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Critical Thinking: Concepts and Tools by Richard Paul & Linda Elder The Miniature Guide to The Foundation for Critical Thinking www.criticalthinking.org 707-878-9100 [email protected]

For more information, see: The Miniature Guide to The Foundation for Critical Thinking www.criticalthinking.org 707-878-9100 [email protected] Visual Map of Paul-Elder Critical Thinking Model: https://louisville.edu/ideastoaction/about/criticalthinking/framework

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Introduction to Logic and Critical Thinking

(10 reviews)

Matthew Van Cleave, Lansing Community College

Publisher: Matthew J. Van Cleave

Language: English

Formats Available

Conditions of use.

Learn more about reviews.

Reviewed by "yusef" Alexander Hayes, Professor, North Shore Community College on 6/9/21

Formal and informal reasoning, argument structure, and fallacies are covered comprehensively, meeting the author's goal of both depth and succinctness. read more

Comprehensiveness rating: 5 see less

Formal and informal reasoning, argument structure, and fallacies are covered comprehensively, meeting the author's goal of both depth and succinctness.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

The book is accurate.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

While many modern examples are used, and they are helpful, they are not necessarily needed. The usefulness of logical principles and skills have proved themselves, and this text presents them clearly with many examples.

Clarity rating: 5

It is obvious that the author cares about their subject, audience, and students. The text is comprehensible and interesting.

Consistency rating: 5

The format is easy to understand and is consistent in framing.

Modularity rating: 5

This text would be easy to adapt.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

The organization is excellent, my one suggestion would be a concluding chapter.

Interface rating: 5

I accessed the PDF version and it would be easy to work with.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

The writing is excellent.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

This is not an offensive text.

Reviewed by Susan Rottmann, Part-time Lecturer, University of Southern Maine on 3/2/21

Comprehensiveness rating: 4 see less

I reviewed this book for a course titled "Creative and Critical Inquiry into Modern Life." It won't meet all my needs for that course, but I haven't yet found a book that would. I wanted to review this one because it states in the preface that it fits better for a general critical thinking course than for a true logic course. I'm not sure that I'd agree. I have been using Browne and Keeley's "Asking the Right Questions: A Guide to Critical Thinking," and I think that book is a better introduction to critical thinking for non-philosophy majors. However, the latter is not open source so I will figure out how to get by without it in the future. Overall, the book seems comprehensive if the subject is logic. The index is on the short-side, but fine. However, one issue for me is that there are no page numbers on the table of contents, which is pretty annoying if you want to locate particular sections.

Content Accuracy rating: 4

I didn't find any errors. In general the book uses great examples. However, they are very much based in the American context, not for an international student audience. Some effort to broaden the chosen examples would make the book more widely applicable.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 4

I think the book will remain relevant because of the nature of the material that it addresses, however there will be a need to modify the examples in future editions and as the social and political context changes.

Clarity rating: 3

The text is lucid, but I think it would be difficult for introductory-level students who are not philosophy majors. For example, in Browne and Keeley's "Asking the Right Questions: A Guide to Critical Thinking," the sub-headings are very accessible, such as "Experts cannot rescue us, despite what they say" or "wishful thinking: perhaps the biggest single speed bump on the road to critical thinking." By contrast, Van Cleave's "Introduction to Logic and Critical Thinking" has more subheadings like this: "Using your own paraphrases of premises and conclusions to reconstruct arguments in standard form" or "Propositional logic and the four basic truth functional connectives." If students are prepared very well for the subject, it would work fine, but for students who are newly being introduced to critical thinking, it is rather technical.

It seems to be very consistent in terms of its terminology and framework.

Modularity rating: 4

The book is divided into 4 chapters, each having many sub-chapters. In that sense, it is readily divisible and modular. However, as noted above, there are no page numbers on the table of contents, which would make assigning certain parts rather frustrating. Also, I'm not sure why the book is only four chapter and has so many subheadings (for instance 17 in Chapter 2) and a length of 242 pages. Wouldn't it make more sense to break up the book into shorter chapters? I think this would make it easier to read and to assign in specific blocks to students.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 4

The organization of the book is fine overall, although I think adding page numbers to the table of contents and breaking it up into more separate chapters would help it to be more easily navigable.

Interface rating: 4

The book is very simply presented. In my opinion it is actually too simple. There are few boxes or diagrams that highlight and explain important points.

The text seems fine grammatically. I didn't notice any errors.

The book is written with an American audience in mind, but I did not notice culturally insensitive or offensive parts.

Overall, this book is not for my course, but I think it could work well in a philosophy course.

Reviewed by Daniel Lee, Assistant Professor of Economics and Leadership, Sweet Briar College on 11/11/19

This textbook is not particularly comprehensive (4 chapters long), but I view that as a benefit. In fact, I recommend it for use outside of traditional logic classes, but rather interdisciplinary classes that evaluate argument read more

Comprehensiveness rating: 3 see less

To the best of my ability, I regard this content as accurate, error-free, and unbiased

The book is broadly relevant and up-to-date, with a few stray temporal references (sydney olympics, particular presidencies). I don't view these time-dated examples as problematic as the logical underpinnings are still there and easily assessed

Clarity rating: 4

My only pushback on clarity is I didn't find the distinction between argument and explanation particularly helpful/useful/easy to follow. However, this experience may have been unique to my class.

