A Study of Pre-Service Teachers’ Critical Thinking on the Cell Biology Learning

Abstract

This study is a survey seeking to investigate critical thinking skills of university students in Cell Biology learning. The aim is to obtain explanation regarding pre-service teachers’ critical thinking skills from their learning process conducted during the even semester in the Academic Year of 2014-2015. The data were gathered by distributing a questionnaire and a critical thinking test. The questionnaire given to the students consists of items related to the learning process conduct, including model, media and learning strategies used. On the other hand, the test is made of three simple essay questions regarding the material discussed which is protein synthesis. The data from both the questionnaire and essay test were analyzed using simple descriptive. The findings from the survey have shown that a) the teaching and learning has used cooperative learning approach; b) it has used learning media such as books, animation, and Power Point slides; and c) the mean of the critical thinking test is 42.4. The critical thinking skills were based on the following indicators: (1) explanation 36.7; (2) analysis 58.8; and (3) drawing conclusions 31.7. The findings suggest that the critical thinking skill of the students is relatively low.