CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS

1. Syllogistic Reasoning 54.25 33.68

2. Decision from an assumption 22.74 29.94
3. Interpretation 61.47 35.62
4. Evaluation of Arguments 53.67 37.46
5. Number reasoning 61.80 37.02
6. Reasoning based on groups, using "all" or "some" statements 45.25 36.21
7. Reasoning based on "neither" or "either" statements 33.98 47.38
8. Reasoning based groups, using "most" "a few", "almost all", many" statements 46.49 49.89
9. Reasoning based on "If - Then" statements 53.32 33.34
10. Reasoning by drawing probable conclusions 33.69 35.36



Automating the measurement of critical thinking in discussion
forums : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the
requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in
Information Systems at Massey University, Palmerston North, New
Zealand
Corich, Stephen Paul
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10179/2991
Date: 2011
Abstract:
Critical thinking is seen as an essential skill for survival in the 21st century and those involved in
education agree that encouraging students to think critically is an essential requirement of the educational
system. There is considerable debate among educationalists concerning the most effective way to
encourage the development of critical thinking skills and little agreement on the best way to measure
evidence of critical thinking. This study examines what is meant by the term critical thinking and
investigates some of the tools that have been used to measure evidence of critical thinking. The study
concentrates on the measurement of critical thinking among discussion forum participants and describes
the development and testing of a tool designed to automate the process of measuring critical thinking.
Since the study involved the design, development and testing of a computerised tool, an action research
approach was adopted. Action research gained popularity among information systems developers around
the mid 1990s. It is seen as a methodology that encourages the generation of scientific knowledge by
allowing the researcher to modify intentionally a real setting and carefully evaluate the results. The study
describes the development of an automated text classification system that uses content analysis to
classify discussion forum transcripts using critical thinking models developed by Garrison, Anderson, &
Archer (2000), Henri (1992) and Perkins & Murphy (2006). The findings from the study suggest that
automated tools have the potential to assist in the measurement of critical thinking abilities and are
worthy of further investigation.