Evaluation of Critical Thinking Disposition among College Students: A Study among Healthcare Management Students

Abstract

<strong>Background: </strong>Today, most experts believe that critical thinking skill and dispositions among learners provide them opportunities for better understanding and evaluating new knowledge. Therefore most educational programs put an effort to develop such potentiality among students. Our study aimed to evaluate critical thinking disposition among healthcare management students of Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences in 2016. <strong>Methods:</strong> This was a descriptive-analytical study which has been done in a cross-sectional form among healthcare management students of both BSc and MSc degree in Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences in 2016. To collect data, a standard questionnaire entitled “California Critical Thinking Disposition Inventory (CCTID) was used. Gathered data were analyzed by SPSS version 20 through the use of descriptive and analytical statistical tests including Pearson correlation coefficient, t-test and ANOVA. <strong>Results:</strong> 80% of the students were female and 56.6% were upper than twenty years old. Significant statistical relationship was confirmed between gender and truth seeking also between educational degree and systematicity (P<0.05). Furthermore a direct significant correlation was seen between critical thinking disposition and its seven dimensions (P=0.00). In addition, those MSc students who were studying in the first semester, had the highest level of systematicity (P=0.04). <strong>Conclusion:</strong> Given the importance of critical thinking skill and the fact that such ability can help healthcare managers get success in the workplace, officials of educational deputies at the level of the health ministry and its affiliated medical universities should emphasize on the establishment and continuity of training courses regarding such an important skill among students. Furthermore student should be encouraged to apply what they have learned to promote their managerial skills.