Relationship between B.Ed (Hons) Elementary Prospective Teachers’ Critical and Reflective Thinking Skills

Abstract

This study aimed to determine the relationship between B. Ed (Hons.) Elementary prospective teachers' critical thinking and reflective thinking skills. In the learning process, developing higher-order thinking skills (HOTS) was imperative. Critical thinking stresses the skills to acquire information, which include comparing and in-depth evaluating and utilizing that information to solve a problem, which are among the most important. On the other hand, reflective thinking is related to the constructivist approach. It enables people (or students) to feel accountable for their learning, select their learning goals, and actively participate in learning processes. This study adopted a quasi-experimental design with an intact group of participants. The researchers developed lesson plans and achievement tests to measure critical thinking skills. The researchers also developed a 5-point observation scale to measure reflective thinking skills. For the data analysis, a correlation was run to evaluate the relationship between the dependent variables: critical thinking and reflective thinking skills. There was a strong positive correlation between critical thinking skills and reflective thinking skills of prospective teachers. The researchers recommended using reflective practices in the classroom to increase future teachers' critical thinking and reflective thinking abilities. This would allow for more excellent performance from the prospective teachers.