Assessing the Critical Thinking Skills of Students at Higher Secondary Level

The ultimate aim of education is to develop human beings in such a way that they can act beneficial for themselves as well as for the society and can think well and think critically. Development of critical thinking skills is the fundamental aim of education. The present study intended to assess the critical thinking skills among students at higher secondary level in the province of Punjab, Pakistan. The study is quantitative in nature. Population of the study comprises students enrolled in higher secondary level in Punjab. Multistage sampling technique was used to select the sample. A self-developed multiple choice item test was used to assess the critical thinking skills among students. Expert opinion was taken to validate the test and reliability coefficient was 0.86. It was found that majority of students did not perform satisfactory on the critical thinking skill test and scored low on all dimensions of critical thinking skills. The study concluded that curriculum and teaching methodologies along with assessment practices are not worth inculcating critical thinking skills among students. The study recommended that curriculum at higher secondary level might be redesigned and development of critical thinking skill through teaching methodologies might take into consideration by the institutes.