Monday, August 1, 2011

Variables Affecting the Critical and Creative Thinking of First Year Students in the Public High Schools of Quirino Province

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This study was aimed primarily to determine the extent with which the student -related, family- related, and teacher- related variables affected the level and quantity of critical and creative thinking questions asked by the sample student - respondents of the study.

More specifically, the study was intended to seek answers to the following:

  1. What is the profile of the participant respondents in terms of: Student - Related Variables - gender, age and rating in English (grade 6); Family - Related Variables - parents educational attainment, parents occupation, and print media available at home; Teacher - Related Variables - number of years teaching English, teaching load: English only or English with other subjects, schools graduated from: public/state or private, scores in Torrance checklist and scores in Holland Baird originality measures?

  2. Of the total number of questions asked by the sample students questions trigged by the stimulus selections what are classified as: critical questions and creative questions?

  3. Is there a significant difference between the critical and creative scores produced by the sample students?

  4. Are there significant relationships between the sample students’ critical and creative score and (a) student- related variables, (b) family- related variables, and (c) teacher- related variables?

The Descriptive Survey Method was appropriate to this kind of research. Respondents were 152 1st year students randomly selected coming from 10 high schools in Quirino, their parents composed of 304 and 17 teachers. Data gathering tools were questionnaire, stimulus selection and documentary analysis. The questionnaire that included Torrance checklist and Holland Baird Originality Measure was administered to the teacher – respondents and the stimulus selection was administered to the student – respondents. Descriptive statistics and chi – square were used in treating the data gathered.

Summary of Findings

On Profile of Respondents

Students. There were 152 sample first – year high schools students who participated in the investigation, 59 were males and 93 females; the male students had a mean age of 13.34 (SD = 1.79) years and the female students had a mean age of 13.0 (SD = 1.05) years; the male students obtained a mean rating in English (Grade 6) or 83.39 (SD = 5.01) and the female students obtained a mean rating in English of 84.72 (SD = 4.68); and for both male and female students a mean rating in English of 84.20 (SD=4.84) was obtained

Parents. There were 304 parent respondents who participated in the study: 152 fathers and 152 mothers. The fathers reported an average year of schooling of 8.55 years (roughly equivalent to four months in second year high school education, 43 collegiate education. The mother respondents reported an average year high Schooling 8.99 years (roughly equivalent to completion of the third year high school); 44 mothers respondents had elementary education, 78 high school education, and 30 collegiate education. The parent respondents reported of the availability of print media at home consisting of books, magazines, newspapers, and Bibles.

Teachers. There were 17-teachers respondents who participated in the study: 2 males and 15 females; 11 were major in English without minor and 6 major in English with minor; 11 taught only English and 6 taught English with other subjects; 4 were graduates of public / state school and 13 graduates of private sectarian and non- sectarian schools. The teacher respondents obtained a mean score of 2.88 (SD= 1.81) in Torrance Checklist and a mean score of 20. 88 (SD= 3.39) in Holland – Baird Originality Measure.

On Testing the Significant Difference

Null Hypothesis 1. There is no significant difference between the critical / creative total scores and literal score. The sample students asked a total of 1519 questions: 770 literal, 573 critical, and 176 creative. A Chi- square of 3.30 was obtained showing that there was no significant difference between the number of literal questions and the combined number of critical and creative questions.

Null Hypothesis 2. There is on significant difference between the critical and relative scores obtained by the sample students. A Chi – Square of 210.42 was obtained showing that there were far more critical questions asked by the sample students (573) than they did creative questions (176). This result indicated a significant difference. This means that for every four higher-level questions asked by the students three were critical and one creative.

On Testing Significant Relationships

Null hypothesis 3. There are no significant relationships between the critical and creative scores and student – related variables. Three Chi – square tests of independence were calculated to determine the relationships between the sample students’ performance in asking higher level questions and gender, age, and rating in English (Grade 6). Two Chi – squares relative to the relationships between students’ performance in raising higher level of questions and gender and age were not significant. The student’s gender and age did not influence their performance in asking higher level questions.

However, the Chi – square relative to the relationship between the students performance in raising higher-level questions was significant. Rating in English had influenced the student’s performance in asking higher level questions, i.e., critical and creative questions.

Null Hypothesis 4. There are no significant relationships between the sample students critical and creative scores and family – related variables. Three Chi – squares were computed to ascertain the relationships between the sample students performance in asking higher level questions and the parents educational attainment, occupation, and availability of print media at home failed to influence the students performance in asking higher level questions.

