CAT Scan: A Critical Review of the Critical-Thinking Assessment Test

The CAT is entirely dedicated to assessing the critical-thinking skills involved in scientific reasoning and practical problem solving. While the test is found to have reasonable content validity, various issues with its prompts are discussed, along with significant issues with its scoring. The CAT’s recommended use as a “model” for curricular changes, called CAT Apps, is criticized as “teaching to the test.”

Kemampuan Berpikir Kritis Siswa SMA pada Materi Fluida Statis

<p class="Abstrak"><strong>Abstract:</strong> Static fluid is one of the daily life applied concept. When learn about static fluid, students needs the Critical Thinking Skills. This research was aimed to measure students’ Critical Thinking Skills on static fluids concept. This study was conducted to 11th grade students in Senior High School. The measurement methods used the Critical Thinking Assessment Test (CAT). The analysis was carried out by looking at the CTS average score. The result of the study indicate that the CTS are still relative medium. The lowest skill was found in the skill category to make a conclusion as a problem solution. Misconception became one of the low students’ CTS factor. Further research is needed to find out how to reduce misconceptions in order to enhance the students’ CTS.</p><strong>Abstrak:</strong> Fluida statis merupakan salah satu konsep yang sering dipakai dalam kehidupan sehari-hari. Dalam mempelajari fluida statis, siswa di sekolah membutuhkan penguasaan Kemampuan Berpikir Kritis. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengukur Kemampuan Berpikir Kritis siswa pada materi fluida statis. Penelitian ditujukan kepada kelas XI SMA. Metode pengukuran menggunakan tes penilaian kemampuan berpikir kritis. Analisis dilakukan dengan melihat nilai rata-rata KBK. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan adanya hasil KBK yang tergolong sedang. Kemampuan paling rendah terdapat pada kategori kemampuan merumuskan masalah. Rendahnya kemampuan tersebut disebabkan oleh adanya miskonsepsi pada siswa. Diperlukan penelitian lanjutan untuk mengetahui bagaimana cara mengurangi miskonsepsi agar Kemampuan Berpikir Kritis siswa dapat berkembang dengan baik.

Quantifying Assessment Of Undergraduate Critical Thinking

Enhancing students' critical thinking capabilities stands as the top goal of undergraduate education, according to faculty from many universities. We assessed the change in critical thinking skills with a sample of 176 students enrolled at either the University of Colorado Boulder (UCB) or Colorado College (CC) by employing the Critical-thinking Assessment Test (CAT) developed with collaboration and support from the National Science Foundation. Students' critical thinking progress was compared by assaying skills during the first and last weeks of the term in classes that expressly emphasized: (1) critical thinking, or (2) civic engagement, or (3) where, according to the class instructors, neither was a point of major emphasis. CAT scores improved significantly for students at both institutions, in different categories of class types, and over the dramatically different lengths of terms (3.5 weeks at CC vs 15 weeks at UCB). Our research contributes to an understanding of changes in critical thinking as part of the undergraduate experience. We demonstrate that the CAT instrument can be an effective tool for assessing critical thinking skills across very different institutions of higher education.

Aligning best practices to develop targeted critical thinking skills and habits

This project evaluated the effectiveness of a course design within an upper-level biology course that incorporated what prior scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) research has suggested to be best practices for developing critical thinking skills while also managing the grading load on the instructor. These efforts centered on the development of a clearly articulated subset of skills identified by the Critical Thinking Assessment Test (CAT) as well as incorporated learning experiences designed to instill what we refer to as a “habit of critical investigation.” In this study, we tested the hypothesis that a single semester of an aligned course utilizing active learning and multiple opportunities for practice and feedback would: (a) increase the extent to which students agreed with the importance of questioning the credibility of claims across the semester, (b) increase the frequency at which students reported personally questioning the credibility of claims across the semester, (c) increase the number of students reporting investigation techniques consistent with critical investigation across the semester and (d) result in significantly greater student performance on the CAT questions that assessed the sub-skills practiced in the course when compared to the performance of a representative group of senior students at our institution. We observed substantial and significant gains in both the frequency at which students reported questioning claims and the degree to which their reported investigative actions were consistent with critical investigation. Furthermore, on the critical thinking sub-skills most aligned with what was practiced in the course, the experimental group significantly outperformed the comparison group.

Moving Beyond Assessment to Improving Students’ Critical Thinking Skills: A Model for Implementing Change

This research examines how the use of the CAT (Critical thinking Assessment Test) and involvement in CAT-Apps (CAT Applications within the discipline) training can serve as an important part of a faculty development model that assists faculty in the assessment of students’ critical thinking skills and in the development of these skills within their courses. Seventy-five percent of faculty participating in a CAT scoring workshop at their institution reported greater understanding of students’ strengths and weaknesses in critical thinking and 45% reported that CAT scoring had changed their teaching practices and/or assessment. In addition, participants attending a training session on CAT-Apps reported a greater willingness to place more emphasis on critical thinking assessments and less on factual knowledge assessments in their courses as a result of participation in training.

Adapting the Critical Thinking Assessment Test for Palestinian Universities

<p>Critical thinking is a key learning outcome for Palestinian students. However, there are no validated critical thinking tests in Arabic. Suitability of the US developed Critical Thinking Assessment Test (CAT) for use in Palestine was assessed. The test was piloted with university students in English (n=30) and 4 questions were piloted in Arabic (n=48). Students responded favorably. Scores were comparable with US scores. Only two students found the content problematic. One-hundred-twelve Palestinian faculty reviewed the skills tested by the CAT. There was moderate agreement that they represent critical thinking. Translation of the CAT into Arabic and further study are warranted.</p>

The Level of Critical Thinking in Students of Education

The ability to think critically is considered a key competence of the 21st century. Empirical findings are absent in Slovakia, therefore one of the goals of this work was to do research to determine the level of critical thinking in students of education. The statistic data was obtained through the analysis of the Watson-Glaser critical thinking assessment test. The sample consisted of 116 students of education at the Faculty of Humanities and Natural Sciences of University of Presov in Presov.