Critical Thinking in Everyday Life

This tool is part of a larger evaluation system used to measure the life skills of decision making, critical thinking, problem solving, goal setting, communication, and leadership. The life skills (i.e., decision making, critical thinking, communication, problem solving, and goal setting) selected for this overall measure were thought to be the most commonly identified life skills emphasized in 4-H youth development curricula and program activities. Critical thinking is defined as thinking that evaluates reasons and brings thought and actions in line with evaluations. This survey will assesses youth's critical thinking ability by examining the frequency of use of the following skills that are needed to think critically: reasoning, inquiry, analysis/information processing, flexibility, and evaluation.

Average Review: 4 (4.7)

Supplemental Information:

  • Criticalthinking-tool.pdf (294 KB) Download

Assessment Type:

20 point-scale questions

Scale:

5-point Likert-type self-report questionnaire

Publication Date:

Dec 21, 2010

Respondent:

12-18 year olds

Domain(s) Evaluated:

Attitude / Behavior, Competence

Sample items:

1. I think of possible results before I take action. 2. I get ideas from other people when having a task to do.

Reliability:

internal consistency: .72

Validity:

Content/Face validity: This survey is based on Lerner's 5-C's, a well established and respected life skills model.

Frequency:

Rarely

Administration time:

15 minutes

Requires a Computer:

No

Requires Internet Access:

No

Primary reference:

Mincemoyer, C., Perkins, D. F., & Munyua, C. (2001). Youth life skills evaluation project at Penn State. Available at: https://effectiveservices.force.com/s/measure/a007R00000v8SfBQAU/youth-life-skills-evaluation-system

Comments:

The evaluation tools, research abstracts and teaching resources are available free for educational uses. These resources and information about the system are available at http://www.humanserviceresearch.com/youthlifeskillsevaluation/.

Duerden, M. D., Witt, P. A., Fernandez, M., Jolliff Bryant, M., & Theriault, D. (2012). Bridging Research & Practice: Measuring Life Skills: Standardizing the Assessment of Youth Development Indicators. Journal of Youth Development, 7(1), 99-106.

Pre-College Recruiting Surveys. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://aweonline.org/pre_college.html

STEM Criteria

Science

Yes

Technology

No

Engineering

No

Math

No
Contact

Daniel F. Perkins Email
Claudia Mincemoyer
Email
The Pennsylvania State University