To the best of my ability, I regard this content as internally consistent

I found this text quite modular, and was easily able to integrate other texts into my lessons and disregard certain chapters or sub-sections

The book had a logical and consistent structure, but to the extent that there are only 4 chapters, there isn't much scope for alternative approaches here

No problems with the book's interface

The text is grammatically sound

Cultural Relevance rating: 4

Perhaps the text could have been more universal in its approach. While I didn't find the book insensitive per-se, logic can be tricky here because the point is to evaluate meaningful (non-trivial) arguments, but any argument with that sense of gravity can also be traumatic to students (abortion, death penalty, etc)

No additional comments

Reviewed by Lisa N. Thomas-Smith, Graduate Part-time Instructor, CU Boulder on 7/1/19

The text covers all the relevant technical aspects of introductory logic and critical thinking, and covers them well. A separate glossary would be quite helpful to students. However, the terms are clearly and thoroughly explained within the text,... read more

The content is excellent. The text is thorough and accurate with no errors that I could discern. The terminology and exercises cover the material nicely and without bias.

The text should easily stand the test of time. The exercises are excellent and would be very helpful for students to internalize correct critical thinking practices. Because of the logical arrangement of the text and the many sub-sections, additional material should be very easy to add.

The text is extremely clearly and simply written. I anticipate that a diligent student could learn all of the material in the text with little additional instruction. The examples are relevant and easy to follow.

The text did not confuse terms or use inconsistent terminology, which is very important in a logic text. The discipline often uses multiple terms for the same concept, but this text avoids that trap nicely.

The text is fairly easily divisible. Since there are only four chapters, those chapters include large blocks of information. However, the chapters themselves are very well delineated and could be easily broken up so that parts could be left out or covered in a different order from the text.

The flow of the text is excellent. All of the information is handled solidly in an order that allows the student to build on the information previously covered.

The PDF Table of Contents does not include links or page numbers which would be very helpful for navigation. Other than that, the text was very easy to navigate. All the images, charts, and graphs were very clear

I found no grammatical errors in the text.

Cultural Relevance rating: 3

The text including examples and exercises did not seem to be offensive or insensitive in any specific way. However, the examples included references to black and white people, but few others. Also, the text is very American specific with many examples from and for an American audience. More diversity, especially in the examples, would be appropriate and appreciated.

Reviewed by Leslie Aarons, Associate Professor of Philosophy, CUNY LaGuardia Community College on 5/16/19

This is an excellent introductory (first-year) Logic and Critical Thinking textbook. The book covers the important elementary information, clearly discussing such things as the purpose and basic structure of an argument; the difference between an argument and an explanation; validity; soundness; and the distinctions between an inductive and a deductive argument in accessible terms in the first chapter. It also does a good job introducing and discussing informal fallacies (Chapter 4). The incorporation of opportunities to evaluate real-world arguments is also very effective. Chapter 2 also covers a number of formal methods of evaluating arguments, such as Venn Diagrams and Propositional logic and the four basic truth functional connectives, but to my mind, it is much more thorough in its treatment of Informal Logic and Critical Thinking skills, than it is of formal logic. I also appreciated that Van Cleave’s book includes exercises with answers and an index, but there is no glossary; which I personally do not find detracts from the book's comprehensiveness.

Overall, Van Cleave's book is error-free and unbiased. The language used is accessible and engaging. There were no glaring inaccuracies that I was able to detect.

Van Cleave's Textbook uses relevant, contemporary content that will stand the test of time, at least for the next few years. Although some examples use certain subjects like former President Obama, it does so in a useful manner that inspires the use of critical thinking skills. There are an abundance of examples that inspire students to look at issues from many different political viewpoints, challenging students to practice evaluating arguments, and identifying fallacies. Many of these exercises encourage students to critique issues, and recognize their own inherent reader-biases and challenge their own beliefs--hallmarks of critical thinking.

As mentioned previously, the author has an accessible style that makes the content relatively easy to read and engaging. He also does a suitable job explaining jargon/technical language that is introduced in the textbook.

Van Cleave uses terminology consistently and the chapters flow well. The textbook orients the reader by offering effective introductions to new material, step-by-step explanations of the material, as well as offering clear summaries of each lesson.

This textbook's modularity is really quite good. Its language and structure are not overly convoluted or too-lengthy, making it convenient for individual instructors to adapt the materials to suit their methodological preferences.

The topics in the textbook are presented in a logical and clear fashion. The structure of the chapters are such that it is not necessary to have to follow the chapters in their sequential order, and coverage of material can be adapted to individual instructor's preferences.

The textbook is free of any problematic interface issues. Topics, sections and specific content are accessible and easy to navigate. Overall it is user-friendly.

I did not find any significant grammatical issues with the textbook.

The textbook is not culturally insensitive, making use of a diversity of inclusive examples. Materials are especially effective for first-year critical thinking/logic students.

I intend to adopt Van Cleave's textbook for a Critical Thinking class I am teaching at the Community College level. I believe that it will help me facilitate student-learning, and will be a good resource to build additional classroom activities from the materials it provides.

Reviewed by Jennie Harrop, Chair, Department of Professional Studies, George Fox University on 3/27/18

While the book is admirably comprehensive, its extensive details within a few short chapters may feel overwhelming to students. The author tackles an impressive breadth of concepts in Chapter 1, 2, 3, and 4, which leads to 50-plus-page chapters that are dense with statistical analyses and critical vocabulary. These topics are likely better broached in manageable snippets rather than hefty single chapters.

The ideas addressed in Introduction to Logic and Critical Thinking are accurate but at times notably political. While politics are effectively used to exemplify key concepts, some students may be distracted by distinct political leanings.

The terms and definitions included are relevant, but the examples are specific to the current political, cultural, and social climates, which could make the materials seem dated in a few years without intentional and consistent updates.

While the reasoning is accurate, the author tends to complicate rather than simplify -- perhaps in an effort to cover a spectrum of related concepts. Beginning readers are likely to be overwhelmed and under-encouraged by his approach.

