Critical thinking skills of undergraduate students who are majoring in art education and in history

In the changing world, developments affecting our lives in all areas have also differentiated the knowledge and skills that individuals should have. A way to keep up with these developments will be possible with skills that must be acquired in the century we live in, such as critical thinking. In the literature, art education specifically has been claimed to be a contributor to creativity development and to critical thinking skills of students. The objective of this study is to examine and evaluate students' critical thinking skills whether it shows differences in terms of the higher education study areas. Accordingly, in this study, it was aimed to reveal the relationship between students' critical thinking skills and sub-dimensions; and variables such as gender, age, and year of study. The sample group consisted of Freshman and Senior students who are studying Art Education and another group studying History at Bursa Uludağ University in the Spring semester of 2019 academic year. The study was structured according to the relational screening model, and the "Cornell Critical Thinking Test Level Z" (CEDTDZ) developed by Robert H. Ennis, Jason Millman and Thomas N. Tomko was used to measure students' critical thinking skills. Results of the study revealed that, critical thinking skill levels of the students were low and there was no statistically significant difference according to their study majors. The results also showed no significant difference in critical thinking skill levels of the Freshman and Senior students within the group who are studying Art Education. Similarly, demographics such as gender and year of study made no particular difference in terms of students' critical thinking skill levels. The cohort of 25-30 age group showed a positive difference in terms of age variable comparison. It was concluded based on the results and supported with evidence that curricula should be designed specifically and should be structured to encourage and develop students' critical thinking skills.