting organizations is how to select and develop leaders. The dearth of inexpensive, easily administered assessment instruments contributes to the problem. The current explanatory, quantitative study was conducted to examine the correlation between the critical thinking disposition and leadership behaviors of leaders in service industries in the United States. The study result indicate a moderately positive correlation between the critical thinking disposition and transformational behaviors of the study participants. The finding supports further research into whether critical thinking disposition could be used to predict leadership emergence. The study result has potential implications for trait theory of leadership and leadership development and may provide the foundation for a new model of leadership assessment: leadership disposition.

EDUCATION: Dottin, Erskine S. (2007) Professional judgment and dispositions in teacher education, Teaching and Teacher Education 25 (2009) 83–88.

MILITARY: Adm. Mullen, Michael. (2009) Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff. Graduation address to the officers and faculty of the National Defense University. "You will recall how you were inspired to think critically and to question without fear, to seek out radically different solutions and to voice them without reprisal, to read widely and deeply, and to examine without end and grow intellectually. . . .What I ask is this: pass it on."

HEALTH SCIENCES: Facione and Facione 2008, Critical Thinking and Clinical Judgment in the Health Sciences, chapter 1 on the relationship between these two constructs.

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Prediction of Clinical Ratings, Preceptorships and Professional Development

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Denial, A. (2008). Association of critical thinking skills with clinical performance in fourth year optometry students. Journal of Optometry Education, 33(3), 103-6. After one year of clinical education critical thinking skills (total score on the CCTST) was significantly related to clinical rating. Lower performing (mean=15.5) medium performing (mean=19.3) and high performing (mean =22.9) p<.001.

Kennison MM. (2006). The evaluation of students' reflective writing for evidence of critical thinking. Nursing Education Perspectives, 27(5):269-73. Mean professor clinical ratings were significantly related to CCTST total score.

Sorensen HA, Yankech LR. (2008). Precepting in the fast lane: improving critical thinking in new graduate nurses. Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing. 39(5):208-16. This study examined the relationship of preceptor education to critical thinking scores of new graduate nurses. METHODS: A quasi-experimental, mixed-methods design measured critical thinking ability of new graduate nurses. Focus group interviews were conducted with preceptors who attended an author-developed educational program. RESULTS: Preceptors' participation in the educational session contributed to the evaluation subscale of critical thinking skills of the experimental group on the California Critical Thinking Skills Test (F = 4.709, p = .039). Preceptors had positive qualitative responses. CONCLUSIONS: Critical thinking skills of new graduate nurses can be improved and learning relationships developed through preceptor education.

Ip WY, Lee DT, Lee IF, Chau JP, Wootton YS, Chang AM. (200). Disposition towards critical thinking: a study of Chinese undergraduate nursing students. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 32(1):84-90. This study reports a significant positive relationship between critical thinking dispositions (CCTDI) and term grade point average (P < 0.05) in 122 Chinese undergraduate nursing students at a selected university in Hong Kong. However, in the majority of sub-scales of the CCTDI, students showed a negative disposition towards critical thinking. Consistent with the findings of western studies, the students scored lowest on the truth-seeking sub-scale and highest on the inquisitiveness. Discussion of the findings with regard to nursing education, curriculum and research is delineated.

Suliman WA, Halabi J. (2007). Critical thinking, self-esteem, and state anxiety of nursing students. Nurse Education Today. 27(2):162-8. This study used a cross-sectional correlational design to explore critical thinking (CT) disposition in a convenience sample of first year (n=105) and fourth year (n=60) nursing students in Saudi Arabia. Of interest was the relationship between CT disposition (CCTDI), self-esteem (Rosenberg SE), and state anxiety (Spielberger SAI). Results: CCTDI scores showed no serious deficiency with the exception of a weakness in CT confidence. Scores on Rosenberg's Self esteem scale were average, and scores on the Spielberger SAI were relatively high. There was no significant difference between groups in analyticity, open-mindedness, systematicity, inquisitiveness, and truth seeking, but beginning students reported significantly poorer CT self-confidence (t=-2.053, df=136.904, p=.042). CT disposition was weakly but positively correlated with SE and negatively correlated with SA.

 

Assessment of Critical Thinking / Evaluating CT in Curriculum Revision

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Bartlett DJ, Cox PD. (2002). Measuring change in students' critical thinking ability: implications for health care education. Journal of Allied Health. 31(2):64-9.The purpose of this study was to determine the change in critical thinking (CT) dispositions and skills among physical therapy students over academic and clinical portions of a year and to determine correlates of change in CT abilities. Twenty-eight middle-year physical therapy students participated (26 women and 2 men; mean age, 22 years). Participants completed the CCTDI and the CCTST before the academic year, after the academic year, and after their clinical placements. A one-way repeated measures analysis of variance was conducted on the subscales and total scores of the CCTDI and CCTST. Multiple regression was used to determine the correlations between the descriptive variables and change in total CCTDI and CCTST scores. Statistically significant improvements in all subscales and both total scores were obtained over the year. Greatest improvements on the CCTDI were observed for truth-seeking (p < 0.001) and CT self-confidence (p < 0.001). Greatest improvement on the CCTST was noted for deduction (p < 0.001). Age was negatively associated with change on the CCTST.

