Impact of Classroom Teaching Reform on College Students’ Critical Thinking Ability: A Case Study in Principles of Chemical Engineering Experimental Course

Abstract

This comprehensive study meticulously measured the critical thinking (CT) abilities of students enrolled in Chemical Engineering (CE) and Applied Chemical Engineering (ACE) programs, both before and after the implementation of a formative assessment-driven reform in the Chemical Engineering Principles Laboratory course. The assessment tool utilized for this purpose was the revised California Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory - Collegiate Version (CCTDI-CV). Prior to the reform, it was observed that students in both disciplines exhibited a negative disposition (towards critical thinking, although the CE students demonstrated a slightly better performance in specific areas such as experiment design and data analysis.
Following the implementation of these reforms, there was a significant improvement in the critical thinking abilities of both CE and ACE students, albeit their CT skills remained at a weak state (with a statistically significant P<-value of less than 0.0001). Notably, their cognitive maturity, particularly in terms of linking experimental results to real-world industrial applications, reached an ideal level (again, with a P-value of less than 0.0001)