Consistency rating: 3

The four chapters are somewhat consistent in their play of definition, explanation, and example, but the structure of each chapter varies according to the concepts covered. In the third chapter, for example, key ideas are divided into sub-topics numbering from 3.1 to 3.10. In the fourth chapter, the sub-divisions are further divided into sub-sections numbered 4.1.1-4.1.5, 4.2.1-4.2.2, and 4.3.1 to 4.3.6. Readers who are working quickly to master new concepts may find themselves mired in similarly numbered subheadings, longing for a grounded concepts on which to hinge other key principles.

Modularity rating: 3

The book's four chapters make it mostly self-referential. The author would do well to beak this text down into additional subsections, easing readers' accessibility.

The content of the book flows logically and well, but the information needs to be better sub-divided within each larger chapter, easing the student experience.

The book's interface is effective, allowing readers to move from one section to the next with a single click. Additional sub-sections would ease this interplay even further.

Grammatical Errors rating: 4

Some minor errors throughout.

For the most part, the book is culturally neutral, avoiding direct cultural references in an effort to remain relevant.

Reviewed by Yoichi Ishida, Assistant Professor of Philosophy, Ohio University on 2/1/18

This textbook covers enough topics for a first-year course on logic and critical thinking. Chapter 1 covers the basics as in any standard textbook in this area. Chapter 2 covers propositional logic and categorical logic. In propositional logic, this textbook does not cover suppositional arguments, such as conditional proof and reductio ad absurdum. But other standard argument forms are covered. Chapter 3 covers inductive logic, and here this textbook introduces probability and its relationship with cognitive biases, which are rarely discussed in other textbooks. Chapter 4 introduces common informal fallacies. The answers to all the exercises are given at the end. However, the last set of exercises is in Chapter 3, Section 5. There are no exercises in the rest of the chapter. Chapter 4 has no exercises either. There is index, but no glossary.

The textbook is accurate.

The content of this textbook will not become obsolete soon.

The textbook is written clearly.

The textbook is internally consistent.

The textbook is fairly modular. For example, Chapter 3, together with a few sections from Chapter 1, can be used as a short introduction to inductive logic.

The textbook is well-organized.

There are no interface issues.

I did not find any grammatical errors.

This textbook is relevant to a first semester logic or critical thinking course.

Reviewed by Payal Doctor, Associate Professro, LaGuardia Community College on 2/1/18

This text is a beginner textbook for arguments and propositional logic. It covers the basics of identifying arguments, building arguments, and using basic logic to construct propositions and arguments. It is quite comprehensive for a beginner book, but seems to be a good text for a course that needs a foundation for arguments. There are exercises on creating truth tables and proofs, so it could work as a logic primer in short sessions or with the addition of other course content.

The books is accurate in the information it presents. It does not contain errors and is unbiased. It covers the essential vocabulary clearly and givens ample examples and exercises to ensure the student understands the concepts

The content of the book is up to date and can be easily updated. Some examples are very current for analyzing the argument structure in a speech, but for this sort of text understandable examples are important and the author uses good examples.

The book is clear and easy to read. In particular, this is a good text for community college students who often have difficulty with reading comprehension. The language is straightforward and concepts are well explained.

The book is consistent in terminology, formatting, and examples. It flows well from one topic to the next, but it is also possible to jump around the text without loosing the voice of the text.

The books is broken down into sub units that make it easy to assign short blocks of content at a time. Later in the text, it does refer to a few concepts that appear early in that text, but these are all basic concepts that must be used to create a clear and understandable text. No sections are too long and each section stays on topic and relates the topic to those that have come before when necessary.

The flow of the text is logical and clear. It begins with the basic building blocks of arguments, and practice identifying more and more complex arguments is offered. Each chapter builds up from the previous chapter in introducing propositional logic, truth tables, and logical arguments. A select number of fallacies are presented at the end of the text, but these are related to topics that were presented before, so it makes sense to have these last.

The text is free if interface issues. I used the PDF and it worked fine on various devices without loosing formatting.

1. The book contains no grammatical errors.

The text is culturally sensitive, but examples used are a bit odd and may be objectionable to some students. For instance, President Obama's speech on Syria is used to evaluate an extended argument. This is an excellent example and it is explained well, but some who disagree with Obama's policies may have trouble moving beyond their own politics. However, other examples look at issues from all political viewpoints and ask students to evaluate the argument, fallacy, etc. and work towards looking past their own beliefs. Overall this book does use a variety of examples that most students can understand and evaluate.

My favorite part of this book is that it seems to be written for community college students. My students have trouble understanding readings in the New York Times, so it is nice to see a logic and critical thinking text use real language that students can understand and follow without the constant need of a dictionary.

Reviewed by Rebecca Owen, Adjunct Professor, Writing, Chemeketa Community College on 6/20/17

This textbook is quite thorough--there are conversational explanations of argument structure and logic. I think students will be happy with the conversational style this author employs. Also, there are many examples and exercises using current events, funny scenarios, or other interesting ways to evaluate argument structure and validity. The third section, which deals with logical fallacies, is very clear and comprehensive. My only critique of the material included in the book is that the middle section may be a bit dense and math-oriented for learners who appreciate the more informal, informative style of the first and third section. Also, the book ends rather abruptly--it moves from a description of a logical fallacy to the answers for the exercises earlier in the text.

The content is very reader-friendly, and the author writes with authority and clarity throughout the text. There are a few surface-level typos (Starbuck's instead of Starbucks, etc.). None of these small errors detract from the quality of the content, though.