Spelic SS, Parsons M, Hercinger M, Andrews A, Parks J, Norris J. (2001). Evaluation of critical thinking outcomes of a BSN program. Holistic Nursing Practice, 15(3):27-34. Following a curriculum revision, which emphasized critical thinking, this paper compares entry and exit scores on the CCTST to study students' gains in critical thinking skills (N = 136). Results for students in each of the three program tracks demonstrated significantly improved (P < or = .05) CCTST scores on all subscales and total scores, with one exception. RN to BSN students' scores on the Analysis subscale approached but did not reach significance (P = .058).

Wong MS. (2007). A prospective study on the development of critical thinking skills for student prosthetists and orthotists in Hong Kong. Prosthet Orthot International, 31(2):138-46. This study was to evaluate prospectively the development of critical thinking disposition of the student prosthetists and orthotists in Hong Kong. The results showed that there was significant improvement in 5 out of the 7 domains of the CCTDI, namely Truthseeking, Open-mindedness, Systematicity, Analyticity, Critical thinking self-confidence, Inquisitiveness and Maturity of judgment in 3 years' time. Further curriculum enhancements were suggested as the sum of all the domains was just slightly above the threshold of positive tendency.

Shin K, Jung DY, Shin S, Kim MS. (2006). Critical thinking dispositions and skills of senior nursing students in associate, baccalaureate, and RN-to-BSN programs. Journal of Nursing Education, 45(6):233-7. Critical thinking habits of mind (measured with the CCTDI) were significantly stronger at leach level of South Korean Nursing education (3-year associate degree (ADN), 4-year baccalaureate (BSN), and 5-year RN-to-BSN programs)(F = 4.159, p = 0.017). A similar significant increase in mean critical thinking skills scores (measured as CCTST total score) was seen in these same programs levels (F = 24.205, p < 0.0001). Critical thinking skills and disposition scores were correlated (r = 0.305, p = 0.000) in this Korean nursing sample.

Beckie TM, Lowry LW, Barnett S. (2001). Assessing critical thinking in baccalaureate nursing students: a longitudinal study. Holistic Nursing Practice, 15(3):18-26.The purpose of this study was to evaluate the attainment of critical thinking skills of students before and after curriculum revision of a baccalaureate nursing program at the University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida, USA. The CCTST was used to measure the critical thinking ability at program entry, midpoint, and at exit. The sample consisted of three cohorts of students: cohort 1 (n = 55) was the baseline class before curriculum revision, whereas cohorts 2 (n = 55) and 3 (n = 73) were the first two classes to experience the revised curriculum. The results revealed that cohort 2 achieved significantly higher critical thinking scores than the baseline cohort. Cohort 2 also improved dramatically on all subscales from test 1 to test 3. However, cohort 3 failed to demonstrate improved critical thinking scores over time. Findings have implications (for study design) when measuring critical thinking.

McCarthy P, Schuster P, Zehr P, McDougal D. (1999). Evaluation of critical thinking in a baccalaureate nursing program. Nursing Education, 38(3):142-4.There were significant gains in critical thinking skills (CCTST scores) from the sophomore year to the senior year. There also were significant gains in CT disposition between sophomores and seniors on the overall score for the CCTDI, truth-seeking, analyticity, self-confidence, and inquisitiveness.

Vendrely, A. (2005). Critical Thinking Skills during a Physical Therapist Professional Education Program. Journal of Physical Therapy Education. The CCTST pretest was given to each incoming PT student cohort during orientation day prior to beginning coursework in a classroom on campus and the CCTST posttest was administered during the last week in the program. After completing all of the didactic and clinical experiences, the students returned to campus for 1 week to complete several standard evaluations, including the CCTST, which was administered and scored in the same manner as the pretest. There was a positive change in pretest CCTST-C scores (mean=19.32) when compared to posttest CCTST-C scores (mean=20.6l); however, the magnitude of the change was not great enough to constitute statistical significance.

Rogal SM, Young J. (2008). Exploring critical thinking in critical care nursing education: a pilot study. Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing, 39(1):28-33. Critical care nurses process vast amounts of information and require well developed critical-thinking skills to make clinical decisions. METHOD: Using a pretest posttest design, the critical-thinking skills of 31 postgraduate nurses in Western Australia were evaluated using the CCTST. RESULTS: For the total group, mean critical-thinking scores improved slightly over time. The CCTST revealed a mean pretest score of 18.5 and a mean posttest score of 19.7, both of which were higher than the established norms for the test. Despite the small sample, the majority of the postgraduate nurses improved their critical-thinking skills during the course of their study.

Sizemore MH, Robbins LK, Hoke MM, Billings DM. (2007). Outcomes of ADN-BSN partnerships to increase baccalaureate prepared nurses. International Journal of Nursing Education Scholarship. 4:Article25. Epub 2007 To address a statewide need, a BSN Program and 3 ADN Programs formed a partnership to take BSN education to rural and medically underserved areas in New Mexico. This article describes the program planning, implementation, and evaluation using an adapted assessment framework with partnership principles as its foundation. Interactive television, internet education components, local clinical experiences, and distant nursing faculty liaisons were used. The nursing course sequence was completed by 101 of 102 students. Hall's Professionalism Scale, the CCTDI and the CCTST measured the increases found in professional socialization and critical thinking. Use of the adapted theoretical framework represented a strategic approach to developing a distance delivered nursing education program.

