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Critical Thinking: Are Malaysian University Students Engaged?

By Rohani Ahmad Tarmizi, Aida Suraya Md.Yunus, Ramlah Hamzah, Rosini Abu, Sharifah Md Nor, Habsah Ismail, Wan Zah Wan Ali and Kamariah Abu Bakar.

Published by The International Journal of the Humanities

Format	Price
Article: Print	$US10.00
Article: Electronic	$US5.00

Critical thinking is deemed necessary in this era of globalization where the global citizens will need to function competently in social, educational and work environments. Calls for improving critical thinking among learners at the pre-school level up to university level have been clear and repeatedly iterated. This study focuses on critical thinking abilities of university students from seven public universities and two private universities participated in the study. Critical thinking was measured using four constructs vis-à-vis logical reasoning, visual thinking, inference making, and argumentation. A 41 item tests was constructed to measure logical reasoning (11 items), visual thinking (10 items), inference making (10) and 10 items to measure written argumentation ability. The test requires students to answer based on the multiple-choice questions. Score of 1 is assigned for each correct and 0 for incorrect answer. Overall findings indicated that Malaysian students’ critical thinking ability was found to be at a moderate level. Medical students were found to have attained the highest mean score. Significant differences in critical thinking ability were found between several groups. These findings imply that drastic and effective measures need to be taken at higher learning institution to prepare university graduates to be effective employees who are able to think critically. These future graduates should also be enhanced on their ability to attend to critical, complex and real-life situation at their workplace.

Keywords:	Critical Thinking, Logical Reasoning, Visual Thinking, Inference Making, Argumentation Ability

International Journal of the Humanities, Volume 6, Issue 6, pp.149-158. Article: Print (Spiral Bound). Article: Electronic (PDF File; 554.929KB).

Dr. Rohani Ahmad Tarmizi

Head Laboratory, Institute for Mathematical Research, University Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia

Dr. Aida Suraya Md.Yunus

Associate Professor, Faculty of Educational Studies, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia

Dr. Ramlah Hamzah

Lecturer, Universiti Putra Malaysia, BANDAR BARU BANGI, Selangor, Malaysia

Dr. Rosini Abu

Lecturer, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia

Dr. Sharifah Md Nor

Lecturer, Faculty of Educational Studies, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia

Dr. Habsah Ismail

Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Educational Studies, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Selangor, Malaysia

Dr. Wan Zah Wan Ali

Lecturer, Faculty of Educational Studies, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia

Dr. Kamariah Abu Bakar

Lecturer, Faculty of Educational Studies, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Serdang, Selangor, Malaysia

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