Factors Contributing to Critical Thinking Skills: A Case Study of Students of Social Sciences at Allameh Tabataba'i University

Developing critical thinking skills is considered one of the important missions of the educational system. The purpose of this study was to identify the factors associated with critical thinking of students in order to identify existing gaps and provide practical solutions for improving these skills. In the present study, cognitive, metacognitive and social constructivist theories were used as a theoretical framework. The research method is survey and its statistical society includes students of all academic levels at Allameh Tabataba'i University, School of Social Sciences. The stratified sampling method was adopted. To collect information, a self-made questionnaire and the California Critical Thinking Test Form B have been used. Data were analyzed using the SPSS software, Pearson correlation coefficient, independent samples t-test and ANOVA. The findings show that there is not a significant relationship between the level of socioeconomic status and academic performance of students and their critical thinking. But there is a significant relationship between the variables: gender, year of entering university, educational level and marital status of students with their critical thinking.