Abstract
The article examined the problem of formation and development of students' critical thinking. The significance of the study is explained by the need to improve approaches to the development of critical thinking which is becoming the most important cognitive skill of the 21st century. The article summarized the features of pedagogical, psychological and philosophical approaches to understanding of critical thinking and its structural models in which logic is one of the important components, analyzed Russian and foreign methods for measuring logical reasoning. The study was conducted at University of Tyumen and included first-year students (n=122). The main method of data collection was the Batarshev’s “Logical reasoning” test. According to the results, first-year students demonstrated an average level of logical reasoning. Especially, the group of students studying in English showed the higher results in comparison to the students studying in Russian. There could be a possible relationship between the level of logical reasoning and average scores on the United State Exam or English proficiency (B1). The article presented the students’ levels of logical reasoning for the general sample and groups in particular. In conclusion, the recommendations for the development of students' critical thinking were suggested. The results of the study can be applied to improve the educational process in higher education.
Keywords
- critical thinking
- higher education
- students
- cognitive skills
- logical reasoning
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