Reliability and validity of the Watson-Glasere Critical Thinking Appraisal-Forms for different academic groups *.This study investigated the reliability and validity of the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal-Form S for subjects in academic fields. The participants were 586 university students. The responses to the WGCTA-FS were analyzed an·a·lyze tr.v. an·a·lyzed, an·a·lyz·ing, an·a·lyz·es 1. To examine methodically by separating into parts and studying their interrelations. 2. Chemistry To make a chemical analysis of. 3. for the total group and the subgroups within the total group: psychology majors, students enrolled in educational psychology and in special education, undergraduates, and graduate students. Data showed that the WGCTA-FS was a reliable and valid instrument measuring critical thinking for these groups of subjects. ********** Over the years, researchers, psychologists This list includes notable psychologists and contributors to psychology, some of whom may not have thought of themselves primarily as psychologists but are included here because of their important contributions to the discipline. and educators have emphasized the importance of teaching and testing critical thinking skills (Ennis, 1987; College Board, 1983; and Task Force on Education and Economic Growth of the Education Commission, 1983). Siegel (1980) noted that educational philosophers viewed critical thinking to be the central idea in educational endeavors. Halpren (1988) stated that many educators viewed the promotion of critical thinking as one of the highest priorities in college education. Lawson (1999) felt that critical thinking should be part of the psychology students' overall assessment. Is there a valid and reliable instrument that can measure critical thinking in academic settings? The Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal Forms A and B (Watson & Glaser, 1980) were inventories frequently used in measuring critical thinking at the post-secondary level. Both of these instruments were too long. Most participants who had responded to these inventories did not complete them. In 1994, Watson and Glaser revised the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal Form A to a new version called Form S (WGCTA-FS). The WGCTA-FS has 40 items, thus, it is a much shorter inventory than the original WGCTA-Form A. A number of researchers, reported in the WGCTA-FS manual (Watson & Glaser, 1994b), have used this WGCTA-Form S with subjects who were primarily career applicants and business personnel. The purpose of the present study was to determine if the WGCTA-FS is a reliable and valid instrument measuring critical thinking for subjects in the academic fields. Method Subjects: The participants were 586 students enrolled in courses at a southwestern state university, of which 56 were majoring in psychology, 228 enrolled in educational psychology, 155 enrolled in special education, 79 enrolled in graduate studies, and 68 did not as yet declare a major. The total number of undergraduates was 486. Instrument: The data used in this study were the students' responses to the WGCTA-FS and their end of semester se·mes·ter n. One of two divisions of 15 to 18 weeks each of an academic year. [German, from Latin (cursus) s course grades. The WGCTA-FS has five scenarios to which subjects respond to questions about the contents in these scenarios. Five subscale scores are derived from these responses. The subscales are entitled en·ti·tle tr.v. en·ti·tled, en·ti·tling, en·ti·tles 1. To give a name or title to. 2. To furnish with a right or claim to something: as follows: (a) Inference (logic) inference - The logical process by which new facts are derived from known facts by the application of inference rules. See also symbolic inference, type inference. : in which the subject determines to what extent one can discriminate dis·crim·i·nate v. dis·crim·i·nat·ed, dis·crim·i·nat·ing, dis·crim·i·nates v.intr. 1. a. the truth or falsity of the statement from the data provided; (b) Recognition of Assumptions: in which the subject recognizes whether the assumptions are clearly stated; (c) Deduction deduction, in logic, form of inference such that the conclusion must be true if the premises are true. For example, if we know that all men have two legs and that John is a man, it is then logical to deduce that John has two legs. : in which the subject decides whether certain conclusions necessarily follow the information provided; (d) Interpretation: in which the subject considers the evidence provided and determines whether generalizations on the data are warranted; and (e) Evaluation of Arguments: in which the subject distinguishes between the strong and relevant arguments from those that are weak and irrelevant in particular issues (Watson & Glaser, 1994b). The Total Critical Thinking Appraisal score is a summation summation n. the final argument of an attorney at the close of a trial in which he/she attempts to convince the judge and/or jury of the virtues of the client's case. (See: closing argument) of the five subscale scores. It provides a more accurate estimate (than do each of the subscale scores) of individuals' overall proficiency pro·fi·cien·cy n. pl. pro·fi·cien·cies The state or quality of being proficient; competence. Noun 1. proficiency - the quality of having great facility and competence with respect to attitudes, knowledge, and skills. The internal consistency In statistics and research, internal consistency is a measure based on the correlations between different items on the same test (or the same subscale on a larger test). It measures whether several items that propose to measure the same general construct produce similar scores. and test-retest reliability test-retest reliability Psychology A measure of the ability of a psychologic testing instrument to yield the same result for a single Pt at 2 different test periods, which are closely spaced so that any variation detected reflects reliability of the instrument for the WGCTA-FS, reported in the WGCTA-FS manual (Watson & Glaser, 1994b), were both .81. The criterion-related validities (for studies reported in the manual) varied a great deal. However, Watson and Glaser made reference to Cronbach (1970), in that, criterion-related validity of .30 or better as