Comparative Study of Critical Thinking Skills of Ph. D. Students in Different Fields of Islamic Azad University, Tabriz branch

Critical thinking, as one of the types of human thinking, is necessary for people at higher education levels. Past studies have reported the extent of critical thinking of students of different university levels low. This research aimed to compare the critical thinking of Ph.D. students in different fields. The research method was causal-comparative. The statistical population was 1210 Ph.D. students in different fields at Tabriz Islamic Azad University. The sample size was estimated 212 people by Cochran's method. The sampling method was multi-stage cluster sampling. Data were collected through form B of the California Critical Thinking Skills Test and were analyzed using t-mean comparison and analysis of variance tests. Based on the findings, the mean score of critical thinking of Ph.D. students in the Tabriz branch is 18.81± 5.36. The critical thinking score was highest in the humanities faculty, 19.81±5.54, and it was lowest in the technical-engineering faculty, 17.04±5.19. The mean score of critical thinking in the Agriculture Faculty was lower than the Humanities faculty and higher than the Technical Faculty, 18.25±5.36. There was no significant difference between students of different fields in critical thinking, inference, and induction. However, there was a significant difference in analysis, evaluation, and induction components. Although younger students had more powerful analyses power and older students had more powerful inference power, there were no significant differences between the age groups of students in critical thinking. There were significant differences between men’s and women’s critical thinking, analysis, evaluation, and deduction skills. Women’s critical thinking, analysis, evaluation, and deduction skills were better than men’s. It is better to organize workshops on critical thinking skills for students (with priority for technical-engineering faculty) and ways to strengthen it for university professors.