Psychological Development and Education ›› 2013, Vol. 29 ›› Issue (5): 515-524.

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Enhancing Critical Thinking of College Students:Intervention Study of Service Learning

MA Hui, YAO Mei-lin, TONG Li-juan   

  1. School of Psychology, Beijing Normal University, Beijing 100875
  • Online:2013-09-15 Published:2013-09-15

Abstract: To explore the intervention effect of service learning on college students' critical thinking, 72 undergraduate students majoring in psychology accepted quasi experimental design intervention and were assigned to experimental group(N=54) and control group (N=21). Experimental group participated in service learning for 10 weeks(2 hours per week) while control group completed matching tasks (literature translation and summary).Open questions in reflective journals and non-service learning field situational questions were used as experimental materials, and self-compiled critical thinking performance coding schedule was used to encode materials collected pre-post and during the service learning process. Quantitative analysis revealed that experimental group performed significantly better in the posttest, both in service learning and non-service learning area, especially on the dimension of solution improvement. Qualitative analysis revealed during the service learning process experimental group students evaluated solutions in a more objective and comprehensive way,and improved solutions more targeted and operationally.

Key words: college students, critical thinking, service learning, solution evaluation, solution improvement

CLC Number: 

  • B844.3
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