A Qualitative and Quantitative Study on Critical Thinking in Social Education Degree Students

Francisco José García-Moro, Diego Gómez-Baya, Alicia Muñoz-Silva and Nuria Martín-Romero
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Francisco José García-Moro: Department of Social, Developmental and Educational Psychology, University of Huelva, 21007 Huelva, Spain
Diego Gómez-Baya: Department of Social, Developmental and Educational Psychology, University of Huelva, 21007 Huelva, Spain
Alicia Muñoz-Silva: Department of Social, Developmental and Educational Psychology, University of Huelva, 21007 Huelva, Spain
Nuria Martín-Romero: Department of Educational Sciences, University of Alcala, 19001 Guadalajara, Spain

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 12, 1-13

Abstract: Critical thinking is present in the educational intentions in higher education with more or less programmatic development. In the training of social educators, such thinking is considered a fundamental pillar for a good performance of their functions in the social field. By means of qualitative and quantitative instruments, we set ourselves the objective of knowing the opinions of 72 Social Education degree students of the University of Huelva (Spain) about critical thinking, higher education, and their position on the subject. The results obtained showed that students have an approximate general knowledge of what critical thinking is, but a clear lack of knowledge of how it is developed. In addition, it is observed that there is a great contradiction between what they say and what they actually do, as, although they value its development in the degree and professional performance, they do not develop or commit themselves de facto to this competence. Moreover, they recognize that the university is a context that favors critical competence, but at the same time they are very critical about the teachings offered in this regard.

Keywords: critical thinking; higher education; social education; beliefs (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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