Teaching Critical Thinking Skills: Ability, Motivation, Intervention, and the Pygmalion Effect

Larry Howard, Thomas Tang () and M. Jill Austin

Journal of Business Ethics, 2015, vol. 128, issue 1, 133-147

Abstract: Using a Solomon four-group design, we investigate the effect of a case-based critical thinking intervention on students’ critical thinking skills (CTA). We randomly assign 31 sessions of business classes (N = 659 students) to four groups and collect data from three sources: in-class performance (CTA), university records (ACT, GPA, and demographic variables), and Internet surveys (learning and motivational goals). Our 2 × 2 ANOVA results showed no significant between-subjects differences. Contrary to our expectations, students improve their critical thinking skills, with or without the intervention. Female and Caucasian students improve their critical thinking skills, but males and non-Caucasian do not. Positive performance goals and negative mastery goals enhance and decrease improvements of their CTA scores, respectively. ACT and age are related to pre- and post-test. Gender (male) is related to pre-test. GPA is related to post-test. Results shed light on the Pygmalion effect, the Galatea effect, ability, motivation, and opportunity as signals for human capital, and business ethics. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2015

Keywords: Critical thinking skills; Ability; Motivation; Race; Self-fulfilling prophesy; Priming effect (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (11)

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DOI: 10.1007/s10551-014-2084-0

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