 

Teaching Strategies/Problem Based Learning / Concept Mapping

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Salah al-Fadhli and Abdulwahed Khalfanb investigated the impact of using e-learning models’ with the principles of constructivism to enhance the critical thinking skills of students in higher education institutions. The study examines the effectiveness of e-learning model in enhancing critical thinking of students at university level. This effectiveness is measured by a critical thinking test. The target population for this study is undergraduate information systems’ students enrolled in Spring 2005 and Fall 2006 semesters at Kuwait University. "Developing critical thinking in e-learning environment: Kuwait University as a case study" Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education May 2008, 1–7.

Loy GL, Gelula MH, Vontver LA. (2004). Teaching students to question. American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, 191(5):1752-6. DESIGN: Workshops were developed to teach medical students how to systematically ask critical questions. Sixty-two consenting students in their third-year obstetrics and gynecology clerkship were divided according to alternate rotations to either attend the workshops (n = 28) or not (n = 41). RESULTS: Medical students who attended the workshops scored higher on the CCTST mean total score (study group 25.1 [+/- 0.7 SEM] vs control group 22.9 [+/- 0.6 SEM], P = .028), subscales of inference (12.6 [+/- 0.3 SEM] vs 11.2 [+/- 0.3 SEM], P = .003), and of deductive reasoning (12.7 [+/- 0.4 SEM] vs 10.9 [+/- 0.3 SEM], P = .001). CONCLUSION: Teaching students to ask critical questions improves critical thinking as measured by the California Critical Thinking Skills Test.

Yuan H, Kunaviktikul W, Klunklin A, Williams BA. (2008). Improvement of nursing students' critical thinking skills through problem-based learning in the People's Republic of China: a quasi-experimental study. Nursing Health Science 10(1):70-6. A quasi-experimental, two-group pretest-post-test design was conducted to examine the effect of problem-based learning on the critical thinking skills of 46 Year 2 undergraduate nursing students in the People's Republic of China using the Chinese-Taiwanese version of the CCTST Form A. Groups were not significantly different in CT skills at pretest, whereas, the problem-based learning students had a significantly greater improvement on the overall CCTST total score, analysis subscale, and induction subscale scores compared with the lecture students at post test.

Tiwari A, Lai P, So M, Yuen K. (2006). A comparison of the effects of problem-based learning and lecturing on the development of students' critical thinking. Medical Education, 40(6):547-54. Design: The aim of this study was to compare the effects of problem-based learning (PBL) and lecturing approaches on the development of students' critical thinking. The primary outcome measure was students' critical thinking disposition as measured by the California Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory (CCTDI). Individual interviews were also conducted to elicit the students' perceptions of their learning experience. Data were collected at 4 time points spanning 3 years. RESULTS: The overall CCTDI and subscale scores for the PBL group were not significantly different from those of the lecture group at the first time point (pretest). Compared with lecture students, PBL students showed significantly greater improvement in overall CCTDI (P = 0.0048), Truthseeking (P = 0.0008), Analyticity (P = 0.0368) and Critical Thinking Self-confidence (P = 0.0342) subscale scores from the first to the second time points; in overall CCTDI (P = 0.0083), Truthseeking (P = 0.0090) and Analyticity (P = 0.0354) subscale scores from the first to the third time points; and in Truthseeking (P = 0.0173) and Systematicity (P = 0.0440) subscale scores from the first to the fourth time points. CONCLUSIONS: There were significant differences in the development of students' critical thinking dispositions between those who undertook the PBL and lecture courses, respectively.

Ozturk C, Muslu GK, Dicle A (2008). A comparison of problem-based and traditional education on nursing students' critical thinking dispositions. Nurse Education Today. 28(5):627-32. This descriptive analytic study compared levels of critical thinking among senior nursing students (N=147) in two educational programs in Turkey, one of which used a problem-based learning (PBL) model while the other used a traditional model. Using the California critical thinking disposition inventory (CCTDI) to measure CT disposition, there were significantly higher (p<0.05) scores in Truthseeking and Openmindedness in seniors in the PBL school when compared to those in the school implementing the traditional model.

Pastirik PJ. (2006). Evaluating critical thinking in clinical concept maps: a pilot study. International Journal of Nursing Education Scholarship, 3:Article27. Epub Nov 14. The purpose of this pilot study was to determine the level of critical thinking in the clinical concept maps developed by second year baccalaureate nursing students. The data for the study included eighteen concept maps, 1 student focus group and 1 instructor focus group. The Holistic Critical Thinking Scoring Rubric (Facione & Facione, 1994) was used to measure levels of critical thinking, and content analysis was used to analyze focus group data. Results indicated that developing concept maps in the clinical setting fostered critical thinking and improved clinical preparedness.

Wheeler LA, Collins SK. (2003). The influence of concept mapping on critical thinking in baccalaureate nursing students. Journal of Professional Nursing, 19(6):339-46. Design: pretest-posttest design with a control group to evaluate the effectiveness of concept mapping in developing critical thinking skills in baccalaureate nursing students. A convenience sample (n = 76) was randomly assigned to experimental (n = 44) and control (n = 32) groups. The experimental group was taught to use concept mapping of patient information to prepare for clinical experiences. The control group was taught to use traditional nursing care plans. Critical thinking skills were measured with the CCTST. Experimental-group scores improved significantly (p <.05) on the overall score and the analysis and evaluation subscales, while control-group scores improved significantly only on the evaluation subscale and declined significantly on the inference subscale.

