A systematic review of critical thinking for Engineering Students in Chinese classrooms

As a result of fast technical breakthroughs, globalization, a customer-centric emphasis, and team-based design techniques, 21st century workplace expectations for engineers have evolved. These changes need that engineering graduates possess highly developed critical thinking abilities in order to work at a high level in the engineering field. Critical thinking has been introduced as a fundamental ability in the new Skills Framework. Countries from all over the globe have taken steps to foster the development of critical thinking skills in their citizens, and researchers from a variety of fields pay attention to and conduct critical thinking research. However, comprehensive research on the teaching and learning of critical thinking in the Chinese setting is scarce. This study examines the research literature on critical thinking in Chinese classrooms in order to discover which theories and research methodologies are applied in critical thinking research. By scanning the CNKI and Web of Science databases, 63 Chinese and English publications were discovered using the PRISMA model. The analysis demonstrates that Chinese schools lack theoretical applications of critical thinking research. In the meanwhile, three distinct research techniques are used, however quantitative research approaches have the most papers. According to research, anyone interested in studying critical thinking should be familiar with its theory. In addition, researchers must use a range of study methodologies to guarantee that the results give information beyond summaries of critical thinking. Finally, Chinese researchers on critical thinking need greater exposure to qualitative data sources in order to modify their data gathering procedures.