Critical Thinking Disposition of Pre-Service Teachers

Abstract

Critical thinking has received increasing attention as an educational goal. Critical thinking refers to the use of cognitive skills or strategies that increase the probability of a desirable outcome (Halpern,1999). The desire or inclination to use critical thinking is reflected in a number of personal attributes, known as critical thinking dispositions (Jin, G., Bierma, T. J., Broadbear, J.T., 2004). This paper explores the critical thinking disposition of freshman and senior students from the Faculty of Educational Sciences of Ankara University. The Turkish version of the California Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory (CCTDI) was used to sample collage students. Factor analytic research grounded in the analysis of critical thinking describes seven aspects of the overall disposition toward Critical Thinking: truth seeking, open-mindedness, analycity, systematicity, self confidence and inquisitiveness and maturity. Entering freshman students and fourth year senior students’ disposition scores in all subcategories except for truth-seeking are consistently above 40. It means that they are not weak; however since their disposition scores are between 40 and 50, they are not enough strong either. The truth- seeking disposition is weak in all four departments.