One thing I really liked about this text was the author's wide variety of examples. To demonstrate different facets of logic, he used examples from current media, movies, literature, and many other concepts that students would recognize from their daily lives. The exercises in this text also included these types of pop-culture references, and I think students will enjoy the familiarity--as well as being able to see the logical structures behind these types of references. I don't think the text will need to be updated to reflect new instances and occurrences; the author did a fine job at picking examples that are relatively timeless. As far as the subject matter itself, I don't think it will become obsolete any time soon.

The author writes in a very conversational, easy-to-read manner. The examples used are quite helpful. The third section on logical fallacies is quite easy to read, follow, and understand. A student in an argument writing class could benefit from this section of the book. The middle section is less clear, though. A student learning about the basics of logic might have a hard time digesting all of the information contained in chapter two. This material might be better in two separate chapters. I think the author loses the balance of a conversational, helpful tone and focuses too heavily on equations.

Consistency rating: 4

Terminology in this book is quite consistent--the key words are highlighted in bold. Chapters 1 and 3 follow a similar organizational pattern, but chapter 2 is where the material becomes more dense and equation-heavy. I also would have liked a closing passage--something to indicate to the reader that we've reached the end of the chapter as well as the book.

I liked the overall structure of this book. If I'm teaching an argumentative writing class, I could easily point the students to the chapters where they can identify and practice identifying fallacies, for instance. The opening chapter is clear in defining the necessary terms, and it gives the students an understanding of the toolbox available to them in assessing and evaluating arguments. Even though I found the middle section to be dense, smaller portions could be assigned.

The author does a fine job connecting each defined term to the next. He provides examples of how each defined term works in a sentence or in an argument, and then he provides practice activities for students to try. The answers for each question are listed in the final pages of the book. The middle section feels like the heaviest part of the whole book--it would take the longest time for a student to digest if assigned the whole chapter. Even though this middle section is a bit heavy, it does fit the overall structure and flow of the book. New material builds on previous chapters and sub-chapters. It ends abruptly--I didn't realize that it had ended, and all of a sudden I found myself in the answer section for those earlier exercises.

The simple layout is quite helpful! There is nothing distracting, image-wise, in this text. The table of contents is clearly arranged, and each topic is easy to find.

Tiny edits could be made (Starbuck's/Starbucks, for one). Otherwise, it is free of distracting grammatical errors.

This text is quite culturally relevant. For instance, there is one example that mentions the rumors of Barack Obama's birthplace as somewhere other than the United States. This example is used to explain how to analyze an argument for validity. The more "sensational" examples (like the Obama one above) are helpful in showing argument structure, and they can also help students see how rumors like this might gain traction--as well as help to show students how to debunk them with their newfound understanding of argument and logic.

The writing style is excellent for the subject matter, especially in the third section explaining logical fallacies. Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this text!

Reviewed by Laurel Panser, Instructor, Riverland Community College on 6/20/17

This is a review of Introduction to Logic and Critical Thinking, an open source book version 1.4 by Matthew Van Cleave. The comparison book used was Patrick J. Hurley’s A Concise Introduction to Logic 12th Edition published by Cengage as well as... read more

Competing with Hurley is difficult with respect to comprehensiveness. For example, Van Cleave’s book is comprehensive to the extent that it probably covers at least two-thirds or more of what is dealt with in most introductory, one-semester logic courses. Van Cleave’s chapter 1 provides an overview of argumentation including discerning non-arguments from arguments, premises versus conclusions, deductive from inductive arguments, validity, soundness and more. Much of Van Cleave’s chapter 1 parallel’s Hurley’s chapter 1. Hurley’s chapter 3 regarding informal fallacies is comprehensive while Van Cleave’s chapter 4 on this topic is less extensive. Categorical propositions are a topic in Van Cleave’s chapter 2; Hurley’s chapters 4 and 5 provide more instruction on this, however. Propositional logic is another topic in Van Cleave’s chapter 2; Hurley’s chapters 6 and 7 provide more information on this, though. Van Cleave did discuss messy issues of language meaning briefly in his chapter 1; that is the topic of Hurley’s chapter 2.

Van Cleave’s book includes exercises with answers and an index. A glossary was not included.

Reviews of open source textbooks typically include criteria besides comprehensiveness. These include comments on accuracy of the information, whether the book will become obsolete soon, jargon-free clarity to the extent that is possible, organization, navigation ease, freedom from grammar errors and cultural relevance; Van Cleave’s book is fine in all of these areas. Further criteria for open source books includes modularity and consistency of terminology. Modularity is defined as including blocks of learning material that are easy to assign to students. Hurley’s book has a greater degree of modularity than Van Cleave’s textbook. The prose Van Cleave used is consistent.

Van Cleave’s book will not become obsolete soon.

Van Cleave’s book has accessible prose.

Van Cleave used terminology consistently.

Van Cleave’s book has a reasonable degree of modularity.

Van Cleave’s book is organized. The structure and flow of his book is fine.

Problems with navigation are not present.

Grammar problems were not present.

Van Cleave’s book is culturally relevant.

Van Cleave’s book is appropriate for some first semester logic courses.

