The promotion of cultivating critical thinking skills in Greek Lyceum: a qualitative content analysis of the first-class Informatics textbook

Abstract

In order to deal with the constantly and rapidly changing conditions of life, a decision-making capacity is needed. Critical thinking can help effectively in this, and that is why it is an ability that modern education seeks to cultivate. In Informatics-related education, critical thinking is essential. Consequently, in Informatics textbooks it is expected that the cultivation of the critical thinking skills will be promoted. This research is aimed to determine whether this is the case in the Informatics textbook of the A-class of the Greek General Lyceum and for this reason, the content of this textbook was examined. The method that has been used is the Content Analysis, which is an established method for analysis of texts in social sciences. The present research has revealed that in the text the promotion of the cultivation of critical thinking skills is insufficient and in such a way that these skills are not treated equally. These findings should be taken into account during educational use of the textbook.