Critical thinking skills can be significantly developed in early primary (grades 1-4), a level where evidence was scarce¶

Claim · All claims
Evidence · 1 study · causal r1 · q2
Currency · newest study 2022 · not yet checked against its sources · not reviewed by a person

Subclaims¶

q2 i? The study confirms that at the elementary level it is possible to develop critical thinking skills, reinforcing the controversial idea that critical thinking can be developed with young children. → Silva 2022

Evidence¶

Silva 2022¶

Silva, H., Lopes, J., Dominguez, C., & Morais, E. (2022). Think-Pair-Share and Roundtable: Two Cooperative Learning Structures to Enhance Critical Thinking Skills of 4th Graders. International Electronic Journal of Elementary Education, 15(1), 11-21. https://doi.org/10.26822/iejee.2022.274

q2 · i? · causal · r1

Authors' interpretation in the discussion, positioning the quasi-experimental findings against prior research concentrated in secondary and higher education. The article calls this "the controversial idea that critical thinking can be developed at early stages".

"The present study adds on to the existing literature focusing at the elementary educational level (level at which the literature is scarce) confirming that, at this level, it is possible to develop critical thinking skills"

Discussion¶

Related Claims¶

• Some classroom discussion approaches improve text comprehension, but gains are not uniform across approaches and more student talk alone does not produce them — related
• Academic and nonacademic skills developed in preschool and early elementary years are foundational to important longer-term outcomes — related
• Cooperative learning with Think-Pair-Share and RoundTable was followed by larger critical thinking gains than traditional teaching in 4th graders, in a two-class quasi-experiment — a narrower finding that bears on this claim