A Research Study on the Critical Thinking of University Students in Science

This study was intended to clarify the reality of critical thinking of university students in science and the structure of factors that affect it. A questionnaire consisting of 25 items was administered to 213 first-year university students aspiring to be teachers of elementary, junior high and senior high schools to achieve this end. The results indicated the following characteristics of the reality of critical thinking: (a) "emphasis on rationale" and "emphasis on evidence" is significantly lower than "reflective thinking" and "curiosity", and (b) "healthy skepticism" is significantly lower than all factors other than "emphasis on evidence." In addition, the results revealed the following as the structure of factors that affect critical thinking: (c) "emphasis on rationale" and "emphasis on evidence" affects "reflective thinking", (d) "healthy skepticism" affects both "emphasis on rationale" and "emphasis on evidence", which are keys to "reflective thinking", and (e) "curiosity" affects "emphasis on evidence"