Critical Thinking Training Program: Comparison Between Direct Instruction and Issue Inquiry Approaches

Abstract

Students are faced with an ever-increasing amount of information everyday. Teaching them how to select and utilize the information so obtained is therefore of paramount importance. In this research with 401 Secondary 6 (Grade 12) students, we compared the effectiveness of the direct instruction and issue inquiry methods. The latter can be conducted through the analyses of popular films and TV programs and is the approach adopted by the Hong Kong new senior secondary school curriculum. Results showed that, as compared to the control group, both approaches were able to enhance students’ critical thinking competence. Furthermore, the research also indicated that teachers should not underestimate the benefits of direct instruction. Under systematic instruction and with good summaries, students can grasp the main content and transfer the skills to new situations easily.

面對日益膨脹和泛濫的資訊，怎樣教導學生建立批判能力，從而懂得選取及運用資訊，這已成為教育研究中十分重要的課題。本研究透過實驗法（共401名中六學生參與），比較直接講授法與議題探究法兩者的效能。其中後者注重探索（如分析流行電影、電視節目），這正是香港新高中課程所採用的方法。本研究結果顯示，相對於控制組，兩種教學法都能提高學生的批判性思考能力。此外，研究亦顯示，老師不應低估直接講授法的好處。有系統的講解及總結，會令學生更容易掌握內容，並能將思考方法轉移及應用於新的情境中。