Designing and validation of critical thinking model and its effectiveness on cooperative learning in Students of Islamic Azad University, North Tehran Branch

The present research was conducted with the aim of Designing and validation of critical thinking model and its effectiveness on cooperative learning in Students of Islamic Azad University, North Tehran Branch in 1396. The research was practical in terms of objectives and Semi-experimental, pre-test and post-test design with control and follow-up group in terms of data collection method. Moreover, it was exploratory mixed in terms of type of data. In the qualitative section, the population consisted of 12 of experts of the scientific community and organizational specialists (Specialists in Education and Philosophy) who were selected using purposive sampling method. Furthermore, in the quantitative section, the population consisted of 60 male and female undergraduate students were selected using sampling method and matched in two groups of 30 experimental and control groups. The experimental group received eight 90-minute sessions of critical thinking training, and the control group remained on the list. Data collection tool was individual exploratory Semi-structured interview in the section of qualitative research which valuable opinions of professors and specialists familiar with the area of Specialists in Education and Philosophy who were informed in this area were employed in order to investigate the validity of the results. In the section of quantitative research, Cooperative learning Cho and Bowley (1999) were used to collect data. Content validity was used in order to analyze qualitative data of the research. Moreover, the collected data were analyzed through descriptive (Frequency, percentage frequency, mean, standard deviation, and range of changes) and inferential (Exploratory factor analysis, Mancova and dependent t) statistics using SPSS-V22 and Lisrel-V8.8 software. The findings demonstrated: One of the components of critical thinking included analysis skills, self-management skills, assessment skills, inferential and understanding skills, explanatory skill and interpretation skills. Based on the dimensions and components identified, the research model was fit to fit. The results showed that the effectiveness of the critical thinking model designed for cooperative learning among students was effective and its sustainability over time was also persistent.