Needs Analysis: Developing Critical Thinking Skills in High School Science Students

Introduction:-
Critical thinking has been defined in many different ways by different practitioners of
Psychology, Philosophy, and education. For this discourse, the researcher will focus on the
educational aspects of critical thinking as they relate to a student's ability to evaluate
information, draw conclusions, and create new knowledge based on analyses made. The
researcher has found through test results from multiple in-school assessments and MAP test data
that students seem to lack critical thinking skills and are increasingly dependent on their teachers
to break questions and scenarios down to their simplest form. Fogarty (2012) describes critical
thinking as the building blocks of problem-solving and decision-making. In his discourse, he
explains that critical thinking is the ability to evaluate one's thinking while in the thinking
process. In this paper, the researcher will use Bloom's taxonomy to explain critical thinking and
highlight key factors contributing to the lack of critical thinking skills. Lastly, the researcher will
propose some possible solutions to the identified needs.
Bloom and Critical Thinking
Bloom's taxonomy identifies multiple levels of learning. For this paper, the researcher will focus
on the levels of "Synthesis" and "Evaluation" (from the original taxonomy) and "Creating" (from
the revised taxonomy). When looking at Bloom's taxonomy from the cognitive approach, the
researcher must be quick to emphasise that the taxonomy is not linear or unidirectional; the
learning process oscillates between the lower levels of the taxonomy and the advanced, so this
paper is not exhaustive in its approach. Gardner(2013) proposes that students need to have a
"synthesising mind". He suggests in his book that students with a synthesising mind have
mastered the concept because they can survey a wide range of sources, decide what is relevant,
and reorganise the information in a way that makes sense to themselves and others (Gardner &
Zimbardo, 2013). This reorganising of information relates to what is referred to in Bloom's
taxonomy as creating:- it requires the student to disassemble and construct knowledge to
contextualise it. 4
According to administered standardised tests, students score higher in multiple-choice Language
questions than in comprehension and contextual questions. The researcher will use MAP and
class test scores as the primary tools for reporting. The tests will be accompanied by ongoing
formative assessment to help the researcher track student progress in real-time and provide
timely feedback. To measure student success in critical thinking, the researcher will look at the
descriptors that each level in Bloom's taxonomy is associated with and use these descriptors to
ascertain the student's level of critical thinking.
Barriers To Critical Thinking
The researcher has identified three main potential barriers to critical thinking:-
● Lack of proper planning and time-tabling inefficacies
● Lack of alignment between educational leadership and teachers
● Lack of teacher proficiency in teaching multilingual and ESL students.
1. Lack of Proper Planning and Time-tabling Inefficacies
Teacher schedules are varied, depending on the human resources available at schools. The
researcher has found through observation and talks with colleagues that teachers tend to have
more teaching time than planning time. In explaining the importance of teacher planning, Quay
et al. (2022) state that planning is an explicit expression of teacher creativity that requires
knowledge of the nuances of teaching and learning context.
Planning is a challenge in many International Schools because the curriculum is tailored to the
country it originates in and does not consider Ministry of Education subjects that also need to be
scheduled in other countries. This misalignment means that students doing the same curriculum,
in the same year, in two different parts of the world have a different amount of time to finish the
curriculum. While those in Arab Countries have to take Ministry subjects, their international
counterparts can use that time for core subjects. Students, therefore, need more opportunities for
collaboration and self-regulation because there is insufficient time to finish the curriculum. Baki
et al. argue that teachers play a prominent role in developing students' critical thinking skills,
which 5
coincides with the constructivist approach to learning that sees teachers as agents to help support
student learning, not just rush them into finishing a syllabus (Baki et al., 2016). Therefore, it is
critical that planning be more efficient in schools to create more opportunities for meaningful
learning experiences for students.
2. Lack of Alignment Between Educational Leadership and Teachers
Teachers have diverse teaching backgrounds, and their definition of good pedagogy may not
always align with the standards set forth by the education body (ADEK, KHDA, Alberta Ed,
etc.) or the school leadership. In a study done in Israel, it was found that principals face
conflicting expectations from the different stakeholders in education. According to Arar &
Masry-Herzallah, the government makes policies and has expectations that don't always reflect
the socio-political context of individual schools, and this may affect the running of a school
(Massry-Herzallah & Arar, 2019).
The Abu-Dhabi Department of Education and Knowledge's (ADEK) website mentions, as some
of its objectives, that ADEK should "Organise the teaching and learning processes in private
schools." (Private Schools, n.d.). For a teacher trained by Alberta Education (who manages
Alberta curriculum schools around the world) or another Western Certifying Body, ADEK may
be seen to be specifying what should and shouldn't be taught, and these specifications may be
contrary to Alberta Education's policies on what is essential to develop a holistic education
system. Students are then dependent on teachers to sort information for them and ascertain what
is "safe" for them to consume and what is not. This takes away from the learner's opportunity to
organise and sort information for themselves, thereby hindering the synthesising process.
