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Assessment of Teachers’ Beliefs about Classroom Use of Critical-Thinking Activities

Hofstra University

Edward C. Warburton

University of California at Santa Cruz

This article reports five studies in which a scale for assessing teachers’ beliefs about classroom use of critical-thinking (CT) activities was developed and its scores evaluated for reliability and validity. The Critical Thinking Belief Appraisal (CTBA) is based on a four-factor "advantage effect" model: the theoretical premise that teachers’ CT-related decision making is associated with their beliefs about the effectiveness of (a) high-CT activities for high-advantage learners, (b) high-CT activities for low-advantage learners, (c) low-CT activities for high-advantage learners, and (d) low-CT activities for low-advantage learners. Results indicated that the scale produced scores with high reliability; a stable factor structure; and satisfactory discriminant, construct, and predictive validity. The studies supported the theoretical and practical utility of the construct and measure of teachers’ beliefs about classroom use of CT activities.

Key Words: critical thinking • classroom instruction • teachers’ beliefs • disadvantaged learners • advantage effects

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