Velde BP, Wittman PP, Vos P. (2006). Development of critical thinking in occupational therapy students. Occupational Therapy International, 13(1):49-60. Do students who use the Guided Reciprocal Peer Questioning (GRPQ) method increase their ability to think critically? When compared to students in a traditional senior seminar course, the results of this study indicated no significant difference between the groups regarding changes in scores on the CCTST. However, the students in the experimental group asked more questions labeled as critical thinking than the seminar control group. Future research regarding the role of questions in stimulating critical analysis and the role of context in the learning environment is warranted.

Evans BC, Bendel R. (2004).Cognitive and ethical maturity in baccalaureate nursing students: did a class using Narrative Pedagogy make a difference? Nursing Education Perspectives, 25(4):188-95.This project examined the effect of Narrative Pedagogy in nursing education on students' CT disposition as a measure of their cognitive and ethical maturity and increased autonomy in nursing practice. Exit scores were marginally and statistically significant improved over entry scores for the program (p < 0.05) for both the Measure of Intellectual Development and the CCTDI. There was minor improvement on both scales in cognitive and ethical maturity and the disposition to think critically in the intervention group. However, the cognitive and ethical growth documented by either instrument is probably not large enough to be considered practically significant in terms of movement toward autonomous practice.

 

Relationship Between Critical Thinking and Research Utilization

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Profetto-McGrath J, Smith KB, Hugo K, Patel A, Dussault B. (2008). Nurse educators' critical thinking dispositions and research utilization. Nurse Education Practice, Aug 11. Epub ahead of print. This paper reports research utilization behaviours and critical thinking dispositions of a random sample of nurse educators across a western Canadian province (n=287). The majority (82.1%) of nurse educators scored in the 280-350 range on the CCTDI, with 15.4% of them scoring above 350, indicating high critical thinking dispositions. Nurse educators scored quite high on overall research utilization (mean=4.4/5). There was a statistically-significant correlation between nurse educators' total critical thinking dispositions and all measures of research utilization.

 

Students' and Practitioners' Critical Thinking Disposition

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Kawashima A, Petrini MA. (2004). Study of critical thinking skills in nursing students and nurses in Japan. Nurse Education Today, 24(4):286-92. The purpose of this study was to measure the dimensions of critical thinking (CCTDI scores) of nursing students at baccalaureate nursing program and registered nurses at general hospital in Japan. A convenience sample of three small groups: generic students (n=82) including freshmen and juniors; transfer students (n=16) at selected baccalaureate nursing program; and registered nurses (n=67) at selected general hospitals. A one-way ANOVA indicated that registered nurses scored lower than the two groups of baccalaureate students on the total score and several sub-scale scores. The outcomes of this study propose recommendations regarding curriculum review for Japanese nursing education and reflection on professional boundaries for Japanese nursing practice.

Leaver-Dunn D, Harrelson GL, Martin M, Wyatt T. (2002). Critical-Thinking Predisposition Among Undergraduate Athletic Training Students. Journal of Athletic Training. 37(4 Suppl):S147-S151. This was a study of the relationship between demographic variables and the tendency of undergraduate athletic training students to think critically in a sample of 91 students enrolled in 3 accredited undergraduate athletic training education programs in the southeast. RESULTS: Generally positive critical thinking disposition was seen with weak scores on the truth-seeking subscale, and significant differences between the schools for truth seeking, open mindedness, and maturity subscales and for the overall mean CCTDI score. Correlation analyses indicated no significant relationship between total score and age, sex, ethnicity, year in athletic training program, cumulative grade point average, completed semester hours, or clinical-experience hours.

Tiwari A, Avery A, Lai P. (2003). Critical thinking disposition of Hong Kong Chinese and Australian nursing students. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 44(3):298-307. The purpose of this cross-sectional study was to compare the critical thinking dispositions of Hong Kong Chinese and Australian nursing students. Significant differences were detected in critical thinking disposition (CCTDI) between the two groups of students (P < 0.05), with the Hong Kong Chinese students failing to show a positive disposition toward critical thinking on the CCTDI total mean score, while the Australian students showed a positive disposition. The study raises questions about the effects of institutional, educational, professional and cultural factors on the disposition to think critically.

Yeh ML, Chen HH.(2003). Comparison affective dispositions toward critical thinking across Chinese and American baccalaureate nursing students. Journal of Nursing Research, 11(1):39-46. The purpose of this cross-cultural study is to understand and compare affective dispositions toward critical thinking across Chinese and American cultures. Two convenience samples of 214 and 196 undergraduate nursing students were obtained in Taiwan and the USA, respectively. The CCTDI was used to measure critical thinking dispositions. Mean scores in the Chinese sample were all in the strong range except for truth seeking, systematicity and maturity. For the American sample, all means of the seven subscale scores were in the strong range except for truth seeking. Significant differences between the two samples were also found in truth-seeking, t(408) = 14.70 (p <.001), open- mindedness, t(408) = 6.17 (p <.001), systematicity, t(408) = 4.73 (p <.001) and maturity, t(408) = 10.46 (p <.001).

Lederer JM. (2007). Disposition toward critical thinking among occupational therapy students. American Journal of Occupational Therapy 61(5):519-26. The disposition, or internal motivation, to think critically strongly influences the development of critical thought. Students (N = 79) at three levels of education in one program were administered the CCTDI. Results indicated no differences in the disposition to think critically related to length of time spent in the program. Differences in the dispositions of open-mindedness and maturity of judgment were found between undergraduate and graduate students.