Chapter 1: Reconstructing and analyzing arguments

1.1 What is an argument?
1.2 Identifying arguments
1.3 Arguments vs. explanations
1.4 More complex argument structures
1.5 Using your own paraphrases of premises and conclusions to reconstruct arguments in standard form
1.6 Validity
1.7 Soundness
1.8 Deductive vs. inductive arguments
1.9 Arguments with missing premises
1.10 Assuring, guarding, and discounting
1.11 Evaluative language
1.12 Evaluating a real-life argument

Chapter 2: Formal methods of evaluating arguments

2.1 What is a formal method of evaluation and why do we need them?
2.2 Propositional logic and the four basic truth functional connectives
2.3 Negation and disjunction
2.4 Using parentheses to translate complex sentences
2.5 “Not both” and “neither nor”
2.6 The truth table test of validity
2.7 Conditionals
2.8 “Unless”
2.9 Material equivalence
2.10 Tautologies, contradictions, and contingent statements
2.11 Proofs and the 8 valid forms of inference
2.12 How to construct proofs
2.13 Short review of propositional logic
2.14 Categorical logic
2.15 The Venn test of validity for immediate categorical inferences
2.16 Universal statements and existential commitment
2.17 Venn validity for categorical syllogisms

Chapter 3: Evaluating inductive arguments and probabilistic and statistical fallacies

3.1 Inductive arguments and statistical generalizations
3.2 Inference to the best explanation and the seven explanatory virtues
3.3 Analogical arguments
3.4 Causal arguments
3.5 Probability
3.6 The conjunction fallacy
3.7 The base rate fallacy
3.8 The small numbers fallacy
3.9 Regression to the mean fallacy
3.10 Gambler's fallacy

Chapter 4: Informal fallacies

4.1 Formal vs. informal fallacies
4.1.1 Composition fallacy
4.1.2 Division fallacy
4.1.3 Begging the question fallacy
4.1.4 False dichotomy
4.1.5 Equivocation
4.2 Slippery slope fallacies
4.2.1 Conceptual slippery slope
4.2.2 Causal slippery slope
4.3 Fallacies of relevance
4.3.1 Ad hominem
4.3.2 Straw man
4.3.3 Tu quoque
4.3.4 Genetic
4.3.5 Appeal to consequences
4.3.6 Appeal to authority

Answers to exercises Glossary/Index

Ancillary Material

About the book.

This is an introductory textbook in logic and critical thinking. The goal of the textbook is to provide the reader with a set of tools and skills that will enable them to identify and evaluate arguments. The book is intended for an introductory course that covers both formal and informal logic. As such, it is not a formal logic textbook, but is closer to what one would find marketed as a “critical thinking textbook.”

About the Contributors

Matthew Van Cleave , PhD, Philosophy, University of Cincinnati, 2007. VAP at Concordia College (Moorhead), 2008-2012. Assistant Professor at Lansing Community College, 2012-2016. Professor at Lansing Community College, 2016-

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What predicts students’ critical thinking disposition? A comparison of the roles of classroom and family environments

Original Paper
Published: 07 August 2021
Volume 25 , pages 565–580, ( 2022 )

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Zhi Hong Wan ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-8163-5862 1

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In learning environments research, limited attention has been paid to the effects of the family environment on student thinking. This study constructed a five-dimension survey of the family environment, based on previous studies of the classroom learning environment, and used it to compare the effects of the family environment and the classroom learning environment associated with an interdisciplinary course (i.e., Liberal Studies) on the critical thinking disposition of 2189 secondary students in Hong Kong. Stepwise regression revealed that: the overall effects of the classroom learning environment of Liberal Studies on critical thinking disposition were greater than those of the family environment; the content-oriented dimensions of both environments were stronger predictors of critical thinking disposition than the relationship-oriented dimensions of both environments; and the effect of the dimension of challenging task on critical thinking disposition was stronger than that of other pedagogy-oriented dimensions. Also the means of all dimensions of the family environment were significantly lower than those of the corresponding dimensions of the classroom learning environment. It is suggested that more effort should be made to enhance both classroom learning environment and family environment to generate convergent forces to efficiently cultivate students’ critical thinking.

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Wan, Z.H. What predicts students’ critical thinking disposition? A comparison of the roles of classroom and family environments. Learning Environ Res 25 , 565–580 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10984-021-09381-y

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Received : 12 March 2020

Accepted : 01 August 2021

Published : 07 August 2021

Issue Date : July 2022

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Chinese medical students’ disposition for critical thinking: a mixed methods exploration

Lei Huang 1 ,
Angela Pei-Chen Fan 2 ,
Jessica Thai 4 ,
Russell Olive Kosik 3 &
Xudong Zhao 3 , 5

BMC Medical Education volume 21 , Article number: 385 ( 2021 ) Cite this article

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Metrics details

Critical thinking (CT) is an essential competency for medical students. This study’s aim was to evaluate Chinese medical students’ disposition for CT and to explore the impact of current trends in medical education on students’ CT development.

We used multistage stratified cluster sampling to recruit a total of 1241 medical students among five different years of training and from three medical institutions in China. The Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory-Chinese Version (CTDI-CV) and self-reported information were used to collect cross-sectional data. Based on the data from the CTDI-CV, 112 medical students in clinical course training from a single institution continued one-year follow-up. Their one-year CTDI-CV score changes were collected regarding various medical education variables.

The mean CTDI-CV score of the 1241 medical students was 287.04 with 729 (58.7%) students receiving a score of 280 or higher. There were statistically significant differences in schools attended(F = 3.84, P < 0.05), year of school attended(F = 10.32, P < 0.001), GPA(F = 6.32, P < 0.01), weekly time spent learning after class(F = 14.14, P < 0.001), attitude toward medicine(F = 28.93, P < 0.001), desire to be a doctor after graduation(t = − 3.35, P < 0.001), familiarity with CT(F = 20.40, P < 0.001), and perception of importance of CT(F = 22.25, P < 0.001). The participants scored the highest on the CTDI-CV subscales of “inquisitiveness” and the lowest on “truth seeking.” The 112 students in the longitudinal study had significantly lower total CT scores after one academic year follow-up.

Conclusions

Chinese medical students generally exhibited positive CT dispositions. The cross-sectional survey and one-year longitudinal study indicated that students’ CT disposition diminished as they progressed through traditional medical training. Our study contributes to understanding the status of Chinese medical education of and influential factors on medical students’ CT disposition.

