Evidence Base Data for Integrating Critical Thinking Into the Classroom

Many educators agree that one of the main challenges for high school, colleges and universities is developing pedagogy that encourages critical thinking and the assessment of those critical thinking skills. There is little substantiated knowledge on effective pedagogy from research in critical thinking. Very few studies on critical thinking among college students examine the impact of instructional strategies. Among the research that examines the influence of instruction on critical thinking, the focus of pedagogy varies. Consequently, there is little consistency that emerges from the research literature that specifies instructional techniques that effectively enhance students' ability to think critically. This study contributes to the critical thinking research by examining the efficacy of Dr. Richard Paul's critical thinking model. Dr. Paul's work on critical thinking has been widely disseminated but may lack empirical research demonstrating the model's ability to develop critical thinking skills. The purpose of the research was to determine if there were statistically significant differences in critical thinking skills between groups of students who had and had not been taught Paul's critical thinking model. Pre-and post-tests were administered to both the control and experimental group. The pre-test found no significant differences between the groups' baseline critical thinking skills. The post-test, (independent samples means) which measured the differences in critical thinking skills between the groups, demonstrated significant positive change in the experimental group. Clarifying the degree of effectiveness of Dr. Paul's critical thinking model is a pivotal contribution to developing pedagogy that encourages critical thinking skills.