The Development of Critical Thinking: Does College Make a Difference? [electronic resource] : ASHE Annual Meeting Paper / Ernest T. Pascarella.
The influence of the first year of college on the development of critical thinking was assessed. Matched groups of students who attended and who did not attend college were compared on the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal over a 1 year period. Secondary school level of thinking and other co...
Saved in:
| Online Access: |
Full Text (via ERIC) |
|---|---|
| Main Author: | |
| Format: | Electronic eBook |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
[S.l.] :
Distributed by ERIC Clearinghouse,
1987.
|
| Subjects: |
| Summary: | The influence of the first year of college on the development of critical thinking was assessed. Matched groups of students who attended and who did not attend college were compared on the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal over a 1 year period. Secondary school level of thinking and other covariates (e.g., aptitude, socioeconomic status, educational aspirations) were assessed. Students with 1 year of college had significantly higher total critical thinking scores and significantly higher scores on the interpretation and evaluation of arguments subscales. The advantages accruing to college attendance were modest. These effects appeared to be the same for all students, irrespective of individual differences in gender, race, and secondary school levels of critical thinking, aptitude, grades, socioeconomic status, and educational aspirations. Additional analyses suggests that net of the study covariates college selectivity, curricular emphasis, and individual measures of intellectual and social involvement during college had no significant associations with critical thinking. A composite measure of intellectual and social involvement during the freshman year did have positive partial correlations with critical thinking. Included are 34 references. (Author/SW) |
|---|---|
| Item Description: | ERIC Document Number: ED292417. ERIC Note: Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Association for the Study of Higher Education (Baltimore, MD, November 21-24, 1987). |
| Physical Description: | 32 p. |