Comparative Study of Critical Thinking in University of Kashan

With regard to the role and position of critical thinking as one of the most significant objectives and orientations of higher education, the present paper has been an attempt to investigate and assess critical thinking skills among students of humanities in order to not only provide authentic and reliable evidences but also prepare the ground for dealing with problems and improving the current situation. The target population of this study is all the students studying in the university of Kashan in the academic year of 1392-93 (N=6320). The sample of the study was drawn using a proportional stratified random sampling procedure and 365 participants were selected and they were asked to answer the questionnaire administered to them in similar conditions. The instrument of data collection was the California Critical Thinking Skills Test (Form B) which assesses the aforementioned skill on five scales: analysis and interpretation, evaluation, inference, deductive reasoning, and inductive reasoning. The results and findings of the study clearly revealed that the scores of the students’ of humanities in critical thinking were significantly lower than that of the students studying in the fields of engineering, pure sciences, and art. Additionally, no significant differences were found between the students with respect to their year of entrance to university. This finding indicates that the universities’ curriculum were unable to affect the students’ level of critical thinking skills in a positive way. Taken together, the findings of the study mark the importance of serious and full attention to the instruction of critical thinking skills in the fields of humanities.