Smith-Blair N, Neighbors M. (2000). Use of the Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory in critical care orientation. Journal of Continuing Education in Nursing, 31(6):251-6.In the current health care environment it is imperative that orientation programs be effective and efficient in the preparation of nurses entering critical care nursing. Institutions strive to develop orientation programs that use the least amount of resources necessary to achieve the desired outcome. The purpose of this article is to describe a method used to measure nurses' dispositions toward critical thinking and the application of the California Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory (CCTDI) in critical care orientation programs.

Beeken JE. (1997).The relationship between critical thinking and self-concept in staff nurses and the influence of these characteristics on nursing practice. Journal of Nursing Staff Dev. 13(5):272-8. Nurses with a baccalaureate were statistically and significantly higher than the scores of nurses with an associate/diploma degree (ANOVA F = 3.03, P = 0.03) in a sample of nurse managers and practicing nurses (35 managers, 100 staff nurses).

Walsh CM, Hardy RC. (1999). Dispositional differences in critical thinking related to gender and academic major. Journal of Nursing Education. 38(4):149-55. Participants were 334 baccalaureate undergraduates (121 males, 213 females) enrolled in majors classified as practice disciplines (i.e., nursing, education, business) and nonpractice disciplines (i.e., English, history, psychology). A MANCOVA with grade point average as a covariate was conducted for majors, indicating significant main effects for major. Highest scores generally were found in English, psychology, and nursing. When majors were grouped into practice and nonpractice disciplines, nonpractice had generally higher disposition scores, and female scores in both practice and nonpractice disciplines were higher than males on Open-Mindedness and Maturity.

 

Learning Styles and Bilingualism

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Cokluk-Bokeoglu, Omay (2008). Testing Factor Structure of California Measure of Mental Motivation Scale in Turkish Primary School Students and Examining Its Relation to Academic Achievement. World Applied Sciences Journal 4(1) 94-99. The CM3 was developed to measure critical thinking disposition. This confirmatory factor analysis explored whether the original and adapted forms of the CM3 have valid factor structures. A secondary purpose was to examine correlations between CM3 scoes and academic achievements . 570 primary school students in Ankara-Turkey were included in the study. The analysis showed that both the original factor structure and the adapted form of the CM3 were valid models. The Cognitive Integrity sub-scale had the highest and most significant correlations to measures of academic achievement.

Suliman WA.(2008). Critical thinking and learning styles of students in conventional and accelerated programmes. International Nursing Review. 53(1):73-9. This study assessed differences in critical thinking disposition (CCTDI) and learning styles (KOLB Learning Styles) in nursing students in the conventional (Stream I) and the accelerated (Stream II) baccalaureate nursing education programmes in Saudi Arabia. A convenience sample consisted of 80 Stream I and 50 Stream II students. Stream II students had significantly stronger overall scores (P=0.000), and scores on inquisitiveness (P=0.000) and self-confidence (P=0.002). There was also a weak (r=.209-.328) though significant (P=0.017-0.000) correlation between learning styles and various critical thinking disposition scales.

Zhang LF. (2003). Contributions of thinking styles to critical thinking dispositions. Journal of Psychology.137(6):517-44.The main purpose of the author's research was to investigate whether thinking styles significantly contribute to critical thinking dispositions. Two samples of Chinese university students, one from Beijing and the other from Nanjing, participated in the study. The participants responded to the Thinking Styles Inventory (Sternberg & Wagner) and the CCTDI (Facione & Facione). Results from both samples supported the prediction that thinking styles statistically contribute to individual differences in critical thinking dispositions. These findings have implications not only for classroom instruction and assessment but also for academic and nonacademic program development.

Zhang H, Lambert V. (2008). Critical thinking dispositions and learning styles of baccalaureate nursing students from China. Nursing Health Science 10(3):175-81.The purposes of this study were to assess the learning styles and critical thinking dispositions of Chinese baccalaureate nursing students and to identify the relationships among the learning styles, critical thinking dispositions, and demographics (100 Chinese baccalaureate nursing students enrolled at two universities). The data were obtained through a Demographic Data Questionnaire, the CCTDI, and the Index of Learning Styles. The primary learning style dimensions were found to be reflective, sensing, visual, and global, while the overall critically thinking disposition in our sample was found to be weak. A number of positive and negative correlations were found among the demographics, learning styles, and critical thinking dispositions. These findings suggest further examination on how to increase nursing students' critical thinking skills based upon their preferred learning styles.

Albert RT, Albert RE, Radsma J. (2002). Relationships among bilingualism, critical thinking ability, and critical thinking disposition. Journal of Professional Nursing, 18(4):220-9. Evidence exists supporting relationships between bilingualism and many cognitive factors. In this cross-sectional study a convenience sample of nursing students (N = 111) was administered a French language Cloze Test (C-Test), an English language C-Test, as well as the CCTST and the CCTDI. A curvilinear relationship between bilingualism and critical thinking disposition was observed, but not between bilingualism and critical thinking skills.

