Exploring Critical Thinking Dispositions among Fourth Year BSc Nursing Students of Various Colleges of Nursing, Pakistan

Background: Critical Thinking (CT) dispositions in nursing are prominent predictors of competence in delivering high-quality care, and of professionalism, in newly graduated nurses. CT skills, in isolation of CT dispositions, do not guarantee success in the workplace, because Critical Thinking Dispositions (CTD) are important elements of intellectual reasoning that simulate a person towards using the CT skills. Therefore, nursing educational programs should promote lifelong learning rather than focusing on transferring the content of nursing knowledge only. And for this purpose, quality education is the key. Education should focus on teaching from diverse perspectives, incorporating various teaching learning strategies that are congruent with the modern era. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explore critical thinking dispositions among final year Baccalaureate Nursing students of various military colleges of nursing, in Pakistan. Methodology: A descriptive qualitative exploratory study design was used to investigate the CTD of BSc final year nursing students. The study population included twelve willing nursing students, from six military colleges across the country. Demographic information and consent was taken from the participants of the study. In-depth interviews, through a semi structured interview guide, and probes were used to obtain data related to personal experiences of CTD amongst the nursing students. Results: Data analysis showed two broad themes: 1) Perceptions of CT, and 2) Experiences of CT dispositions. In theme one, the emerging category was: Clarity of CT;whereas in theme two, the categories that emerged were: a) Truth Seeking, b) Open Mindedness, c) Inquisitiveness, and d) Self Organization. Conclusion: The findings of the study revealed positive dispositions towards truth seeking, open mindedness, and self-organization, whereas disposition towards inquisitiveness was weak. Self-confidence and maturity also emerged as positive factors that the students possessed. This study recommends that faculty and learners should extend their concept of CTD, and emphasizes its application in daily routine. Additionally, faculty should modify their instructional strategies and focus on the cultivation of dispositions of inquisitiveness, curiosity, and allow questioning by students in the class.

Critical Thinking Disposition among Nurses Working in Puplic Hospitals at Port-Said Governorate

Aim: This study aimed to investigate critical thinking disposition among nurses working in Public Hospitals in Port-Said Governorate.Methods: A descriptive research design was conducted in this study. Totally 196 respondents were chosen by systemic random sampling, to take part in the study as the sample. Data was collected from April to September in 2015. Tools of data collection: A personal and job characteristics data sheet and California Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory(CCTDI) were used. Results: The results revealed that the total critical thinking disposition score mean was 257.05 ± 20.16 and the highest score mean was 48.67 ± 6.28 for inquisitiveness subscale, while the lowest score mean was 21.36 ± 7.19 for the truth-seeking subscale. Also, none of the personal&job characteristics showed statistically significant relations with the total critical thinking disposition. Conclusion: More than three quarters of the nurses had an ambivalent disposition toward critical thinking, and most nurses' scores indicated a negative tendency towards truth-seeking. So the findings pointed for upgrading nurses' critical thinking through educational programs and a need for more problem-based learning with advanced teaching strategies in clinical areas.

The Influence of Blending Learning on Undergraduates’Critical Thinking Disposition:A Quasi Experimental Study

Objective:To explore the influence of blending learning on the critical thinking disposition among undergraduates.Methods:Two undergraduate classes majoring in Applied Psychology with similar level of critical thinking disposition were selected as the research subjects.Class A(106 students)was the experimental class,and class B(131 students)was the control class.During the research period of one semester(four months),the following measures were implemented for the two classes.The control class studied Developmental Psychology under the conventional teaching methods and procedures,while the experimental class studied Developmental Psychology according to the requirements and procedures of blending learning.The two classes were investigated with Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory-Chinese Version(CTDI-CV)at the beginning and end of the course.Results:At the beginning of the course,the total scores of CTDI-CV of the two classes were(217.33±14.90)and(218.31±16.29),respectively,with no significant difference(P>0.05).At the end of the course,the total scores of CTDI-CV of the experimental class and the control class were(237.84±17.53)and(224.22±17.52),respectively,and the difference was statistically significant(P<0.001).Conclusion:Blending learning may have a positive effect in improving the critical thinking disposition in undergraduates.

Correlation between English Majors' Critical Thinking Disposition and Their English Reading Comprehension

To improve students' critical thinking is considered as a top priority by a growing number of educators.While there exists a comparable amount of research examining students' critical thinking skills,less is known about students' tendency to use these skills.Specifically,little is known about what influence critical thinking disposition has on students' academic achievement.English reading comprehension,which has been an important composition in students' English achievement,may be an important factor in developing this disposition.The current study examined the characteristics of students' critical thinking disposition and their English reading comprehension as well as exploring the correlation between the two factors mentioned above.The current study involved in 125 sophomores in English major from Jiangsu province.The results indicated that students in current research performed best in Maturity (M=37.46,SD=3.57),followed by Inquisitiveness (M=36.64,SD=4.31),Analyticity (M=34.86,SD=3.70),Truthseeking (M=33.86,SD=4.08).In contrast,they performed worst in CT Confidence (M=33.17,SD=4.57),followed by Systematicity (M=33.49,SD=5.10) and Open-mindedness (M=33.50,SD=3.67).Students scored highest in Attitude and View Category as the mean was 0.8257,followed by Reasoning and Judgment Category (M=0.8128),Induction and Generalization Category (M=0.7612),Theme Topic Category (M=0.6844),Semantic Comprehension Category (M=0.6789),while scored lowest in Fact and Detail Category (M=0.5818).There existed a positive correlation between critical thinking disposition and reading comprehension achievement (n=109;r=0.300;p<0.01).