International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences

search-icon

The Relationships between Influencing Factors and Critical Thinking Skills among Undergraduates of Early Childhood Education in Public Tertiary Institutions

Open access
Critical thinking skills are essential skills for life, work, and function effectively in all other aspects of life. The purpose of this study was to identify some of the important correlates of critical thinking skills, in terms of environment, quality teaching, and motivation among undergraduates early childhood education (ECE) in public tertiary institutions. This study employed correlation design. A total of 226 respondents’ early childhood education in public tertiary institutions gets involved. The data analyzed using descriptive statistics, correlation and multiple regressions by using software Statistical Package for the Social Science (SPSS) version 21.0. Descriptive analysis was done to obtain mean and standard deviation value for each variable. Descriptive analysis showed the respondents have moderate level of critical thinking skills 50.60%. There is a significant and positive relationship between environment and critical thinking skills (r = .575, p=0.000), quality teaching and critical thinking skills (r=.454, p=0.000), motivation and critical thinking skills (r=.425, p=0.000) among undergraduates early childhood education in public tertiary institutions. Preliminary analyses were performed to ensure no violation of the assumptions of normality, linearity and homoscedasticity. The outcome showed the multiple regression analyses indicated that the set variables predicted 43.10% of the factors influencing and the best predictors of factors influencing was environment. This study is expected to be form of assessing the factors influencing critical thinking skills of the undergraduates early childhood education in the implementation of effective teaching pedagogy as well as contribute to effectiveness of the education system, particularly the field of early childhood education.
Ali, M., & Noordin, S. (2011). Hubungan antara kemahiran berfikir kritis dengan pencapaian akademik dalam kalangan pelajar fakulti pendidikan Universiti Teknologi Malaysia. Journal Technology, 52, 45-55.
Ariffin, S. R., Abdul Majid, R., Haron, Z., Idris, R., Samsuri, R., Hassan, B., & Abdul Hamid, N. A.(2008a). Kemahiran pemikiran kritikal dan penyelesaian masalah pelajar pelajar sains di Malaysia. Proceeding of Science and Mathematics Education Regional Conference 2008, 15-20.
Aripin, R., Rohaizad, R., Yeop, U., & Anuar, M. (2008). Students learning styles and academic performance. 22nd Annual SAS Malaysia Forum. Kuala Lumpur: Kuala Lumpur Convention Center.
Choy, S. C., & Cheah, P. K. (2011). Teacher perceptions of critical thinking among students and its influence on higher education. International Journal of Teaching a Learning in Higher Education, 20(2), 198-206.
Cochran, W. G. (1977). Sampling techniques. New York: John Wiley & Sons.
Darusalam, G., & Hussin, S. (2016). Metodologi penyelidikan dalam pendidikan :Amalan dan analisis kajian. University Malaya, Petaling Jaya.
Ennis, R. H. (1996). Critical thinking. Upper Saddle Rever, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall.
Goh, P. S. C., & Matthews, B. (2011) Listening to the concerns of student teachers in Malaysia during teaching practice. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 36(3), 92-103.
Huitt, W. (1998). Critical thinking: An overview. Educational Psychology Interactive. Valdosta, GA: Valdosta State University. Retrieved 27 July 2016 from,
http://www.edpsycinteractive.org/topics/cogsys/critthnk.html.
Ibrahim, M. A., & Noordin, S. (2003). Perbandingan pencapaian para pelajar dalam pentaksiran kerja. Journal Education, 323-334.
Jin, K. K., Lee, Y. G. (2011). Young people and suicide issue. International Conference on Humanities, Society and Culture, 20, 32-36.
Konting, M. M., Mustafa, N., Mohamed, K., Mohd, N. A., Adam, A., & Abdullah, S. N. (2007). Preliminary assessment of soft skills among students. Conference on Learning and Teaching in Education.
Mayer, R. (1986). Thinking, problem solving, cognition. New York: Freeman and Co.
Nagappan, R. S. (2004). Pengajaran kemahiran berfikir aras tinggi: Kesediaan guru mengendalikan proses pengajaran pembelajaran. Kuala Lumpur: Pusat Perkembangan Kurikulum
Pillow, B. H. (2008). Development of Children’s Understanding of Cognitive Activities. The Journal of Genetic Psychology, 169(4), 297–321.
Rosnani H., & Suhailah H. (2003). Finishing school. Journal of Vocational Education,62(5), 2931.
In-Text Citation: (Fook, Mustafa, & Teck, 2018)
To Cite this Article: Fook, P. T., Mustafa, M. C., & Teck, W. K. (2018). The Relationships between Influencing Factors and Critical Thinking Skills among Undergraduates of Early Childhood Education in Public Tertiary Institutions. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 8(2), 599–611.