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Study descriptor

This study used both cross-sectional exploratory and longitudinal study designs.

Critical thinking (CT) is a philosophical concept, which involves individual characteristics, personality traits, and habits of the mind. It is a pervasive and self-rectifying human phenomenon and refers to dispositions and skills which reveal what is authentic, what to believe, why it is, and how it happens [ 1 ]. Medicine is universally acknowledged as a challenging profession due to the sacredness of human life and the complexity and uncertainty of the human body. CT is essential in helping medical students manage complex health situations and solve clinical problems effectively by sound decision-making. Previous studies have shown positive correlations among CT and clinical competency [ 2 , 3 ], academic success [ 4 ], and research skills [ 5 ]. Therefore, the Institute for International Medical Education (IIME) has listed “critical thinking and research” as one of the seven essential competencies that a medical graduate should possess as part of the Global Minimum Essential Requirements (GMER) [ 6 ]. The Ministry of Education in the People’s Republic of China has also stated that “scientific attitude, innovation, and critical thinking” are essential requirements for Chinese medical graduates [ 7 ].

The importance of CT in medical education has been of wide concern in China. Studies have suggested that Chinese medical students exhibit a positive disposition towards CT [ 8 , 9 , 10 , 11 ]. However, CT scores were lower than that of health professional students from western countries [ 12 ]. Educational factors including curricular model, teaching methods, and evaluation systems were associated with medical students’ CT disposition [ 9 , 11 , 13 ]. The discipline-based curricular, which is widely implemented in China, may not sufficiently encourage development of Chinese medical students’ disposition for CT. This curriculum has isolated phases (theory, clerkship, and internship), limited faculty-student interaction, and a solely knowledge-based evaluation for the discipline-based curricular [ 14 ]. As a result, medical educators are becoming increasingly convinced that this model no longer meets the needs of the modern health-care system in China [ 15 , 16 ].

To our knowledge, the majority of previous studies assessing Chinese medical students’ CT disposition did not include representative samples of study participants [ 9 , 10 , 11 , 17 ]. The impacts of Chinese medical education on medical students’ CT via longitudinal study design was also limited [ 18 ]. As a result, this study was conducted to evaluate medical student CT disposition among different medical institutions of China and to explore the impact of medical education on students’ CT disposition via a one-year clinical course follow-up.

Participants

One thousand two hundred forty-one medical students were recruited by multistage stratified cluster sampling for a cross-sectional survey. In the first stage of the study, three Chinese medical institutions were selected, each of which was classified into a different medical school class to increase sample representation. The Ministry of Education categorizes Chinese medical schools into three classes. The first class of medical schools includes recipients of both the “985” and “211” grants (Tongji University School of Medicine, Shanghai in this study). The second class includes schools that have only received the “211” grant (Medical College of Soochow University, Jiangsu province). The third class includes schools not supported by national grants (Gannan Medical University, Jiangxi province). The “985” grant is the People’s Republic of China’s government- sponsored initiative to upgrade 30 selected research universities to internationally renowned status. The “211” grant was initiated by the Chinese government in the 1990s with the specific goal of increasing the implementation of pro-higher education policies [ 19 ]. In the second stage, two classes were randomly selected from each year of school (first through fifth year) in each institution. Approximately 100 students were chosen from each year within each institution. In the third stage, all students in the selected class were invited to participate in the study. Ultimately, 1521 medical students were invited to participate in this study and 280 students were excluded due to the incomplete data. The response rate was 81.6%. In this study, 615 (49.6%) participants were male and 626 (50.4%) were female. Students ranged from age 18 to 27 years old (mean = 22.04, SD = 1.75). Medical students were divided into three stages by school year. 518(41.7%) students were in basic medical science courses in their first to second years. 545(43.9%) students were in clinical courses in their third to fourth years, and 178(14.3%) students were in their internships in their fifth year. After the cross-sectional survey, 112 medical students from the clinical course stage at Tongji University School of Medicine were selected to participate in a one-year longitudinal study by convenience sampling. Eighty-one of them were third-year students, and 31 were fourth-year students.

Instruments

Chinese critical thinking disposition inventory (ctdi-cv).

The CTDI-CV was translated and modified by Peng [ 20 ] based on Facione’s “California Critical Thinking Dispositions Inventory” (CCTDI) [ 21 ]. It is a standardized 70-item multiple choice test that examines each of the seven categories of CT disposition, including “truth seeking,” “open-mindedness,” “analyticity,” “systematicity,” “self-confidence,” “inquisitiveness,” and “cognitive maturity.” The overall Content Validity Index (CVI) of this test was 0.89, and the CVI of the test’s subscales ranged from 0.6 to 1. The overall alpha was 0.90, and the subscales alphas ranged from 0.54 to 0.77 [ 20 ]. In this study, the Cronbach’s Alpha Score was 0.841. Higher scores indicated stronger CT dispositions. Total scores over 280 and subscales over 40 were considered as positive attitudes towards critical thinking disposition [ 21 ].

Self-reported information

Personal information was collected, including (1) demographic factors: gender and age (2) academic factors: “school,” “year of school attended,” “GPA,” (with answers “above average meaning between 3.5-5.0,” “average meaning between 2.5-3.5,” “below average meaning less than 2.5,”), “weekly time spent learning after class” (3) attitude factors: “attitude towards medicine,” “desire to be a doctor after graduation,” “familiarity with CT,” and “perception of importance of CT.”

