The Relationship between Critical Thinking Tendency and Practical Perceptions of Middle School Mathematics Teachers

Source abstract

The purpose of this study is to determine the relationship between critical thinking tendencies and critical thinking teaching practices of middle-school mathematics teachers. The study sample consists of 381 secondary school mathematics teachers selected with convenience sampling techniques among the non-random sampling methods among 852 secondary school mathematics teachers working in Düzce, Karabük, Çorum, and Kastamonu provinces. Critical Thinking Tendency and Critical Thinking Teaching Practice Level scales were used as data collection tools in research. The data obtained from the research were analyzed in SPSS 25.00. Independent samples t-test, one way variance analysis, Pearson correlation analysis and multiple linear regression analysis were used to analyze the data. According to the results of the research, it was found that there was a significant difference in favor of female teachers in the sub-dimension of critical thinking teaching practices according to gender. It was found that there was a significant difference in favor of the group that received in-service training in both the levels of critical thinking disposition and perceptions of practice, according to the status of receiving in-service training. According to seniority, a significant difference was found in favor of the group with 16 years or more seniority in the metacognition sub-dimension of critical thinking disposition and in the teacher qualifications sub-dimension of critical thinking practice perceptions. It was found that there was a positive and significant relationship between mathematics teachers' critical thinking disposition and perceptions of practice, and the metacognition, perseverance and patience and open-mindedness sub-dimensions of the critical thinking disposition scale were significant predictors of critical thinking teaching practices.