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Effects of a cognitive infusion module on critical thinking and attitudes of pre-service teachers
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Type
Thesis
Author
Kong, Siew Lang
Supervisor
Seng, Alice Seok-Hoon
Abstract
In recent years, the concern for teaching thinking skills in Singapore has become one of the major agenda items for education, i.e., "...the education system will move away from the current emphasis on mastery of content to one that gives students opportunities to acquire thinking and learning skills" (The Straits Time, June 29, 1995, p.1). This national agenda was intensified when the 'Thinking Schools, Learning Nation' (TSLN) initiative was launched in June 1997. This has contributed to the establishment of the Singapore Thinking Programme (Ministry of Education, 1999). With the thinking programme in place, all school teachers are expected to impart various types of thinking skills to their students. Embedded in TSLN is the implicit assumption that teachers are well equipped to transform the 'non-thinking schools' into the desired 'thinking schools', thus 'learning nation'. However, there is at least one critical missing element between the 'thinking programme' and the 'thinking schools'. Since teachers are the mediators between the thinking programme and the pupils, perhaps the most crucial element to complete the picture of TSLN is the 'thinking teachers'. In order to prepare teachers for this important task, various strategies have been adopted in the National Institute of Education (NIE), both implicitly in some core modules and explicitly in other specialised modules.
This research study attempts to investigate the effects of a specialised thinking module developed by the author, the 'Cognitive Infusion Module' (CIM), on critical thinking and attitudes of the pre-service teachers. The study employs the quasi-experimental 2 x 2 factorial pretest-posttest design. The two factors are treatment condition [experimental vs. control], and education programme grouping [Post Graduate Diploma in Education (PGDE) vs. Diploma in Education (DipEd)]. The study aims to find out whether there will be any improvement in their critical thinking skills (measured by Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal: Watson & Glaser, 1980), critical thinking dispositions (measured by California Critical Thinking Dispositions Inventory: Facione et al., 2000), as well as their attitudes towards the infusion approach to teach thinking skills (measured by Infusion Attitudinal Scale: developed by the author). Classroom observations (assisted by the Teaching Observation Checklist: adapted from Winocur, 1991) and semi-structure interviews were conducted to investigate the impact of CIM on the pre-service teachers' instructional strategies in the classroom context.
Results of this research study show that the participants who have gone through the CIM scored significantly higher (p<.05) in the overall critical thinking skills and the sub-skills of 'inference', 'deduction' and 'recognition of assumptions'. The PGDE experimental group also scored significantly higher in the overall critical thinking dispositions (p<.05) as well as the dispositions of 'analyticity' (p<.01) and 'inquisitiveness' (p<.01). In terms of the participants' attitude towards the infusion approach, the experimental group showed some qualitative improvement. Results from the classroom observations and interviews also show that pre-service teachers exposed to CIM are putting in more effort to create a thinking environment in their classroom. Results of this study also indicate that there exists a correlation between critical thinking skills and dispositions. This study helps to shed some light on how to adequately prepare teachers so that they are able to create the thinking classrooms/schools, and subsequently, the thinking and learning nation in Singapore.
This research study attempts to investigate the effects of a specialised thinking module developed by the author, the 'Cognitive Infusion Module' (CIM), on critical thinking and attitudes of the pre-service teachers. The study employs the quasi-experimental 2 x 2 factorial pretest-posttest design. The two factors are treatment condition [experimental vs. control], and education programme grouping [Post Graduate Diploma in Education (PGDE) vs. Diploma in Education (DipEd)]. The study aims to find out whether there will be any improvement in their critical thinking skills (measured by Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal: Watson & Glaser, 1980), critical thinking dispositions (measured by California Critical Thinking Dispositions Inventory: Facione et al., 2000), as well as their attitudes towards the infusion approach to teach thinking skills (measured by Infusion Attitudinal Scale: developed by the author). Classroom observations (assisted by the Teaching Observation Checklist: adapted from Winocur, 1991) and semi-structure interviews were conducted to investigate the impact of CIM on the pre-service teachers' instructional strategies in the classroom context.
Results of this research study show that the participants who have gone through the CIM scored significantly higher (p<.05) in the overall critical thinking skills and the sub-skills of 'inference', 'deduction' and 'recognition of assumptions'. The PGDE experimental group also scored significantly higher in the overall critical thinking dispositions (p<.05) as well as the dispositions of 'analyticity' (p<.01) and 'inquisitiveness' (p<.01). In terms of the participants' attitude towards the infusion approach, the experimental group showed some qualitative improvement. Results from the classroom observations and interviews also show that pre-service teachers exposed to CIM are putting in more effort to create a thinking environment in their classroom. Results of this study also indicate that there exists a correlation between critical thinking skills and dispositions. This study helps to shed some light on how to adequately prepare teachers so that they are able to create the thinking classrooms/schools, and subsequently, the thinking and learning nation in Singapore.
Date Issued
2004
Call Number
LB1590.3 Kon
Date Submitted
2004