Value Acquisition, Critical Thinking Skills and the Performance of 6th Grade Students

Abstract

This descriptive-correlational study explores and describes the relationships between the acquisition of values and critical thinking skills addressed in social studies curriculum, and the performance of 6th grade students. The study was conducted with 159 6th grade students who were accessed using convenient sampling (snowball sampling) in five elementary schools in Hatay, Turkey. Two batteries, Cronbach alpha: 0.93 to test critical thinking skills acquisition and Cronbach alpha: 0.85 to test acquisition of values, were developed by the researchers and utilised. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, correlation and variance analysis. Results indicate that there is a high correlation (r = 070) between the acquisition of values and students' critical thinking skills. The variance analysis reveals a meaningful variance (p = 0.000) in students' reported grades (performance) and critical thinking skills scores. The post hoc tests indicate that students who performed better (got grades 4 or 5 based on a grading scale of 5) were more effective in acquiring critical thinking skills and that students who have better performance (better grades) were more effective in acquiring the addressed values.