3. Lack of Teacher Proficiency in Teaching Multilingual and ESL Students.
It is often assumed that differentiation is enough to support ESL students; however, in studies
done in Ontario, researchers found that differentiation alone did not adequately cater to ESL
students. In mainstream English classrooms in Ontario, teachers were not sufficiently equipped
to cater to multilingualism and therefore relegated a lack of language skills to a lack of academic
skills 6.
In a study in a Malaysian Rural school, while assessing the critical thinking skills of rural ESL
students, using the Cornell Critical Thinking Test X, 76% of the students were found to possess
critical thinking skills. However, most students in the test group achieved very poorly in the
"identifying assumptions" portion of the test, suggesting that critical thinking is not necessarily a
skill attached to language but to a student's ability to contextualise knowledge. (Baki et al.,
2016).
Though language is an essential tool for acquiring knowledge and skill, it is not the only tool,
and teachers should find ways of integrating other tools to teach and model critical thinking to
students. In the researcher's local context, where the population is more than 85% ESL, MAP
data has shown a strong correlation between MAP Reading and Comprehension scores and
student performance in Science MAP and School tests. Students that scored low in critical
thinking-type questions in school assessments also tended to score low in MAP comprehension
tests.
Proposed Intervention for Perceived Needs
For planning and time-tabling, the researcher has a limited scope of influence but can adjust her
schedule to try and accommodate lesson preparation and planning within the confines of the
allotted time. The researcher can also collaborate with other Biology teachers from Alberta
International Schools in the Middle East who might have faced similar problems and find a way
to adapt their solutions to her context. To meet student needs, the researcher has identified two
strategies, namely acquiring ELL (English Language Learners) Support for both student and
teacher, and using problem-based learning.
ESL Support Classes
Ennis(2011) argues that the fundamental principle of critical thinking is reasoning; it requires
reasonable and reflective thinking, so it cannot be restricted to English proficiency. As the
researcher is not trained as an English teacher, their scope of expertise only extends to what they
have experienced teaching in multilingual schools. The researcher cannot alter the student
schedules to add Language Learning Lessons but can use extracurricular times to offer ESL help
to students by helping increase their general English vocabulary and subject-specific vocabulary.
To be effective, this will 7
require the researcher to enrol in a Teaching English as a Second or Foreign Language
programme to equip her better to teach ESL students. This new skill will enable the researcher to
create better learning opportunities that eliminate language as a barrier to critical thinking.
Problem-Based Learning (PBL)
Baki et al. (2016) state that critical thinking cannot be learned through rote learning or
memorisation techniques. They argue that students need to be engaged in tasks that tap into prior
knowledge for them to transfer that knowledge into a new learning context, and it is this
engagement (in line with constructivist theory)that will allow students to construct knowledge
and thus promote their critical thinking skills (Baki et al., 2016)
It is important to note that there are many variations of PBL in different disciplines, though
according to Dolmans (2013), these variations centre around a problem or question, a small
group of students discussing this problem, and a teacher/ supervisor facilitating the group.
Blaney (2003) argues that PBL, as a principle, precedes formal education systems. He proposes
that most modern Sciences start with a problem that needs to be solved and that the starting point
for learning is usually a puzzle or problem that the learner needs to solve (Blaney, 2003).
For this research, the researcher will be referring to PBL as a hybrid of Problem-oriented Project
Work as described by Berthelsen, Illeris, & Poulsen (1977) and traditional Problem-based
Learning as explained by Barrows & Neufeldt(1974). Barrows& Neufeldt see PBL as a process
wherein learners focus on an identified problem that requires genuine intellectual effort and bring
to that problem their prior knowledge and an ability to reason around it ( Barrows & Neufeldt,
1974). This research approach will fuse question-based discussion and problem-solving with
practical, project-based problem-solving. Students will have opportunities to receive feedback
from the teacher (as a facilitator) and the activities they will be doing. Students will have to
adjust practice based on positive or negative feedback from the system as they attempt to solve
the problem. 8

Conclusion
The lack of critical thinking skills in secondary students is not a problem that is unique to the
researcher’s local context. It presents differently in a variety of contexts, but is often wrongly
associated with English proficiency. As evidenced by studies in Malaysia(Baki et al.,2016) and
Ontario(Kerekes et al., 2022), students do not rely on language to develop their critical thinking
skills but are often not catered for by their teachers who are ill-equipped to deal with their ESL
needs. Many disciplines employ PBL strategies to teach transferable skills to their students, and
these have proved successful on many occasions.
References