New teaching techniques to improve critical thinking. The DIAPROVE methodology

Abstract

The objective of this research is to ascertain whether new instructional techniques can improve critical thinking. To achieve this goal, two different instruction techniques (ARDESOS, -group 1- and DIAPROVE, -group 2-) were studied and a pre-post assessment of critical thinking in various dimensions such as argumentation, inductive reasoning, causal, analogic, and deductive reasoning, decision-making and problem-solving was conducted. The results show that both forms of instruction functioned as expected. Both groups improved in all the dimensions of critical thinking. However the group with the new technique was only better in two dimensions with respect to group 1, namely in deductive and inductive reasoning, but not in problem-solving and decision-making. One possible reason accounting for this discrepancy was our inability to implement the new methodology in all dimensions, such that it was applied where there was greater improvement in group 2 than in group 1. The implications of this study are important because they allow us to know which new variables are crucial for instructional methodology.