Constructive Application of Critical Thinking Skills in Higher Education Tbilisi Open Teaching University

Abstract

Almost everyone agrees that critical thinking is an essential skill in 21st-century, without which success in the modern world and in the future is simply unimaginable. Is it possible to teach critical thinking? -yes, it is possible. In the process of learning and even after graduation, you are expected to think critically, read and write, express your own thoughts and ideas. Therefore, teaching this competence is most beneficial. Therefore, our goal is to establish effective strategies for developing critical thinking methods and assessment tools that will enable students to develop critical, creative, and reflective thinking. The research presented in the article is based on critical thinking skill development framework, which describes critical thinking with core elements: knowledge construction, evaluating reasoning and decision making. The survey was conducted at Tbilisi Open University in April 2021 among bachelor students. Its aim was to identify how well our students identify the knowledge requirements necessary to solve a problem, understand an issue or answer a question; if they can selectively apply the most pertinent criteria to evaluate sources of information depending on the information needed; how well they manage to identify logical patterns and subtle connections within and across data and information from a range of sources.