 

General Information about Tool Validation and Assessment Design

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Each test's or measure's Specimen Kit User Manuals, authored by the IA senior researchers, provides general information about the development and validation of the tool. For reasons related to the protection of proprietary intellectual and business property and for reasons of test security, detailed information is withheld. But, for example, in developing the CCTDI item analysis and factor analysis techniques were used to create seven stable disposition scales, which grouped the Delphi dispositional descriptions into larger, more unified constructs: open-mindedness, analyticity, cognitive maturity, truth-seeking, systematicity, inquisitiveness, and self-confidence. Cronbach's alphas for scales range.60 to .78 in sufficiently diverse samples and .90 to .92 overall. High CCTDI scores are associated with High scores on a measure of critical thinking skills (CCTST, HSRT, BCTST, TER, etc.) but lower scores on CT sills tend not to correlate strongly with CT disposition scores. Initial publication: Facione NC, Facione PA, Sanchez CA. (1994). Critical thinking disposition as a measure of competent clinical judgment: the development of the California Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory. Journal of Nursing Education, 33(8):345-50.

Facione NC, Facione PA. (1996). Assessment design issues for evaluating critical thinking in nursing. Holistic Nursing Practice,10(3):41-53. The assessment of graduating students' critical thinking skills and habits of mind challenges and rewards those who approach the task from a critical thinking perspective. The article identifies and discusses issues in the design of authentic assessments of critical thinking as an educational outcome predictive of competent professional judgment in nursing practice. Authentic assessment implies a multiple methods design that addresses the diverse contexts within which judgments must be made by professional nurses. Most important, it implies a concern for validity and reliability of measurement, selection of appropriate data points, and attention to a number of logistic and practical concerns.

Facione NC, Facione PA. (1996). Externalizing the critical thinking in knowledge development and clinical judgment. Nursing Outlook. 44(3):129-36. Multiple modalities can successfully measure learning outcomes and gains in critical thinking skills and dispositions, but for many of these measures (rubrics, rating forms, and qualitative measures of a variety of types) to be accurate it is critical to craft assignments and exercises to provide evidence of thinking process and not just a statement of the result of the thinking process.

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Critical Thinking - Facione & Facione Publications

Book: Critical Thinking and Clinical Reasoning in the Health Sciences - An International Teaching Anthology, 2008

Critical Thinking and Clinical Judgment, 2008, reprinted in Journal of Optometry Education 2008

Talking Critical Thinking - Change: the Magazine of Higher Education, 2007

Book: Thinking and Reasoning in Human Decision Making - The Method of Argument and Heuristic Analysis, 2007

Critical Thinking: What It Is and Why It Counts - 2009 Update

A comparison of the effects of problem-based learning and lecturing on the development of students' critical thinking - Medical Education, 2006

Analyzing explanations for seemingly irrational arguments: Linking argument analysis and cognitive science,
International Journal of Applied Philosophy, 2001

A look across four years at the disposition toward critical thinking among undergraduate students, Journal of General Education, 2001

Reasoned judgment and revelation: The relation of critical thinking and Bible study, American Bible Society, 2000

The disposition toward critical thinking: Its character, measurement, and relationship to critical thinking skill, Journal of Informal Logic, 2000

The motivation to think in working and learning, 1997

Professional judgment and the disposition toward critical thinking, 1997

Critical Thinking Assessment in Nursing Education Programs - An Aggregate Data Analysis, 1997

Assessment design issues for evaluating critical thinking in nursing, 1996

Externalizing the critical thinking in knowledge development and clinical judgment, Nursing Outlook, 1996

The disposition toward critical thinking, Journal of General Education, 1995

The disposition toward critical thinking as a measure of competent clinical judgment: The development of the California Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory, Journal of Nursing Education, 1994

Thirty Great Ways to Mess up a Critical Thinking Test, Informal Logic, 1990

Analyzing Explanations for Seemingly Irrational Choices: Linking Argument Analysis and Cognitive Science, Facione, NC, and Facione PA, (2001). International Journal of Applied Philosophy, Volume 15. Number 2, pp. 267-286. [PDF of this article made available with the permission of the publisher. See journal front-matter for information on copy costs.]

Abstract:People make significant decisions in contexts of risk and uncertainty. Some of these decisions seem wise under the circumstances, and others seem like irrational choices. In both cases, people offer reasons as clarifications and explanations of these choices to others and to themselves. Argument analysis, a technique well known in philosophy and more generally in the humanities, can explicate the strands of assumptions, intermediate conclusions, data, warrants, and claims that the person articulates. But alone, argument analysis often falls short of revealing why the person’s decision makes sense to that person. The findings of empirical research into the influences of cognitive heuristics, the mental shortcuts we all use in decision making and problem solving, adds focus to the analysis of these choices. This paper links these two powerful analytic strategies, and provides a much fuller, more fruitful picture of explanations for seemingly irrational choices. Using an example explanation for deciding not to quit smoking, the paper makes both its methodological argument and its implicit argument for the significance of extending this analytical strategy to applied contexts. The implications of extending this analysis of everyday argument to management, health care, and education could be profound.

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A Look across Four Years at the Disposition toward Critical Thinking Among Undergraduate Students - (26 pages), Giancarlo, CA., and Facione PA., Journal of General Education, Volume 50, Number 1, pp. 29-55. [PDF of this article made available with the permission of the publisher. See journal front-matter for information on copy costs.]

