The effects of content based critical thinking teaching on students' critical thinking skills, critical thinking virtues and attitudes toward mathematics in mathematics lesson

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of content based critical thinking teaching on students' critical thinking skills, critical thinking virtues and attitudes toward mathematics in mathematics lesson. The parallel integrated method was used in this study which was applied in a state secondary school in the district Yüreğir-Adana in the second semester of 2015-2016 academic year. The quantitative dimension of the study was designed as a quasi-experimental model and pre-test/post-test control group design was also applied. Total of 62 students in sixth grade participated in the study. There were 31 students in the experimental group and 31 students in the control group. After the groups were equalized on the basis of sixth grade first semester mathematics scores and demographic features and pretest results of Mathematical Critical Thinking Test and Critical Thinking Virtues Perception Scale and Math Attitude Scale, the groups were appointed to experimental and control groups with random appointment method. The study was conducted by the researcher in every two groups through the application and lasted in sixteen weeks. The lesson plans were prepared and based on Nosich (2011)'s criritical thinking components and critical thinking standarts with Paul (1995)'s critical thinking virtues were implemented in the experimental group for two lesson hours per week in the course of mathematical applications. Mathematical Critical Thinking Test and Critical Thinking Virtues Perception Scale and Math Attitude Scale were administered as a pretest to the experimental and control groups at the beginning of the study and as a posttest at the end of the study. In the experimental group, Students' Diaries were kept by the students every week and the Researcher's Diary was kept by the researcher. After the study, students' opinions were obtained about the application using the Semi-Structured Interview Form. SPSS 17.0 statistical package program was used in the analysis of quantitative data in the study. Covariance analysis (ANCOVA) was performed on the data obtained by the Mathematical Critical Thinking Test, Critical Thinking Virtues Perception Scale and Math Attitude Scale to determine whether statistically significant differences existed between the groups. As a result of the analyzes made, between the experimental group in which the content based critical thinking teaching was applied and the control group in which the current teaching method was applied; • When pretest scores of Mathematical Critical Thinking Test were controlled, there was a significant difference in favor of the experimental group in terms of posttest scores. • When pretest scores of Critical Thinking Virtues Perception Scale were controlled, there was a significant difference in favor of the experimental group in terms of posttest scores. • When pretest scores of Mathematical Attitude Scale were controlled, there was a significant difference in favor of the experimental group in terms of posttest scores. For qualitative data, descriptive analysis and content analysis were used. As a result of the content analysis of the Semi-Structured Interview Form, three themes were identified as Critical Thinking Skills, Critical Thinking Virtues and Other Factors of Learning. According to the findings of the interviews, the students in the experimental group stated that the application affected the way of thinking positively, they started to think better, positive changes occurred in their thoughts and behaviors with the activities performed during the application, they had recognized the importance of having good character and being good people. In addition, students expressed an increased awareness of mathematics lessons, better motivated lessons, and more successful results. Findings from Researcher Diary and Students' Diaries were also found to supported these results. Keywords: Critical thinking standards, critical thinking components, critical thinking virtues, mathematics teaching.