Investigation of the relationship between pre-service teachers' critical thinking tendencies and media literacy skills

The aim of this study is to examine the critical thinking dispositions and media literacy skills of prospective teachers studying at a faculty of education in terms of gender and department, and to reveal the relationship between these two skills among teacher candidates. The study seeks to answer the following questions: What are the levels of teacher candidates' critical thinking dispositions and media literacy skills? Do these skills vary according to variables such as gender and department? What kind of relationship exists between the two? The population of the study consists of teacher candidates continuing their education at a state university in Nevşehir during the 2024–2025 academic year. A total of 271 teacher candidates participated in the research. The study adopted the relational survey model, which is among the quantitative research methods. Three data collection tools were utilized in the study: the "Personal Information Form," the "Media Literacy Skills Scale," and the "Critical Thinking Disposition Scale." Prior to data analysis, the assumption of normal distribution was tested; since the data did not show normal distribution, non-parametric tests were employed. Mann-Whitney U Test, Kruskal-Wallis H Test, and Spearman Correlation Analysis were used for data analysis. The analysis revealed that prospective teachers' critical thinking dispositions and media literacy skills were at a high level. Regarding the Media Literacy Skills Scale, the analysis of whether scores differed by gender demonstrated that, overall, male participants had higher mean ranks than female participants. For the Critical Thinking Disposition Scale, no significant difference was found in relation to department. However, the analysis of the Media Literacy Skills Scale according to the department variable showed significant differences both in the overall score and in the "Access" and "Analysis" subdimensions. Concerning gender differences, male participants' mean ranks were consistently higher in the Media Literacy Skills Scale, showing a significant difference in favor of men. The analysis exploring the relationship between media literacy skill levels and critical thinking dispositions revealed a moderate, positive, and statistically significant correlation. The unique aspects of this research include the finding that while female participants had higher mean ranks in the Critical Thinking Disposition Scale, this difference was not statistically significant, whereas male participants scored higher in the Media Literacy Skills Scale and the difference was statistically significant in favor of men. Furthermore, while no significant difference was found by department in the Critical Thinking Disposition Scale, significant differences were found in the Media Literacy Skills Scale according to the department variable. In the literature, there are numerous studies examining teacher candidates' critical thinking dispositions and media literacy skills separately; however, research addressing both variables together and exploring their relationship is limited. In conclusion, the findings demonstrate that teacher candidates possess a high level of competence in critical thinking and media literacy, which are essential skills required by the contemporary educational approach. Moreover, variables such as gender and department are observed to have differing impacts on these skills in certain cases. It can be stated that prospective teachers with strong critical thinking dispositions adopt a more selective, questioning, and analytical approach when evaluating media content.