Abstract:This article examines the critical thinking (CT) dispositions, as measured by the California Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory, of students at a four-year, private, liberal arts, comprehensive university. This paper follows up results first published in 1995. The present findings represent another snapshot of CT dispositions among students who participated in 1996 and during the original investigation in 1992. Longitudinal results about students tested as freshman in 1992 and again as seniors in 1996 are presented. Cross sectional results are reported as well. Questions explored include the relationship between the disposition toward critical thinking, as measured by the CCTDI, and students’ major, gender, class level, and grade point average.

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Reasoned Judgment and Revelation: The Relation of Critical Thinking and Bible Study - (12 Pages), Facione, PA. (2000) Paper presented to the American Bible Society, New York. [This PDF download file is being made available with permission of the author and copyright holder.]

Abstract: “Reason is a light that God has kindled in the soul.” Aristotle. “Reason, however sound, has little weight with ordinary theologians.” Baruch Spinosa. For humans the impetus toward thinking is as natural as is an eagle’s impetus to fly. Birds have wings and no one asks them should they fly. Yet, although humans have minds, we sometimes wonder whether or not we should think. Our research on the aspect of critical thinking called “truthseeking” shows that many endorse the notions that some questions are too frightening to ask and that they actually seek reasons to support their preconceptions rather than evidence to the contrary. Some thoughts are simply too disturbing to be entertained, and some matters too sacred to be scientifically investigated. On the other hand, the overall disposition toward reasoned judgment is strong. Can we reconcile our natural inclination toward reasoning with the risks that cherished beliefs may be discovered to be unfounded? We are all aware that these tensions are no place more evident than in the frequent and bitter clashes between reason and religion.

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The Disposition Toward Critical Thinking: Its Character, Measurement, and Relationship to Critical Thinking Skill - (38 Pages), Facione, PA, Facione, NC, and Giancarlo, CA.(2000). Informal Logic, Volume 20, Number 1, pp 61-84. [This PDF download file is being made available here with the permission of the journal editor / publisher.]

Abstract: Theorists have hypothesized that skill in critical thinking is positively correlated with the consistent internal motivation to think; and, moreover, that specific critical thinking skills are matched with specific critical thinking dispositions. If true, these assumptions suggest that a skill-focused curriculum would lead persons to be both willing and able to think. New instruments to measure critical thinking skills and critical thinking dispositions permit empirical investigation of these theoretical assumptions. Empirical studies of 10th graders, accounting professionals, nursing professionals, and college students at multiple sites indicate that for all practical purposes the hypothesized correlations are not evident. This essay presents a research-based expert consensus definition of critical thinking, argues that human dispositions are neither hidden nor unknowable, describes a scientific process of developing conventional testing tools to measure cognitive skills and human dispositions, and summarizes recent empirical research findings that explore the possible relationship of critical thinking skill and the consistent internal motivation, or disposition, to use that skill. Given the empirical results to date, it would appear that an effective approach to teaching for and about thinking in schools and professional development programs must include strategies for building intellectual character rather than relying exclusively on strengthening cognitive skills. Keywords: critical thinking, disposition, assessment, test development, CCTST, CCTDI

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The Motivation to Think in Working and Learning - (17 Pages), Facione, PA, Facione NC, and Giancarlo, CA. This essay was originally published by the California Academic Press in 1996. An abbreviated form appears in Jones, E (Ed.) Preparing Competent College Graduates: Setting New and Higher Expectations for Student Learning. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass Publishers. 67-79. This material is used with the permission of John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Consult their website for information and permission to make copies.

Abstract: How can we habituate learners and workers to engage in thoughtful, fair-minded problem solving, decision making, and professional judgment? Demands for skillful and fair-minded thinkers arise today in every professional field and in our civic and personal lives. The pace of change accelerates, multiple sources of information saturate our senses, the rules are rewritten, and problems arise daily that defy predetermined solutions. At a minimum, to be effective learners and successful workers we must be willing and able to make informed, fair-minded, judgments in contexts of relative uncertainty about what to believe and what to do in a wide variety of situations. To go beyond the minimum, workers, learners, and citizens must be willing and able to critique intelligently and amend judiciously the methods, conceptualizations, contexts, evidence, and standards applied in any given problem situation. In short, we must habitually, not just skillfully, engage in critical thinking in a world that is so dynamic that today’s verities are yesterday's misconceptions. Thus the driving question: how is the consistent internal motivation to think critically identified, measured, and nurtured?

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Professional Judgment and the Disposition Toward Critical Thinking - (17 Pages),This essay is an earlier version of a paper published in 1999 in French. Facione, PA, Facione, NC, Giancarlo, CA, Ferguson, N, (1999). Le jugement professionnel et la disposition à la pensée critique. Guilbert, L, Boisvert, J., and Ferguson, N (Eds.) Enseigner et compredre: le développement d´une pensée critique. Quebec, Canada: Les Presses de l´Université Laval. 307-26.

Abstract: Professionals are expected to exercise sound, unbiased judgment in interpreting and analyzing information, determining the nature of problems, identifying and evaluating alternative courses of action, making decisions, and, throughout, monitoring the process and impact of their problem solving activity so as to amend, revise, correct, or alter their decisions, or any element that led up to those decisions, as deemed necessary. Judgment in professional practice, correctly exercised, is a reflective, self-corrective, purposeful thinking process which requires the professional to take into account content knowledge, context, evidence, methods, conceptualizations, and a variety of criteria and standards of adequacy. Professional judgment is what educators have called “critical thinking” but exercised in a practical, professional setting. The exercise of sound judgment requires both a willingness and the ability to think critically. The multiplicity of parameters affecting professional judgment has direct implications for the education of novice and more advanced practitioners. Given the relationship between professional judgment and the disposition toward critical thinking, scientific investigations of that disposition have direct implications for educating and evaluating professionals.

