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VOL. 1, ISSUE 2 (2025)
Assessment of critical thinking skill of secondary school students for sustainable development and capacity building of science education in Anambra State
Authors
Ngozi Elizabeth Ezenwosu, Goodluck Erutujiro
Abstract
As education shifts from content memorization
to skill development, critical thinking skill has become a core competency for
student success in science subjects. Critical thinking skill is very important
skill for science and technical advancement of any society. The study focused
on assessment of critical thinking skill of secondary school students for
sustainable development and capacity building of science education in Anambra
State. The study was guided by three research questions and three hypotheses. The
study is both a descriptive and predictive correlation research design. The
study was conducted in Anambra State, Nigeria. The population of the study
consist of 23,247 secondary school two (SS 2) students. A sample of 670
students was drawn through simple random sampling techniques. The data were
collected using Critical Thinking Questionnaire developed by Alihali et al
(2023). The Cronach Alpha of the instrument is. 89. The instrument has 64 items
with a seven-point likert scale ranging from 0 = Never; 1 = Rarely; 2 =
Occasionally; 3 = Usually; 4 = Often; 5 = Frequently; 6 = Always. The
instrument was subjected to confirmatory factor analysis. The results of the
confirmatory factor analysis shows that the instrument is valid and reliable.
The data were collected with questionnaires and academic proforma with the help
of six research assistants. The collected data were analyzed using mean,
standard deviation, t-test and multiple regression. The researchers found out
that secondary school students in Anambra State have high critical thinking
skill. The researchers also found out that the mean scores of critical thinking
skills of male students is higher than female secondary school students in
Anambra State. The study shows that the mean scores of critical thinking skill
of urban students is higher than mean scores of rural secondary school students
in Anambra State. Finally, the study shows that critical thinking skill has
significance influence on academic achievement of secondary school students in
science subjects (Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Mathematics) in Anambra
State. In term of critical thinking skill dimensions, analysis, evaluation,
inference, explanation have significance influence on academic achievement of
secondary school students in science subjects in Anambra State. However,
self-regulation and interpretation dimensions of critical thinking skill have
no significance influence on academic achievement of secondary school students
in science subjects in Anambra State. Based on the above, it was recommended
that teachers should help students to improve critical thinking skill for the
advancement and capacity building of science education in Anambra State.
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Pages:88-94
How to cite this article:
Ngozi Elizabeth Ezenwosu, Goodluck Erutujiro "Assessment of critical thinking skill of secondary school students for sustainable development and capacity building of science education in Anambra State". International Journal of Advanced Education
, Vol 1, Issue 2, 2025, Pages 88-94
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