The effect of the column genre on the critical thinking skills of year 5 pupils

This study aims to examine the effect of opinion pieces on the critical thinking skills of secondary school students. In this study, which examines the effect of opinion pieces on critical thinking, a mixed-methods approach and an explanatory sequential design were employed. A quasi-experimental design was used for the quantitative aspect of the study, whilst a phenomenological design was used for the qualitative aspect. For the collection of quantitative data, the "Critical Thinking Tendency Scale for Secondary School Students" developed by Yıldırım Döner and Demir (2021) and the "Achievement Test for Measuring Critical Thinking Skills" by Eğmir and Ocak (2016) were used. For the collection of qualitative data, responses to questions regarding the opinion piece texts and the semi-structured interview forms completed at the end of the process were utilized. The study group consisted of Year 5 pupils attending a secondary school in a provincial center in the north-east of Turkey during the 2025–2026 academic year. During the implementation process, the "Scale of Critical Thinking Tendencies for Secondary School Students" and the "Critical Thinking Skills Achievement Test" were first administered to the control and experimental groups as pre-tests. In addition, students in the experimental group were asked to read 16 opinion pieces over 8 weeks, and their answers to the questions provided below the texts were collected. At the end of the intervention, the scale and test were administered again to both the control and experimental groups for the final assessment. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with students from the experimental group who volunteered. According to the study's findings, students' critical thinking tendencies improved, and their performance on the achievement test also improved. Based on this result, it is recommended that more space be allocated to opinion pieces in textbooks and in reading activities to support critical thinking skills.