DETERMINANTS OF STUDENTS' CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS

Apstrakt

The aim of the research which was conducted was examining the critical thinking abilities of upper-secondary school students and determining whether there are differences in critical thinking depending on students’ gender and average achievement. A total of 101 students of the second grade of an upper-secondary school in Serbia, 30.7% male and 69.3% female, with an average age of 16.21 years, participated in the research. Data were collected using items adapted from Watson Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal (WGCTA) for two subscales - Assumptions and Deduction. The obtained data show that the students reached 70.25% of the total achievement on the test that assessed the ability of critical thinking, which indicates that they have moderately developed critical thinking skills. The students achieved higher scores on the deduction subscale compared to the assumptions subscale. Furthermore, the obtained results suggest that there are no significant differences in critical thinking skills between male and female students. The students with higher average academic performance showed more developed critical thinking skills. In the light of the obtained results, proposals for further research and recommendations for teachers were discussed with the aim of further encouraging the development of students' critical thinking skills.