Null Hypothesis 5. There is no significant relationship between the sample students’ critical and creative scored and teacher related variables. Six Chi- square test of independence were calculated to determine the relationship between the students’ performance in asking higher level question s and teacher respondent ‘s years of teaching English, major field, teaching load, schools graduated from, Scores in productive / creative thinking, and scores in originality / critical thinking. Three Chi- squares were small indicating that the student performance in asking higher level questions, i.e. critical and creative, had. No significant relationships with the teachers’ years of teaching implies that these teacher- related variables did not affect the students’ performance in asking higher level questions.

However, three Chi- squares were substantially large revealing that the student’ performance in asking higher level questions had significant relationship with the teachers’ major field, with and without minor, scores in productive / creative thinking, and scores originality/ critical thinking. This finding implies that these teachers’ variables had influenced the performance of the students in asking higher level questions, i. e, critical and creative questions.

Conclusions

Mostly literal level questions - rather than the inferential, critical, and creative levels - are raised by the first- year school student.

Findings in any previous studies on “questions” tally with this conclusion. Literal questions are the lowest level of questions in the hierarchy of question classification. Many reading authorities believe that the literal questions are necessary, but they offer that these questions lack inquiring potency. Significantly more critical level questions rather than creative level questions are raised by students.

Critical and creative questions are higher level questions. Compared to creative questions ,critical questions are at many times text - dependent, while creative level questions are less, or depend on a prior knowledge an individual has, the better his or her chance to ask (and more prepared to answer) creative level higher questions.

Speaking of gender and age, these do not affect the students’ performance in asking higher level questions. Many studies have confirmed this conclusion. Very little or no influence at all is exerted by gender and age of the students in their performance in raising higher level question.

On the other hand, Rating in English (Grade 6) affected positively the performance of the student respondents in asking higher level questions. This is proven by the levels of questions asked by student-respondents: student-respondents with good grades asked higher level questions while student-respondents with lower grades in English asked lower level of questions preferably literal level questions. Moreover, the stimulus selections are in English and the respondents ask questions in that language. It is expected that the ability to use the language in the previous grade may have offered them some advantage of facility to formulate higher level questions.

Meanwhile, parents’ educational attainment and occupation and availability of print media at home do not influence the performance of the first year students in asking higher level questions.

Many studies have confirmed this conclusion. An examination of the data on education attainment and occupation suggest that the parents may not be in strategic position to provide their children enough guidance in the matter of asking higher level questions. The data show limited print media available at home.

Teachers’ years of teaching English, teaching load, and schools graduated from do not affect the students’ performance in asking level questions.

An examination of the data shows that seven of the teachers have taught for less than four (3.85 years) teaching English. The implication in this is these teachers may not have acquired essential experience in teaching the language. Further, the data show that students under teachers teaching not only English but also other subjects produce a little more number of higher level questions. Again the data reveal that all teacher - respondents are graduates of School in the region, supervised by CHED.

Teachers’ major field, with and without minor, scores in productive / creative thinking (as by Torrance Checklist), in scores in originality/ critical thinking (as assessed by Holland – Baird measure) do positively influence the performance of the students in raiding higher level questions, i.e., critical and creative questions.

The student respondents received instruction in English which gave them due advantage in accomplishing the stimulus selections. An examination of the data suggests the teacher respondents have potential in critical thinking based on the mean score achieved (M = 20.88) by the teacher respondents.

Recommendations

  1. Although literal questions serve as building blocks to higher level thinking, teachers should master the art of questioning that insures the development of the students’ performance in raising higher level questions, i.e., inferential, critical, and creative questions.

  2. Teachers of both work – type (i.e., reading) and content – area subjects should include in their pivotal list of questions some that can trigger higher level thinking. Corollary to this, students should be encouraged to ask questions directed to the teachers, to their classmates, and to themselves.

  3. Teachers should assign meaningful library works to their students. Every teacher should stock his or her classroom with multiple prints / instructional materials: books, dictionaries, magazines, newspapers, encyclopedia, thesaurus, and the like. Teachers should use interactive teaching methods of teaching that require intensive use of questions, e.g., group discussion and make – believe interview.

  4. An in – service education be conducted in the division on the art of questioning where opportunity for all teachers to ask higher level of questions is learned and mastered.

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