Exploring and validating the componential model of students’ scientific critical thinking in science education

Abstract

Critical thinking (CT) is an essential 21st-century skill and a key competence. In recent years, the importance of scientific critical thinking (SCT) in scientific literacy has been increasingly emphasized in science education. However, the SCT componential model has not been thoroughly explored or empirically tested. Based on an exploratory sequential design, an inductive content analysis was conducted from the descriptions of SCT-related literature to construct a componential model of SCT, which was validated through expert focus group interviews. Subsequently, survey data on SCT were collected from 1041 high school students in China. The subcomponents (1) scientific critical thinking skills (SCTS), (2) scientific critical thinking dispositions (SCTD), and (3) scientific critical thinking background knowledge (SCTBK) were quantitatively validated using exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. The questionnaire related to these three components of SCT had satisfactory reliability and validity, demonstrating the compositional nature of the model. Finally, we developed a compositional model including three components and 11 subcomponents. The SCT componential model provides detailed conceptual indicators for each subcomponent, providing a theoretical basis for measuring SCT.