The Role of Critical Thinking in Predicting and Improving Academic Performance

  1. Rivas, Silvia F. 2
  2. Saiz, Carlos 2
  3. Almeida, Leandro S. 1
  1. 1 Universidade do Minho
    info

    Universidade do Minho

    Braga, Portugal

    ROR https://ror.org/037wpkx04

  2. 2 Universidad de Salamanca
    info

    Universidad de Salamanca

    Salamanca, España

    ROR https://ror.org/02f40zc51

Revista:
Sustainability

ISSN: 2071-1050

Año de publicación: 2023

Volumen: 15

Número: 2

Páginas: 1527

Tipo: Artículo

DOI: 10.3390/SU15021527 GOOGLE SCHOLAR lock_openAcceso abierto editor

Otras publicaciones en: Sustainability

Resumen

oday’s world demands new ways of dealing with problems and different ways of preparing for them. Some studies argue that these new demands also require new skills. Critical thinking (CT) involves a set of skills that are entirely relevant to today’s adaptive needs. In this study, we explore the extent to which CT serves to both account for and improve academic performance. To do this, we measured the CT skills of a number of undergraduate students, along with their university admission grades and average course grades. We successfully established the structural validity of the general construct of CT, along with a strong relationship between CT measurements at two different timepoints (at the beginning and end of studying a critical thinking subject area) and the admission grade and average grade variables. These data lead us to reflect on using CT level as a suitable assessment of academic performance. We also consider the limits of our findings and their implications.

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