The effectiveness of critical thinking training on the internal and external orientation of high school students

Critical education focuses on rationality, criticism, and change as valuable educational goals. This view seeks to discover the true social conditions of education that is why it needs a critique of thought.

The question is whether reinforcement and training of critical thinking also affect the internalization and externalization of the chosen goals?.

The statistical population of the study consisted of all secondary school students in Zahedan. The sample consisted of 30 subjects who were selected by random cluster sampling method and randomly divided into two experimental (n= 15) and control (n= 15) groups. Data collection tool was the motivational strategies questionnaire of Penrice et al (1991). The subjects in both groups were pre-tested and then the experimental group received 12 sessions of critical thinking training while the control group did not receive any intervention. Data were analyzed by ANCOVA.

The results showed that there was a significant difference between the mean scores of internal and external orientation in the experimental and control groups in the post-test (P<0/01).

The effect of critical thinking instruction on the internal and external orientation of the students in the follow-up phase continued. Therefore, critical thinking training was effective on students' internal and external orientation. Teaching students to make effective use of their abilities improves their performance and enables them to make rational decisions and think.