having a 'definite practical value.' Procedure: Subjects signed a research consent form agreeing that data would be used only in research studies. During class periods, they read the scenarios in the WGCTA-FS and reported their responses on scantron sheets. These scores and the end-of-semester course grades (in percentiles) were entered into the computer by the students' assigned numbers (standard) assigned numbers - The RFC STD 2 documenting the currently assigned values from several series of numbers used in network protocol implementations. This RFC is updated periodically and, in any case, current information can be obtained from the Internet Assigned Numbers . Results The internal consistencies (Cronbach alphas) for the total WGCTA-FS scores and the Pearson product-moment correlations between the WGCTA-FS scores and courses grades for the total group and each of the subgroups were analyzed. The data for the total group and the subgroups showed that the internal consistencies ranged from .74 to .92 (see Table 1). The correlations between the total WGCTA-FS scores and course grades for the total group and the subgroups ranged from .20 to. 62 (see Table 2). It should be noted that there were a number of low course grades reported especially for students who had not declared a major. This accounts for the low correlation (.20) between the WGCTA-FS scores and course grades for the undergraduate group and for the .30 correlation between WGCTA-FS scores and course grade for the total group. Discussion In was concluded that, for these groups of participants in the academic fields, the WGCTA-FS was a reliable and valid instrument measuring critical thinking. The data showed that the WGCTA-FS alphas and the correlations between the WGCTA-FS scores and the semester course grades were within the ranges reported in the WGCTA-FS manual (Watson & Glaser, 1994b). Ps.: This study was presented at the Annual Southwestern Psychological Association Convention held at Memphis, Tennessee For the ancient Egyptian capital, see . Memphis is a city in the southwest corner of Tennessee, and the county seat of Shelby County. Memphis rises above the Mississippi River on the 4th Chickasaw Bluff just below the mouth of the Wolf River. in 2005. References College Board (1983). Academic Preparation for College. New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of : College Entrance Examination Board. Ennis, R. H. (1987). A taxonomy taxonomy: see classification. taxonomy In biology, the classification of organisms into a hierarchy of groupings, from the general to the particular, that reflect evolutionary and usually morphological relationships: kingdom, phylum, class, order, of critical thinking disposition and abilities. J.B. Baron baron Title of nobility, ranking in modern times immediately below a viscount or a count (in countries without viscounts). The wife of a baron is a baroness. Originally, in the early Middle Ages, the term designated a tenant of whatever rank who held a tenure of barony and R. J. Sternberg, (Eds.). Teaching thinking skills: theory and practice. New York: Freeman, p.9-26. Halpern, D. F. (1988). Assessing student outcomes for psychology majors. Teaching of Psychology, 15, 181-186. Lawson, T. J. (1999). Assessing psychological critical thinking as a learning outcome for psychology majors. Teaching of Psychology, 26, 207-208. McMillan, L. H. (1987). Enhancing college student critical thinking: a review of studies. Research of Higher Education higher education Study beyond the level of secondary education. Institutions of higher education include not only colleges and universities but also professional schools in such fields as law, theology, medicine, business, music, and art. , 26, 3-29. Siegel, H. (1980). Critical thinking as a educational idea. The Educational Forum, 45, 7-23. Task Force on Education and Economic Growth of the Education Commission of the States The Education Commission of the States (ECS) was founded as a result of the creation of the Compact for Education, supported by all 50 states and approved by Congress in 1965. The original idea of establishing an interstate compact on education and creating an operational arm to follow up (1983). Action on Excellence. Denver, Co: Education Commission of the States. Watson, G., & Glaser, E. M. (1980). Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal. San Antonio San Antonio (săn ăntō`nēō, əntōn`), city (1990 pop. 935,933), seat of Bexar co., S central Tex., at the source of the San Antonio River; inc. 1837. , TX: Psychological Corp. Watson, G., & Glaser, E. M. (1994a). Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal Form-S, San Antonio, TX: Psychological Corp. Watson, G., & Glaser, E. M. (1994b). Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal Form-S, San Antonio, TX: Psychological Corp. * This study was funded by a Texas A & M University-Commerce Organized Research Grant No. 144023-20300. * Acknowledgements are made to Mei Jiang, and Christopher Nichols in assisting to compile To translate a program written in a high-level programming language into machine language. See compiler. the data for this study. Bernadette M. Gadzella, Lois Hogan hogan Dwelling of the Navajo Indians of Arizona and New Mexico. The hogan is roughly circular and constructed usually of logs, which are stepped in gradually to create a domed roof. , William Masten, James Stacks, Rebecca Stephens, and Victoria Zascavage, Department of Psychology and Special Education; Texas A & M University-Commerce, Commerce, Texas. Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Dr. Bernadete Gadzella, Department of Psychology and Special Education, Texas A&M University--Commerce, Commerce, TX 75429. Table 1 Internal Consistencies on the Total WGCTA-FS Scores for all Groups Group Number of Subjects Alpha Total Group 565 .92 Psychology Majors 56 .75 Educational Psychology 228 .74 Special Education 155 .76 Undergraduate 486 .92 Graduate 79 .78 Table 2 Correlations Between Course Grades and Total WGCTA-FS Scores for All Groups Group Number of Subjects Course Grade Total Group 565 .30 * Psychology Majors 56 .62 ** Educational Psychology 228 .38 ** Special Education 155 .24 ** Undergraduate 486 .20 * Graduate 79 .36 ** * p < .05 ** p < .01 |
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