Assessing high school students' critical thinking skills on rate of reaction

Abstract

The aims of this study were (1) to develop a valid and reliable test of critical thinking skills on reaction rates and (2) to assess high school students' critical thinking skills on reaction rates. This study applied a survey design. Researchers developed their own tests of critical thinking skills used in this study through the stages of literature review, question development, expert validation, field testing, and finalisation. Three experts participated in the test validation. The field test involved 199 high school students in Banyuwangi, while the survey involved 140 high school students in Malang. The final form of the critical thinking skills test on reaction rate consists of 10 valid open-ended questions with a Cronbach alpha reliability of 0.756. The average score of students' critical thinking skills is 54.29, in the criteria of moderate. At the sub-skill level, the average score of students' interpretation skill is 55.87 (medium), analysis is 55.71 (medium), evaluation is 52.50 (medium), the inference is 52.86 (medium), and explanation is 54.52 (medium). These results indicate the need to improve students' critical thinking skills. The implication of this study is that instructional strategies that can improve students' critical thinking skills need to be developed and implemented in instruction.