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Assessment Design Issues for Evaluating Critical Thinking in Nursing,Facione, NC, Facione, PA, (1996). Holistic Nursing Practice, Volume 10, Number 3, pp. 41-53

Abstract: The assessment of graduating students' critical thinking skills and habits of mind challenges and rewards those who approach the task from a critical thinking perspective. This paper identifies and discusses issues in the design of authentic assessments of critical thinking as an educational outcome predictive of competent professional judgment in professional practice programs. The paper uses as its running example programs in nursing, but is applicable to programs in business, engineering, social work, teacher preparation, and other areas of professional practice.. Authentic assessment implies a multiple methods design which address the diverse contexts within which judgments must be made by professional nurses. Most important, it implies a concern for validity and reliability of measurement, selection of appropriate data-points, and attention to a number of logistical and practical concerns. Keywords: Outcomes assessment, critical thinking, portfolio assessment, testing, clinical judgment, professional judgment, nursing education.

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Externalizing the Critical Thinking in Knowledge Development and Clinical Judgment - (15 Pages),Facione, NC, Facione, PA, (1996). Nursing Outlook, Volume 44, pages 129-36 [This PDF download file is being made available here with the permission of the journal editor and publisher.]

Abstract: Critical thinking, defined as purposeful, self-regulatory judgment, is centrally evident in nursing knowledge development and expert clinical judgment. A holistic critical thinking scoring rubric, a framework for critical thinking individual and group presentations, and a case study strategy for training and nurturing critical thinking in students illustrate that the critical thinking in nursing knowledge development and clinical judgment an be externalized, taught, modeled, and measured. The approaches suggested here can be adapted to other professional practice programs and fields.

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The Disposition Toward Critical Thinking - (17 Pages), Facione, PA, Sánchez, (Giancarlo) CA, Facione, NC, & Gainen, J., (1995). Journal of General Education. Volume 44, Number 1, pp. 1-25. [This PDF made available with the permission of the publisher. See journal front-matter for information on copy costs.]

Abstract: There is a set of characterological attributes thought to be associated with developing success at critical thinking (CT). This paper explores the disposition toward CT theoretically, and then as it appears to be manifest in college students. Factor analytic research grounded in a consensus-based conceptual analysis of CT described seven aspects of the overall disposition toward CT: truthseeking, open-mindedness, analyticity, systematicity, CT confidence, inquisitiveness, and cognitive maturity. The California Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory (CCTDI), developed in 1992, was used to sample college students at two comprehensive universities. Entering college freshman students showed strengths in open-mindedness and inquisitiveness, weaknesses in systematicity and opposition to truthseeking. Additional research indicates the disposition toward CT is highly correlated with the psychological constructs of absorption and openness to experience, and strongly predictive of ego-resiliency. A preliminary study explores the interesting and potentially complex interrelationship between the disposition toward CT and CT abilities. In addition to the significance of this work for psychological studies of human development, empirical research on the disposition toward CT promises important implications for all levels of education.

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The Disposition Toward Critical Thinking as a Measure of Competent Clinical Judgment: The Development of the California Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory, Facione, NC, Facione, PA, and Giancarlo, CA, (1994). Journal of Nursing Education. Volume 33, Number 8, pp. 345-350.

Abstract: Assessing critical thinking skills and the disposition to use them is crucial in nursing education and research. The CCTDI uses the Delphi Report's consensus definition of Critical thinking as the theoretical basis to measure the disposition toward critical thinking. Item analysis and factor analysis techniques were used to create seven attribute scales that grouped the Delphi descriptive phrases into larger, more unified constructs: Open-mindedness, Analyticity, Cognitive Maturity, Truthseeking, Systematicity, Inquisitiveness, and Self-Confidence. The initial reliability coefficients (Cronbach's alpha .90 overall and .71 -.80 for the seven internal scales) remained relatively stable when the 75-item instrument was administered to 1,019 additional college students (.90 overall, .60 -.78 scales). The instrument has subsequently been used to assess the disposition toward critical thinking in junior high school through the doctoral level. Psychometric research using the CCTDI and related instruments offers the potential of testing a number of interesting hypotheses regarding the attributes of mind which might contribute to improved clinical judgment and critical thinking in nursing.

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Thirty Great Ways to Mess up a Critical Thinking Test (9 Pages), Facione, PA, REVISED Nov. 15, 1989 for published in Informal Logic, Volume 12, Number 2. PP 106-111. (1990) [This PDF download file is being made available here with the permission of the author, journal editor / publisher.]

Abstract: This humorous guide offers quick, practical advice on assessment, especially CT testing. Eleven rules, like "Set no instructional priorities," and "Emphasize the trivial," apply to all educational testing. Fourteen apply to multiple-choice strategies. "No stems should avoid stating things negatively," and "Tip off wrong answers by category mistakes," rival PDQ Bach. Five rules apply directly to CT assessment. To ruin your next CT test write questions which: target information recall about CT but don't require CT itself; ignore differences in gender interests, domain-specific knowledge, etc.; are boring, time-consuming and yet entirely uncomplicated; require official CT vocabulary; and presume students think like trained experts.