Critical thinking and selected correlates among baccalaureate nursing students

It was concluded that critical thinking abilities are best correlated with variables such as academic aptitude, academic experience, and quality of academic performance.

Abstract

This study was conducted to determine which of eight selected variables contributed most strongly to students' ability to think critically. Multiple regression analysis was utilized to examine the intercorrelations between the criterion variable, total score on the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal, and the predictor variables: SAT verbal score; SAT quantitative score; grade point average, age; and total number of credit hours in the natural sciences, behavioral/social sciences, arts and humanities and professional nursing courses required in a four-year baccalaureate nursing program. Findings (n = 150 subjects) indicated that the SAT Quantitative score, total number of credit hours in the arts and humanities, and grade point average contributed most strongly to the criterion variable, accounting for 24 per cent of the variance. It was concluded that critical thinking abilities are best correlated with variables such as academic aptitude, academic experience, and quality of academic performance.