A questionnaire was organized with CTDI-CV and self-reported questions. A pilot study was conducted with 20 medical students at Tongji University School of Medicine before the official study and questionnaire. Both the pilot and official questionnaires consisted of CTDI-CV and self-reported questions. After the pilot study, an official questionnaire was organized and modified based on student feedback. The official questionnaires and consent forms were given to study participants via staff members from students’ respective medical education offices. Study participants were asked to return completed surveys in 2 weeks via a sealed return envelope for confidentiality. Participants were reminded 3 days before the 2-week deadline to complete their questionnaires. After questionnaire completion and collection, responses were analyzed and transformed via SPSS. Questionnaire answers left partially or fully uncompleted were regarded as incomplete answers or non-responses to answers. If missing data was greater than 5%, the questionnaire was excluded. Data analysis was guided by the statistician at our institution. After the cross-sectional survey, the group of 112 medical students at Tongji University School of Medicine completed the CTDI-CV at both the beginning and end of the following academic year. The project was approved by the Ethics Review Committee of Tongji Hospital of Tongji University (Registration Number K-2014-020), Medical College of Soochow University (Registration Number SUDA20210122H02), and Gannan Medical University (Registration Number 2014468).

Statistical analyses

SPSS version 19.0 was used to conduct the following tests where relevant: independent T-test, one-way ANOVA, paired T-test, and McNemar test. A p- value of < 0.05 was statistically significant.

Critical thinking disposition for medical students

The CTDI-CV scores ranged from 205 to 383, with a mean score of 287.04 (SD = 29.85). A score higher than the index score of 280 indicated a positive disposition. Chinese medical students in this sample, on average, displayed a positive disposition for CT. Almost 60 % of the students ( n = 729, 58.7%) received a score of 280 or higher. In terms of sub-scale scores, the students scored the highest on “inquisitiveness” (index score 40, mean = 44.50 with SD = 6.13) and the lowest on “truth seeking” (index score 40, mean = 37.00 with SD = 6.21). When comparing medical school specific mean scores, Tongji University School of Medicine students received the highest CTDI-CV mean score (290.44) (Table 1 ).

Comparison of CTDI-CV Total scores with self-reported variables of medical students

There were significant differences among CTDI-CV total scores and variables defined in this study, including CT disposition among schools (F = 3.84, P < 0.05), years of school attended (F = 10.32, P < 0.001), GPA (F = 6.32, P < 0.01), weekly time spent learning after class (F = 14.14, P < 0.001), attitude towards medicine (F = 28.93, P < 0.001), familiarity with CT (F = 20.40, P < 0.001), and perception of importance of CT (F = 22.25, P < 0.001). Notably, “years of school attended” was negatively associated with CTDI-CV scores. Also of note was that medical students with “average GPA” had the lowest CTDI-CV scores vs. those with “above average GPA” who had the highest scores. Furthermore, an independent t-test indicated that the total CTDI-CV scores of students who wished to become medical doctors after graduation was significantly higher than those who did not (t = − 3.35, P < 0.001) (Table 2 ).

CTDI-CV Total score change after one-year of clinical courses

The group of 112 students who participated in the one-year longitudinal study exhibited a significant decline in total CTDI-CV scores as well as a decline in most subscales besides “systematicity.” Their mean total score dropped from 318.99 to 304.13. Statistically significant differences were found among total scores as well as the following subscales: “truth seeking,” “open-mindedness,” “analyticity,” “inquisitiveness,” and “cognitive maturity” before and after 1 year ( p < 0.001) (Table 3 ). The percentage of medical students with a positive disposition for CT dropped from 73.21 to 66.96%. Furthermore, this drop was statistically significant by the McNemar test ( p < 0.05) (Table 4 ).

CT is a prerequisite for safe practices in medicine. Medical students who are skillful and able to think critically will excel in the modern, complex hospital environment. This necessitates extensive CT development among medical students. Average CTDI-CV score in this study was greater than 280, signifying that Chinese medical students had an overall positive CT disposition. The result echoed recent studies conducted in China by Wang [ 22 ] and Pu [ 18 ]. In terms of subscales scores, study participants scored the highest on “inquisitiveness” and lowest on “truth-seeking.” Interestingly, this finding echoed a similar finding from a previous study, which suggested that Chinese medical students were curious and enthusiastic to seek knowledge but were less persistent about truth-seeking [ 11 ]. However, a study by Bixler revealed that medical students at the Ohio State University College of Medicine demonstrated relatively strong CT with a mean overall score of 310.7 [ 12 ]. The differences suggest that Chinese medical students’ CT dispositions are weaker than that of Western countries’ students. Similarly, research by Tiwari [ 23 ] and Yeh [ 24 ] on nursing students suggested that Chinese health professional students’ CT dispositions were inferior to those of students from Western countries. These CT score differences may be attributed to educational and cultural differences.

Considering the elements of medical education, results of this study demonstrated that Chinese medical students’ disposition for CT gradually decreased as students progress from the stage of basic science courses to the stages of clinical courses and internship. Similarly, the one-year follow-up study of 112 medical students in the clinical stage of their education confirmed that students suffered significant decline in total CT scores and the five sub-scale scores as they progressed through their education. Although the one-year follow-up mean score of CTDI-CV was still above the 280 threshold for “positive disposition,”,the percentage of medical students with a positive disposition for CT has significantly dropped. This may indicate possible significance of this decrease. These results echoed studies abroad, which illustrated that medical students’ CT may improve moderately or decline significantly while in medical school [ 25 , 26 ]. As we know, three institutions in this study applied traditional discipline-centered curriculum when the investigation was implemented. Methods to improve CT included successful curriculum integration such as by reducing the overlap of different disciplines and giving students greater time to spend on autonomous learning and practicing independent thinking [ 8 ] were not implemented. What’s more, active teaching methods such as case studies [ 27 ], problem-based-learning (PBL) [ 28 , 29 ], concept mapping [ 30 ], as well as formal assessments [ 31 ] were also not widely used. A recent qualitative study on barriers of CT in medical students’ curriculum reveal that this kind of traditional and unchanging system of education was a significant barrier to the implementation of the critical thinking program [ 32 ]. As a result, this study suggested that current Chinese medical education may hinder development of medical students’ CT, further highlighting the glaring need to reform.

