Canadian and Iranian graduate students' conceptions of critical thinking: A comparative study

This qualitative study compares Canadian and Iranian students’ conceptions of critical thinking during their graduate studies in Canada. Critical thinking is an essential skill in higher education that enables students to have the art of making reasoned judgements from their observation and experimentation. The present narrative inquiry in the light of open-ended interviews describes the lived experiences of eight students: four Canadian and four Iranian, from different master’s programs at a public mid-sized university in British Columbia province to examine their experiences and notions of critical thinking during their studies. The study’s findings indicated that while all Canadian participants had a reasonable perception of critical thinking, some Iranian contributors required knowledge to build their critical thinking conceptualization. In addition to different cultural and educational backgrounds, content knowledge, instructors’ competence, and teaching methods played vital roles in influencing the cultivation and development of critical thinking among both groups of students. The results recommend the need to re-examine the curriculum and ways instructors can facilitate critical thinking among Canadian and Iranian students.critical thinkingCanadian studentsIranian studentsculturenarrative inquirycomparative stud