Abstract:

Although the need to incorporate the development of thinking skills at different educational levels has been recognized for a long time, the strategies reported for its implementation are very diverse and show different degrees of achievement in relation to their initial objectives. The teaching of thinking skills is a complex topic that can be influenced by multiple factors, some of them depend on educational institutions, their curricular models, and their resources. Others are related to teachers' knowledge of these skills to design appropriate strategies to apply in the classroom. Aspects related to students are also important, both at a cognitive level, as well as attitudes, disposition and motivation. In the case of scientific education, the close relationship between the development of critical thinking and scientific skills is clear; however, it is common that the curricular structure and teaching modalities do not specify this relationship in the development of pedagogical practice. In the context of higher education, the incorporation of the development of critical thinking in science and engineering specialties can be carried out through the so-called immersion and infusion strategies or a mixed design of both. The objective of this work was to evaluate the level of application of some components of critical thinking in the context of a first-year general chemistry course in science and engineering at a Peruvian university. The strategy used in the course was a mixed immersion and infusion design. The skills evaluated corresponded to decision making, deductive reasoning, inductive reasoning and elaboration of arguments. The level of application of the evaluated skills was observed in different activities designed for the course. The students showed better levels of achievement in the application of inductive reasoning and elaboration of arguments and showed greater weaknesses in decision making. The results obtained constitute a good starting point for the design of appropriate strategies that incorporate, in addition to disciplinary content, the development of essential critical thinking skills.

Keywords:

Critical thinking, science education, higher education.