This study also found several specific educational influencing factors on CT for medical students. The mean CT score achieved by the students at Tongji University School of Medicine was significantly higher than the mean scores achieved by students at the two other medical schools. Tongji is granted both the “985” and “211” grants and can obtain more funding and recourse from the Ministry of Education and government. Readily available funding for medical education in turn attracts more excellent students to enroll and more qualified faculty to teach. The combination of more self-motivated students and superior faculty may contribute to higher CT scores. Furthermore, due to the unsatisfying social and economic circumstances that doctors in China face, some Chinese medical students now have lower desires to become doctors [ 33 ]. However, our study found that although only 64.0% of medical students showed a strong interest in medicine, 91.5% still wished to become doctors after graduation. The attitude of students towards their occupations was positively correlated with their CT dispositions. Students who were interested in medicine may spend more time on their studies and had higher GPAs as well as higher CT scores. One explanation for this may be that students who are devoted to medicine will be more motivated to learn independently and think actively [ 34 ]. This study found that while 73.3% of students believed that CT was important, only 45.0% of students had an accurate understanding of what critical thinking actually was. These results indicate that although CT has been targeted as an important area needing improvement, it remains relatively neglected when compared to other more in vogue medical education topics such as medical knowledge, clinical practice, and the humanities. CT-related goals and its required methodology should be specified more clearly [ 35 ].

There are also cultural differences from China and western countries. China is a collectivist society and does not always encourage thinking outside the norm or questioning authority [ 36 ]. Chinese youth who challenge authority may be considered rude or disrespectful. As a result, Chinese youth may learn to avoid confrontation or open discussion with authority and avoid voicing dissenting views [ 37 ]. In general, Chinese students are discouraged from questioning teachers as teachers do not want to lose face if they do not know the answers [ 38 ]. This setting is not optimal for promoting critical thinking and demonstrates a need to create a safe, supportive, higher learning educational environment [ 39 ].

Strengths and limitations

This study and its design had several strengths and limitations. The major strength of this cross-sectional study was its sizeable sample and its representativeness of medical students from multiple different classes of medical schools. Furthermore, a follow-up study design was conducted to verify the impact of medical education on students’ CT disposition as well. However, there were several limitations. Firstly, all data in this study were based on self-reported questionnaires. Therefore, inaccuracies caused by memory biases and subjective attitudes were unavoidable. Secondly, although the CT assessment tool of was widely used among medical students in China, it was only validated among Chinese nursing students, and CTDI-CV scores and statistical significance may not reflect students’ real-word performance or clinical significance. Thirdly, the sample size of the longitudinal study was small. CTDI-CV score was still above the 280 threshold for “positive disposition” at the end of 1 year follow-up although it was significantly decreased. As such, statistical significance may not reflect students’ real-word performance. Lastly, data from 20% of eligible participants was not included in the data analyses, which excluded potentially analyzable data.

In this study, Chinese medical students generally exhibited positive CT dispositions. One-year follow-up comparison showed that the percentage of medical students with a positive disposition for CT has significantly dropped as students progressed through medical education. Academic and perceptive factors were also investigated to benefit Chinese medical educators and to encourage curricula reform. Results from this study contribute to understanding the status of Chinese medical students’ CT disposition.

Availability of data and materials

The datasets used and/or analysed during the current study are in Chinese and are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request but will require translation to English.

Abbreviations

International Medical Education

Global Minimum Essential Requirements

Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory-Chinese Version

Critical Thinking

Content Validity Index

Problem-based-learning

Grade point average

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the study participants from Tongji University School of Medicine, Medical College of Soochow University, and Gannan Medical University for their cooperation and voluntary participation.

This study was supported by Prof. Xudong Zhao from his two projects, The Outstanding Clinical Discipline Project of Shanghai Pudong (Grant No. PWYgy2018–10) and Shanghai Pudong New Area Health System Discipline Leader Training Program (Grant No. PWRd2019–08). Prof. Zhao was contributed to study design and supervision. It was also supported by Dr. Lei Huang from her project which was Shanghai Pujiang Program (Grant No. 2020PJC097) and Key projects of the Ministry of Education in 2019 under“The 13th Five-year Plan” for national educational science (Grant No. DIA190409). Dr. Huang was contributed to study design, recruitment of participants, data analysis and interpretation and writing of the manuscript.

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School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai, China

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Department of Psychiatry, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque, NM, USA

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Contributions

LH carried out the study, analyzed the data and wrote the first draft of the paper. NS assisted in design concept and data interpretation. JT and ROK assisted in the interpretation of the results and revision of the paper. APF and XDZ guided the study design and concept, interpreted the results, and critically revised the manuscript. All authors read and approved the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Xudong Zhao .

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All subjects were given informed consent and all participation was voluntary. This study was approved by the Ethics Review Committee of Tongji Hospital of Tongji University (Registration Number K-2014-020),Medical College of Soochow University (Registration Number SUDA20210122H02), and Gannan Medical University (Registration Number 2014468).

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Huang, L., Fan, A.PC., Su, N. et al. Chinese medical students’ disposition for critical thinking: a mixed methods exploration. BMC Med Educ 21 , 385 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-021-02801-w

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Received : 29 October 2019

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Published : 16 July 2021

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-021-02801-w

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Chinese medical students’ disposition for critical thinking: a mixed methods exploration

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Comparison of CTDI-CV Total scores with self-reported variables of medical students

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